Contract Inanity

According to a Yahoo.com article, Alex Rodriguez will lose $200,000 because he terminated the contract that he signed with the Rangers that was passed to the Yankees. He re-signed a contract with the Yankees, making more money for a longer time. The Yankees don't offer contract bonuses for All-Star Appearances (probably because it's expected their large fan base will get people in who don't deserve it...although this year it’s not true!). But the Rangers did, and he used to have a $200,000 bonus for getting voted onto the All-Star team.

What shocked me about the article is that Chipper Jones didn't even realize he had a contract provision that gave him a bonus. Grady Sizemore said he wasn't aware that his All-Star selection had an escalation in the value of his option for 2012. He lets his agent deal with that stuff.

That's a sad state of affairs. They don't know--or care--what's in their contract? Let's contrast that to Curt Schilling, a player I don't necessarily like, but I have to respect his negotiating these items into his contract: $333,333 for each of six weigh-ins per year (if he meets certain criteria, no doubt set by the team to keep him in shape, but still awesome he could work it into a bonus), six season tickets to State Street Pavilion in lieu of outdoor seating, use of team uniform for charitable events, and day-care for all home games. Now that's a contract.

If I were a general manager, I would not encourage "fun" clauses in the contract. I would make it mandatory. It doesn't even have to be related to baseball. If your hometown hockey team beats the team's local hockey team, you're required to volunteer ten hours at the local hospital. Every time you're the last one on the plane, you have to bring in cookies to share after the next home game. Let's be a little creative, people. If you're not going to get creative with your contract, you might as well just get a straight salary.