June 07, 2008
Sidney Severed
It appears Sidney Ponson's attitude lost him a pretty good gig with the Texas Rangers:
Citing a lack of respect for teammates and the club, the Rangers suddenly severed ties with No. 3 starter Sidney Ponson on Friday.
General manager Jon Daniels declined to reveal specific reasons for the decision to designate Ponson for assignment to make room for Vicente Padilla, who was activated from the bereavement list. The Rangers have 10 days to release or trade Ponson.
"He had disrespectful and adverse reactions to situations that were unbecoming of a teammate," Daniels said. "We want guys who want to be here. We're trying to put together a team here, and based on some comments and reactions, he didn't want to be part of that. That's not something we're going to tolerate."
His last three starts were not very good. It's much easier to tolerate a bad attitude when a player is pitching well. Still, given that a team that could use pitching couldn't stand him, I wonder if he'll get a job again.
Hat tip, AOL Fanhouse.
Kind of hard to believe - but my guess is that there are a lot of teams that need pitching and he pitched OK.
How many failed opportunities does it take to learn a lesson? For Ponson, that he needs to make some personal changes if he wants a job, and for MLB teams, that this guy isn't worth the trouble. I'm sure SOMEONE will take a chance, but they shouldn't. Ponson's obviously a loser. I must say, I respect the Rangers for doing this.
The Rangers, knowing his past, told him when they signed him that he was on a one-strike and you're out double-secret probation. He blew it.
Sidney, you're not that good to be an a_hole. Barry Bonds was, not you.
