Did Roberto Alomar sign for LESS MONEY than we are paying Belliard?

[Alex]

If that's the case, then Shapiro's "reasoning" that he didn't want to insult Robbie with a low offer just lost all credibility.

I would have loved to have Robbie back this season for a million bucks. Heck, they could have easily thrown in incentives that would have upped his salary to 3 or 4 million.

What a shame.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ January 11, 2004 12:12 AM: Message edited by: Alex ]</font>

[The RotoTribe]

I agree with you about Robbie. Lots of people think he's through, though. Here's what RotoWorld says: "If Alomar plays like he did the last two years, he's no bargain at $1 million. In fact, he wouldn't be any kind of an asset at all. However, since he could bounce back and return to being an average regular, this is a nice move by the Diamondbacks."

This is right on the money. Alomar should have an excellent chance to be an average second baseman. An average secondbaseman is something the Tribe doesn't have right now (Belliard is almost average, but he's out of shape). Shapiro did think he couldn't afford Alomar early, but Alomar's willingness to sign for less should have become apparent to Shapiro. But there is bad feelings there.

[Alex]

Robbie did hit .260, he wasn't that terrible. Was he bad in the field?

[The Crank]

Faulty logic Alex: Alomar signed with the Diamonbacks for less then Belliard took to sign with the Indians DOES NOT MEAN Alomar would have signed with the Indians for less then Belliard.

More importantly it is clear, for a variety of reasons, that Alomar is on the last legs of his career. He has earned a rep as someone only interested in playing on a winning team - god forbid the DBacks slide out of contention, then you will see the same thing that happened in Toronto, Baltimore, Cleveland, NY, and Chicago....

Alomar was not a good fit in Cleveland.

[The RotoTribe]

Crank has a good point about Alomar being on the down side of his career. Still and all, however, I'd rather have Alomar at second for a year than Belliard.

Maybe it's true that Alomar took less money to play for a winner, I don't know. He's certainly worth a fortune now and doesn't need the money.

But there's ill will between Alomar and Shapiro. Even though I think Shapiro would have signed Alomar at 1.5 million, I don't think Alomar would have accepted the offer.

[The Crank]

Everything being equal - I would rather have Alomar then Belliard too.

But everything is not equal. For the Indians Belliard was a much better fit.

[Alex]

My point was that Shapiro made a public statement that he wouldn't insult Robbie with an offer that was too low.

It's just odd to then see Robbie for sign for even less than what Belliard is getting.

[The Crank]

Not odd at all. Alomar is on the downhill slope of what was a great career - he can make a comeback this year, but its just as likely he is going to be remembered as a player who stayed one or two years too long.....