The New York Yankees have put a knife through the hearts of Red Sox Nation yet again with their recent signing of Jacoby Ellsbury, a veteran Red Sox and two-time World Series champion. Maybe more so than any other large sports market in professional sports, being a champion with the Red Sox represents something to that fan base than any other. Ellsbury being a two-time champion and punching his ticket out of Boston after seven seasons to leave for the Bronx, the Sox faithful are not going to take this smiling.
Ellsbury signed a seven-year deal worth $153 million, a deal that I’m not criticizing. These athletes are dads, husbands, sons and brothers, they should make every dollar they possibly can during their careers and change the lives of their children, their children’s children and so on. But from a professional stand point, not a financial one, Ellsbury has made a mistake that many who have come before have made.
With any professional athlete, there is money earned and money to-be-made. In Boston, Ellsbury has earned his money now and forever. Winning allows fans to forgive a .250 average of someone who’s making north of $20 million if they brought multiple championships to their city. Ellsbury stands to make on average of almost $22 million a season for the next better part of a decade. Sports is littered with great athletes whose performance dropped off after signing a big contract or leaving one market for another. The fan base in the new market, in this case the Bronx, does not care about his previous winning.
No more than the Los Angeles Angels care about anything that Albert Pujols did with the St Louis Cardinals. When an athlete puts on that new jersey, you come in with a clean slate and lofty expectations. Does anyone actually believe for a moment that if Pujols was performing at this sub-par level the past two seasons after re-signing with St Louis that there would be any noise around him? Not a chance. He’s earned his money in that city and he would have been insulated from what he’s currently experiencing in the city that free agents careers go to die.
As a two-time champion in Boston, Ellsbury had earned his money. Red Sox nation would have been forgiving to Ellsbury in a way that they were not with Carl Crawford or any of the other recent failed signings. Why? Because Ellsbury contributed to winning in their city. Look to John Lackey, the pendulum has completely swung in the other direction on him in the city this season. Last year he was being crushed for his “bloated” contract and not delivering on it. And now? We will not hear a peep on his salary from Sox fans and Boston media. It’s what winning does for you.
At the end of the day, these athletes choose money. I doubt the average fan that’s paying to go see these athletes would do any different. I don’t fault Ellsbury for it. I just think it was a mistake.
There are a lot of athletes out there who are only left with the money on their contract. The fans and the love have run out. If they were to speak honestly, I believe a lot of them would give back a bit of their money in exchange for the love and adoration that their previous fan base draped them in. Now Ellsbury brings something to New York that could put them back into championship contention. If he wins in New York, this point is moot. But if he doesn’t, he’s just another overpaid athlete in a city who feels didn’t earn his money. Whereas in Boston, he would have always been the guy who helped bring multiple championships to their city. And with Red Sox fans, that’s an unlimited get-out-of jail free card.
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