Via BBTF, Mike Schmidt talks about the pitfalls of Giancarlo Stanton signing a big contract:
Off the field, he will have choices to make. Undesirable people will find him and want a piece of his financial future. He will be able to buy anything and everything — planes, yachts and expensive automobiles. He will need financial advisers and personal assistants, leading to the usual entourage.
Gratuities will be expected to double. Cell phones will follow him everywhere. Facebook and Twitter will chronicle his every public minute. ESPN and the MLB Network will feature his performance, good and bad nightly.
For someone who likes to stay under the radar, the question becomes: Is it worth it? The answer, of course, is “hell, yes!”
Indeed.
Disagree with his last sentence.
The money angle aside (that will be a killer), the fame and coverage is tantamount to playing under a microscope. Players on New York teams have complained about that—and saw their numbers gone down. Buy this is not NY.
We’ll see.
You have to understand where Mike Schmidt is coming from. His rookie year salary was $13,500. His total earnings for a Hall Of Fame career is just over $17 million. With careful budgeting and sound investments, he has a comfortable retirement. That pales in comparison to what Stanton will have when he hangs up his spikes, whether he has a Hall Of Fame career or not. If Mike used any other last sentence, he’d be lying.
Lorenzo » Or Stanton could blow through his money. It’s not each to lose a quarter of a million dollars, but it can be done by listening to the wrong people.
I hope he’s smart enough to put a few million away each year in a place that difficult for him to touch.