Go: Big Fish Little Fish

Imagine you’re a fringe free agent player. You have two contract offers (exact same dollar value.) One is from a probable contending playoff team who says you’ll be a part-time role player. The other is from a team that has virtually no chance for the playoffs but says you have a full-time starting position.

Which do you choose?

This Go question was submitted by Gymjok (thanks Gymjok!) Do you have a question you’d like us to feature in the Go! column? Send it to lizzie@viewfromthebleachers.com and she’ll see what she can do!

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Josephine (D)

I go with the non-playoff team. The thought of possibly making something out of the Cubs nothing makes me smile.* *If I could play baseball, of course.
BLPCB_NAO

The non-playoff team. So that I can build my value and my next contract is a bigger one with a starting job from a playoff team. Or I can get traded to a playoff team and get a starting job.
http://www.facebook.com/checkosky Tomas Checkosky

it depends on age, if the player is as old as me/dirt then you go with the playoff possibility before you retire/die but if the player is a young whippersnapper I agree with BLPCB_NAO.
Doug S.

Big fish. On the field play time and off the field play time. Way more upside.
Seymour Butts

My comments are left on this blog…does that answer it?
BLPCB_NAO

That’s kind of what DeRosa did after all those years with the Braves, went to the Rangers to play full-time and then got a nice contract with the Cubs and 2 playoff trips
http://swantron.com/ jswanson

All cubs.com commenters are capable of saying is “Cubs suck.”
BLPCB_NAO

Is that a typo? Shouldn’t it say whitesox.com?
http://swantron.com/ jswanson

Never been. However, cubs.com is full of Norms and Jedis but who hate the management, most of the roster, and the beat writers providing them with free content. Very sub-par all around.
BLPCB_NAO

I think those are White Sox fans in disguise. But yes Carrie Muskat is an idiot. Like when she posted a mailbag question that we were going to trade Bozo to the Red Sox just so Papi could DH 6 interleague games in AL parks, or a question that the Cubs would try harder to win because Barry got elected president and he’s a White Sox fan.
http://swantron.com/ jswanson

Well, two things
1) she may be Lizzie
2) tomfools like Raker D. are to blame for the Inbox tomfoolery
gymjok

This was a tough one for me.

On one hand, it’s not much fun losing most of the time.

On the other hand, one’s career is short lived,and playing part time would be tough,but a chance to be in the world series would be sweet.

I would pick the full time team because the tiebreaker for me would be I dislike sitting on the bench and watching a game if I’m able to play.
BLPCB_NAO

I thought Raker D’s question was genius. Whatever happened to our posts that would take the questions in her mailbag and answer them here?
BLPCB_NAO

But there is always the possibility of a trade to a contender.
Eddie Von White

I agree with your analysis, gymjok. I would rather get my uniform dirty and be all grimy and sweaty than sit all clean and neat on the bench.
BLPCB_NAO

And I highly doubt that Lizzie is Carrie Muskat. Lizzie is much more thoughtful than she is
Bones

It depends on the city. Yankees Vs Royals I would choose the Yanks but Cubs/Tigers of course it would be Cubs. It would also depend on coaching staff too.
Doc Raker

It’s about the players perceived value in his own head. If he thinks he is undervalued he will go to the team in which he gets the most playing time so he can show off his talent and increase his value. If he thinks he is overvalued he will go to the team which offers the limited roll and try to be successful in that roll since a limited roll will give him limited opportunity to fail whereas if he thinks he is undervalued he wants playing time to succeed. Seymour prefers to be the roll player on the best geriatric team that can hit off a pitching machine in where I like to be a full time player anytime I am facing a pitching machine. Now, if this is my last contract and failure or success will play no roll in my future value than I would choose the team in which I think would be best for me and my family, i.e. which offers the least amount of domestic stress. Cap’n Obvious ‘s wife would choose the team farthest away from their home as to offer as little time together as possible as I would choose the team closest to home for as happy a family life as possible.
Doc Raker

Your a genius CAPS since you recognize my genius. Muskrat definitely panders to a low information fan base much like Barry panders to all his low information serfs. Did anyone notice Soriano played 1 inning of 3b in the ST game yesterday?
gymjok

I’ve been meaning to ask you.
Do they actually use a pitching machine at Randy’s camp during the games?
If yes, how does that work fielding wise for the pitcher’s position?
http://swantron.com/ jswanson

The pitching machine actually has a higher fielding percentage than half of the 70 y/o tax attorneys.
BLPCB_NAO

Here are the mailbags I’m referring to:

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/print.jsp?ymd=20071126&content_id=2308717&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081109&content_id=3672145&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc
Eddie Von White

And Dan Vogelbach.
Doc Raker

Yes, Randy uses pitching machines for his camp. The ‘pitcher’, usually one of the more decrypted 70 year olds, feeds the ball into the pitching machine and then fields the position best he can. I think the pitching machine is in play and you just play the ball if it happens to hit the pitching machine. The camp is designed to allow most anyone the opportunity to participate and play the greatest game of baseball. It actually works out pretty well and is a lot of fun, especially when you post numbers like .849/.912/1.589.
Chuck

For me it would depend on how old I am in the scenario. If I am in the later stages of my career and I have never won anything significant, I take the offer from the contending team and be the best teammate I can be and try to win it all. If I was a young guy, I would take the full-time job to, hopefully, secure a better long-term contract to secure my future.
verncrowe5

What he said ^
http://swantron.com/ jswanson

Ah. The vagaries of line drives batted into Randy’s pitching machine in the field of play.
Doc Raker

I posted no genius on these mailbags.
BLPCB_NAO

I was referring to the mailbags involving Bozo and Barry
Jerry in Wisconsin

That sounds dangerous. I can imagine the number of live balls in play being thrown to all the wrong bases.
BLPCB_NAO

WHERE’S MY MORNING NEWS!?
Jerry in Wisconsin

Compared to those two Raker is a genius
http://swantron.com/ jswanson

Item: Soler is looking like the real deal
Item: Villanueva is making the third base situation interesting
Item: Detroit may or may not need another bat
Seymour Butts

I think I see the machine get hit about once every 6 or 7 games. Not a big issue. They do try to keep the really old guys away from pitching, as slow reflexes 60 feet from a batted ball, and metal bats, can be a bit dangerous. One game this year, one of the coaches fed the machine due to a lack of healthy bodies. Bastard actually fielded the position.
Seymour Butts

It’s a weekly.
BLPCB_NAO

It’s been missing with regularity ever since the sequester. I’m just going to blame this on Barry
Jerry in Wisconsin

It is clear that no fat people have made news lately so they canceled the morning news segment.
BLPCB_NAO

You mean Barry’s wife hasn’t made any news recently?
http://swantron.com/ jswanson

It’s funny because you called him Barry.
BLPCB_NAO

I’m the one who introduced the name Barry to this blog
http://swantron.com/ jswanson

Get this…they used to call George W. Bush “Dubya.” Get out, right! It’s funny because his middle initial is “W” and Texans speak with accents.
BLPCB_NAO

Homer, Lenny, Carl, Barney, Sam, and Larry, 6 guys who cause 91% of all traffic accidents in Springfield thinks you’re nuts
Jerry in Wisconsin

One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish Oops, Sorry the withdrawal pains are causing me to relive my childhood.
BLPCB_NAO

How about 3-eyed fish?
gymjok

That brings back a memory for me. I don’t remember the name of the book, but it was a tongue twister book by Dr. Seuss. When my children were young I made us all take turns reading parts of the book out loud. Talk about LOL.
BLPCB_NAO

Sam i am
I like green eggs and ham
gymjok

I guess that also means there aren’t any walks.
Doc Raker

So how many feeble ground balls did you hit to the pitching machine?
Doc Raker

No walks, the machine is throwing cookies. Most at bats end in less than 3 pitches.

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