Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pitcher Jered Weaver isn't interested in chasing "CC Sabathia money."
Amen to that.
Weaver signed a five-year, $85 million contract extension with the Angels on Tuesday, bucking the advice from his infamous agent, Scott Boras, by staying to pitch in his native southern California through at least 2016. Boras, of course, wanted his client to wait another 15 months until Weaver could test the free agent market and potentially score a monster contract like Sabathia did before the 2009 season, when he jumped ship from the Milwaukee Brewers to sign a whopping seven-year, $161 million deal with the New York Yankees.
It's refreshing to see an athlete who is willing to tell his snobby agent to shove it, break from the current precedent (aka the take-the-cash-n-dash) and remain with his team for all the right reasons. A product of Long Beach State, which is just 20 minutes away from Angel Stadium, and the Angel’s first-round pick in 2004, Weaver grew up 70 miles north of Anaheim in Simi Valley and has made a great decision to stick to his SoCal roots.
All professional athletes in this country should take note of Mr. Weaver’s actions. For the first time in a while, an athlete said— and did— all the right things when it came time for contract negotiations.
Weaver noted that, "If $85 million is not enough to take care of my family and other generations of families then I'm pretty stupid.”
I really couldn’t agree more with this sentiment.
Between all the endorsement deals and contracts that high-profile athletes earn these days, why wouldn’t you show some loyalty to the city you play in (and, in Weaver’s case, grew up around) by sacrificing a few million dollars that you sure as hell don’t need anyway?
We sports fans have become accustomed to being ditched by our favorite sports stars because, quite frankly, they’re greedy. All across the board, players have been sending the message that following the green is the name of the game in today’s market.
But a few isolated cases have proved that it’s not all about the money to every athlete.
Take Dirk Nowitzki, for instance. He opted to resign with the Dallas Mavericks a few years ago instead of heading out in search of a bigger contract, and it paid off with a title this past season.
Now Weaver has elected to show the same loyalty to Anaheim by choosing to remain on a staff that includes talented guys like Dan Haren and Ervin Santana.
Weaver could possibly see some hardware as a reward for all the free agent money he left on the table by signing this extension.
Athletes need to take a page out of Weaver’s book and re-evaluate their priorities when it comes to contracts.
By taking less money, Weaver has not only done justice to the organization that drafted him and the fans that have supported him throughout his entire professional career, but he has also kept himself in a position to succeed and bring home another title to Anaheim in the next few years.
As long as the Angels pick up a few contract options, as they are expected to do, they will also have Haren and Santana on the staff until 2013.
I love Weaver because he is a guy that is all about competing, and furthermore, winning. Because when it comes down to the money, as Weaver put it, "How much more do you need?"
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Reach the columnist at kjnewma2@asu.edu
