October 18, 2007
Too Much Love
Darren Heitner points out that Mike Lowell is hurting himself financially:
In response to a question about his feelings on A-Rod's impending decision on whether or not to opt out of his current contract with the Yankees, Lowell said, "I love it here and would love to re-sign here. I'm making that clear." [Lowell: 'I love it here'].
Again, I think it is great that Lowell has those feelings. And in fact, he should express them to the world once he re-signs with the Red Sox (if he re-signs, actually). But while he is a free agent coming off the best statistical year of his career, he should probably keep those feelings to himself so that he may play for the team that he loves and make more money at the same time.
A-Rod and the Yankees want to stay together, but each created enough tension that the neither is going to get exactly what they want to keep Alex on the team. That negotiation will no doubt go down to the last minute, but I bet Rodriguez stays.
Given the money Lowell has made to date, he has no financial reason to worry about maximizing his free agency value. $40 mill over 4 years or $50 mill of four years isn't going to affect his lifestyle at this point. He may like Boston, his wife may life it, the kids may be happy there, etc. There are a thousand reasons any employee may choose a job other than the one with the biggest paycheck.
Of course, agents don't get paid a percentage on those lifestyle factors...