Braves extent Ozzie!
- Thread starter Oklahomabrave
- Start date
CrazyTrain
Well-known member
CrimsonCowboy
Moderator
I swear, I have never heard or read such griping over a player accepting a contract like that (don’t mean on this site, just in general). Is Ozzie being underpaid? Probably. But, he didn’t have to accept the offer. However, he did. I’m very happy. Because he wants to be an Atlanta Braves player. Do we want to deal with guys like Mark Teixeria and Melky Cabrera who didn’t want to be in Atlanta? All these blowhards talking about how awful the contract is and how Ozzie’s agent should be fired, I bet you anything they’ve never talked to him.
Look, you can have a contract worth a billion dollars. You can buy the biggest house, the fanciest clothes, and the fastest sports car. But you know what that billion dollar contract can’t buy. Happiness. Piece of mind. By many accounts, this is what Ozzie wanted and the same for Ronald when he signed his deal. So unless anyone asked Ozzie about why he agreed to his deal, then stop the shouting. It’s none of anyone’s dang business and not anyone’s right to tell him what to do with his life and career.
Look, you can have a contract worth a billion dollars. You can buy the biggest house, the fanciest clothes, and the fastest sports car. But you know what that billion dollar contract can’t buy. Happiness. Piece of mind. By many accounts, this is what Ozzie wanted and the same for Ronald when he signed his deal. So unless anyone asked Ozzie about why he agreed to his deal, then stop the shouting. It’s none of anyone’s dang business and not anyone’s right to tell him what to do with his life and career.
PurpleBrave
On BBA's Top 100 Prospects List
I expect us to be major players in free agency soon with these cost saving contracts !!!
This. Short of Ozzie demanding that his agent to get a deal done and this was the only offer the Braves were willing to do at this time, then I don't see how anyone can say he was taken advantage of. Even then, it's not the heart of the contract that's the issue. 7/35 is perfectly reasonable for an extension at this point (though admittedly, still a huge discount). It's the 2 option years at the end (just like the Acuna deal) that make you completely scratch your head. Surely the Braves would have offered the guaranteed money even without the 2 option years at the end. Both deals were amazingly in the Braves favor even without the 2 option years. I just can't believe an agent would willing advise their client to accept such a deal with such poor terms compared to the market.
Tapate50
Well-known member
Maybe.
Ozzie selected his own representation. Ozzie signed the deal offered.
Ozzie should still know the market. He should know a fair deal before his agent tells him one detail of this. He has seen other players sign deals over and over in the news. He bears plenty of weight to know what’s being offered is even close to market.
Well that seems borderline racist.
Would anyone claim Dansby was taken advantage of if he had signed a similarly cheap deal?
I have a strong feeling that answer is no. And that is a problem.
yeah, ozzie isn't a naive or dumb guy. he can see what others have received.
to state it's a fact he was "taken advantage of" is a little much.
Heyward
<B>Voted Worst Poster <br>'13, '14, '15 (Co-Winner
Ozzie speaks mostly American now, he seems like a bright guy. He knows what other players are getting, if he wanted more, i'm sure he wouldnt have signed. Besides, as has been mentioned, if he and Ronnie become the players they project to be, i think the Braves would reward them down the line.
Dansby isn't really considered on that level as a player (at least not yet). If he was offered 40 million guaranteed, he ought to take it and run. No guarantee he'll ever even make 40 million over his career unless this early version of Dansby is legit.
I personally would have a problem with any player getting taken advantage of, regardless of race. And these particular situations SCREAM of them getting taken advantage of. Again, there is ZERO value in the option years for Acuna and Ozzie. No agent should allow a player to agree to such terms. Considering the money guaranteed without the options, it's highly doubtful the Braves demanded such terms or no deal. Both deals are so incredibly in the Braves favor without them.
There is a reason every one around baseball is calling it the worst deal in modern history for a player.
this isn't really the point.
it's basically suggesting ozzie doesn't understand what's going on at all. like, do you think he doesn't understand what Harper and Machado just signed? He can't do math on how old he'll be and how much he'll be making? idk. it's a crazy good deal for the braves, no debate from anyone on that. i think the reasons why ozzie accepted such a deal is the much trickier thing. to say it's definitely because he simply doesn't understand what he signed is questionable. that's the point. would anyone say swanson just doesn't understand what he did had he signed a super team-friendly deal (regardless of terms compared to ozzie)?
I meant 'similarly cheap' as in similar relative to each player's ability, not similar dollar figures.
If Dansby signed a deal that was clearly less than he could have gotten, would people argue he didn't understand what he signed and was taken advantage of?
My guess is no. There is this underlying assumption that Acuna and Albies don't understand what they're doing...which is borderline racist to assume.
If Dansby signed a deal that was clearly less than he could have gotten, would people argue he didn't understand what he signed and was taken advantage of?
My guess is no. There is this underlying assumption that Acuna and Albies don't understand what they're doing...which is borderline racist to assume.
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
I'm pretty sure AA will continue to be a value hunter.
I think you are misconstruing what's being said. It's not that Ozzie didn't know what he was signing (though, to be honest, 99 percent of 21 year olds probably don't). It's the lack of negotiation by his agent in what appears to be done in a hastily done manner before Ozzie got poached by a larger agency, combined with Atlanta realizing his financial situation and preparing an offer reflective if that. Again, there is ZERO value for Ozzie in the 2 option years. Unless the option years were a sticking point for ATL in negotiations (unlikely) it seems his agent pushed for a quick deal.
Players should expect their agents to operate in good faith and put the player's interest first. I question if that's what happened in this inatance.
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Ozzie's not dumb. You acknowledge that he very well may have known what he was signing (I would argue it's almost a given that he did). Even if the agent is bad and was acting in their own interests more than Ozzie's, he is free at any point to cut them loose. He seems to be very happy with the deal he signed. We can all look at it and say that he left a bunch of money on the table, but we don't know exactly what his considerations are; they certainly seem to be about more than just getting the most possible dollars.
I would argue, based on the option years, he has a bad agent. He should rectify that for himself. But was he taken advantage of? I have no idea and would guess that he wasn't. Again, if he felt like the agent was working in bad faith or wasn't getting the most he could, he could break that relationship at any point and get a new one.
Acuna and Albies seem perfectly happy, and they're both going to make a lot of money...yet you have a bunch of dudes who know nothing about them trying to protect them...from what? They are adults in full control of their own situations. They made a decision.
Does a 21 year old kid know that his agent is acting in bad faith? I would say no. I assume he trusts his agent to get the best deal and it's certainly possible, even probable, that his agent tried to hammer out a quick agreement and presented that as the best deal, rather than risk losing Ozzie to a bigger agency.
That may have happened. But I feel confident that most 22-year-olds know enough to at least get an idea of what other players are getting. They may trust their agent to some extent, but they also probably do at least some very basic research on their own.
Maybe he trusted his agent completely, and that would be a bad decision on his part. Or maybe he said the most important things to him were that he gained financial security and stayed in Atlanta and was vocal about that to the Braves himself. If that's the case, he obviously loses leverage. It sounds like Ozzie's side was very motivated to get a deal done (both him and his agent), and the Braves benefited. But I'm not sure what the Braves did wrong here. Their job is to get the best possible deal for the organization. They did that, and then some. It helped them that Ozzie's agent seems bad, but it also helped them that he appeared to really want to secure a deal quickly.
I'm ok with saying it's possible he was taken advantage of. I am not ok with saying that's clearly what happened. That's where you veer into iffy territory.