Honestly, the guy will be lucky to earn the first 650
Jus sayin"

The article says that clubs can still negotiate players donations in the contract for Free Agents. The ban only applies to arbitration players who aren’t FA eligible for the next year. And they’re almost never asked to contribute significant money.

Requiring contracts to have charitable donation provisions is bull. It is none of my employer’s business whether or not I donate cash, labor, or whatever to charities, and certainly none of their business what charities I choose. And forcing me to give to their favorite charity is really out of line. If I don’t want to agree to a provision like that, but no one else is offering me a contract/job, do I really have a choice? This should simply not be allowed. I’m a little surprised the union didn’t fight that all the way.

And if players can get first class airfare, suites and luxury boxes as part of their deals, I don’t know why they cannot freely negotiate this part too, this is not like a player who is under the team’s control and has to sign whatever deal is presented to him.

This whole thing blew up in how the Dodgers presented it, if they had just said that as part of the deal, Manny had agreed to donate a portion of his salary to the foundation, nothing would have been said about it, by trying to make some sort of precedent about all players signing contracts with the Dodgers would have to do likewise, that is where they got into trouble.

since he likely won’t pitch until May at the earliest, or perhaps July, but one-year, $1.5 million, plus a “shipload of incentives” is too good a deal to pass up.

The deal with Seattle is pending a physical, and Bedard has shoulder issues, but man I would have done that in a heartbeat.

Jordan Bastain covers the Blue Jays for MLB.com, and he wrote a nice story about what it’s like in the offseason for a baseball writer. Good stuff here:

This is our life. The moment we let our guard down, that’s when new happens. In the offseason, no trip to the doctor is safe. A quick run to the grocery store can create chaos. That’s when you’ll get beat by your competitors. Your wife becomes a single mom for hours on end, your dog crosses his legs, stares at you and cries while you’re held hostage at your computer.

You work the phones, calling players, agents, baseball execs, other writers. You scan news sites all day. There’s never enough coffee and you crave the routine schedule of spring training and the regular season. So does your family. You live in constant fear that something is going to happen at any moment

Ace pitcher from within sought as Dodgers reduce payroll (USA Today)

Dodger season preview includes positional breakdown and a look at some of the team’s top prospects. Nothing earth shattering here…

Reading in ESPN MAG today about this Korean 19yo Cub SS prospect Hak Ju Lee has me pretty pissed off about the Dodgers lack of International signings. I have tried to tell myself that it is hard for one to pan out anyways for the last few years, but can not anymore.