SI archive story on Sandberg and Salaries

by WGNstatic on Nov 17, 2009 1:07 PM CST

Posted on the SI website is an an old article discussing Ryne Sanberg's record breaking 1992 contract extension. I read the article and thought folks might like a break from the hand-wringing, waiting, and anticipation that comes with the November to February months.

There are many interesting aspects of the article.

How right were the owners and GM's who decried the signing as the end of baseball?
What does that signing and how it was made say about Trib ownership? Interesting that some of the most scathing remarks came from the man who would take over the Cubs just a few years later.
How good was Ryno? It is interesting that the article really clearly puts him into the elite 2B of all time, yet it took so long for him to get into the HoF. Did this huge (and widely panned) contract slow his HoF election?

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, managing editor (unless it's a FanPost posted by Al). FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.

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I wouldn't say it took Ryno very long to get into the HOF.

Wasn’t he inducted a couple of years into his eligibility? That seems about average.

The only players that are inducted into the HOF on the first ballot are the slam dunk, virtually unanimous on the ballot players. Otherwise, it really depends on who else is up that year.

Hey, it's a new century!

by cowsarecool220 on Nov 17, 2009 1:14 PM CST reply actions

interesting ...

I remember reading this when it was first published. Kinda amazing that Sandberg retired halfway through the deal.

by elgato on Nov 17, 2009 1:16 PM CST reply actions

cause and effect

I have always wondered how the big salary, his drop in productivity, and his personal life hitting a rough stretch related to each other.

Eamus Ursuli!

by WGNstatic on Nov 17, 2009 1:23 PM CST up reply actions

Lol @ Andy MacPhail in that article...

“My three-year-old son could have made that deal [with Sandberg],” says Minnesota Twins general manager Andy MacPhail. “To jump from 5.8 to 7.1! That was absolutely stupid a year ahead of free agency. That’s stupidity and timidity. Sandberg sets an artificial deadline and gets away with it! It’s a terrible deal. We’re going to spend ourselves into oblivion. I don’t blame the players. It’s the owners’ fault. We keep giving it to them.”

PHISH IS BACK!!!
HAMPTON, VA - MARCH 6, 7 and 8th!!!!

by TheBeerBaron on Nov 17, 2009 2:00 PM CST reply actions

And then he essentially did the same when he gave Sosa an extension.

I'm singing, "GO CUBS GO! GO CUBS GO!" -- DrCrawdad on Jun 12, 2009 7:23 AM CDT

Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true! -- Homer J. Simpson

by Shanghai Badger on Nov 18, 2009 3:32 PM CST up reply actions

MacPhail's beancounting...

drove me absolutely nuts. Thank God he’s gone.

by TheGrinch13 on Nov 22, 2009 3:54 PM CST up reply actions

Larry Himes..

…. Can’t stand him.

by TheHawkRules on Nov 17, 2009 4:53 PM CST reply actions

I enjoyed this part...

However, even disinterested parties are forecasting trouble for baseball. Says Lawrence Kudlow, chief economist for the New York investment firm of Bear, Stearns & Co., “In the 1980s nobody thought you could pay too much for real estate, but by the end of the ’80s that bubble had burst. Baseball is not immune to speculative bubbles that burst. Any business that continues to permit high cost increases year in and year out becomes a suspect business. Look at GM, at Ford.”

If only he could have predicted his own company’s demise like he predicted baseball’s demise.

"Dad gum right this games gonna be played under protest. . . I guarantee this is gonna be one protest that's upheld." --Hawk Harrelson, 6/24/07

by RynoHoF on Nov 18, 2009 9:35 AM CST reply actions

Yeah, but Larry Kudlow has done quite well for himself at CNBC

The difference between any potential “baseball bubble” as it would relate to salaries is that it would only take a couple of seasons for it to unwind. If attendance were to really hit the crapper, most teams would be stuck with just a couple of really bad contracts for anything longer than a year or two.

i think we could see one team unwind a lot of salaries this year in Detroit. They’re kind of the poster child for a team that could be really hit by the economy. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them going from a team that gives extensions to players like bubblegum to one that drops payroll by 20% or more.

"Enough foreplay- let's get crackin'"- Fred Garvin

by davidalanu on Nov 18, 2009 11:14 AM CST up reply actions

If attendance were to really hit the crapper, most teams would be stuck with just a couple of really bad contracts for anything longer than a year or two.

`Cough` Soriano `cough-cough` Milton Bradley.

(Gets on knees and prays for high attendence and advantageous trades.)

by BWoodrum on Nov 18, 2009 11:36 AM CST up reply actions

Kudos for finding and posting this!

These “the sky is falling” articles are fun to read from a future perspective.

"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is." -- Yogi Berra

by vonde6 on Nov 18, 2009 11:11 AM CST reply actions

Holy crap! You're from the future?

;-)

I'm singing, "GO CUBS GO! GO CUBS GO!" -- DrCrawdad on Jun 12, 2009 7:23 AM CDT

Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true! -- Homer J. Simpson

by Shanghai Badger on Nov 18, 2009 3:34 PM CST up reply actions

...

"Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things." ~Winston Churchill

by Goodie1969 on Nov 18, 2009 7:08 PM CST up reply actions