It’s good to see that MLB owners are no longer giving ridiculous free agent contracts to older pitchers (not). David Price, he of the woeful post-season won/loss record, just got a $217 million, 7-year deal from the Red Sox. He will be 37 years old at the end of his contract. You don’t even want to do the math. Think of it this way: if he stays healthy all year, that is $1 million per start assuming 31 starts for the regular season.
SU was relieved to learn that the Yankees were apparently not involved in the bidding. They are trying to get younger and after the next couple of seasons, will have a lot of money coming off the books. As I have said many times, it’s time to field a more interesting team and for the fan base, that means getting younger. Brian Cashman seems to be on the right path now. Until he’s not.
SU reaction to the Kobe Bryant retirement announcement: great scorer; me-first player; never afraid to take the final shot (and miss it); got his rings; and is a possible rapist. I don’t feel he will receive the type of affection that a Derek Jeter received or what a Big Papi will get in 2016. I admire his competitiveness but his selfishness outweighs that. Clearly sees his skills are eroding. Note to Kobe: please don’t come back next year with the Knicks.
Should Johnny Manziel be starting for the Browns this week? SU has been surprised by how many people feel he should be (but not his coach). SU asks at what point do you punish a player and make it stick? Why is it necessary to always roll over? SU said from the beginning pre-draft that he was a Ryan Lief type of QB. Buyer beware. Not a good guy. But given his persona, Cleveland will not be his final stop in the NFL. There just aren’t enough good quarterbacks out there and some owner/GM will always be willing to take a flyer on him.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
This commentary is the reason I subscribe to SU although I am concerned that I actually agree with SU on all 3 points of view. You did omit discussion on the “next team in” should Clemson (or Bama) lose. I do not see the love for Stanford. I vote UNC if they beat Clemson, which seems a minority view. As SU subscriber base is filled with many UMIch fans, I assume no one thinks OSU should be elevated.
Good perspective on Bryant. He’s clearly one of the best ever and he’s got a bunch of championships. But as time goes by he will be remembered as the guy who played between Jordan and James.
Baseball contracts have been ridiculous for a while now. And it’s not just the big markets and it’s not just top players. In fact, it’s the second and third tier players with less upside that play the role of the rising tide. David Price has a questionable post-season record but few will argue that he’s not one of the game’s best pitchers. Now think about how much somebody is going to pay Daniel Murphy. Daniel Murphy’s next contract is going to make Robinson Cano look like a steal. And the same thing is going to happen when some middle-of-the-rotation pitcher gets a multi-year deal that makes Price’s look reasonable.
When these contracts are signed I don’t think the fans realize that “they are paying for these contracts”. Yes, the TV revenue factors into it, but so do ticket prices, beer prices, food prices, jersey prices, etc. I looked to purchase Hawks vs. Lakers tickets for Friday night and the upper deck, middle of the row seats are $125. The cheapest lower bowl tickets were $380. Hey, I know it is Kobe’s last game in Atlanta (unless of course the Hawks and Lakers meet in the Finals…) but if Paul Milsap could make $8 million a year instead of $16 million a year my ticket price could be less. I am pretty sure he can still live on $8 million a year. Congrats to the Red Sox fans for getting a top quality pitcher and seeing your beer prices rise to $14 for a 16 ounce can.
Let’s also not forget that those first three championships were Shaq’s and ol’ #8, although a strong contributor, was along for the ride.
… and he had some altercations with big Papi in the past. Am I missing something or are the Red Sox in need of many other pieces to get them back to the playoffs… That would make the Mets pitching staff worth over $1 billion now.
Re: the Price signing, as a Sox fan the best possible outcome here would be for him to pitch well for the next 3 seasons and then opt out. That way somebody else can pay him $35 million per year or more at ages 34-39.
Re: Manziel, I think the Houston Texans are the perfect example of what you have to do sometimes in cases like this. They were 2-5 after losing to Miami in late October when Ryan Mallett missed the team flight on the way to the game. They released him, and they are 4-0 since. Coincidence? Or cause and effect?