Ryan Ludwick arrives in camp, hopes to stay there
JUPITER, Fla. _ Hopeful that he won’t have to go to Phoenix tomorrow for his scheduled salary arbitration hearing, outfielder Ryan Ludwick worked out at Cardinals camp Sunday a couple of days ahead of when he had planned to come.
Ludwick said he arrived early (a) because he missed his teammates and (b) he was optimistic that his contract would be settled before it actually got into an arbitration hearing. Ankiel agreed to a $2.82 million contract about two hours before his hearing but he had to go Phoenix. Ludwick is not looking forward to boarding his 2:30 p.m. flight tomorrow.
“I think things are looking better,” Ludwick said. “I don’t know how close they are. I’m not too worried about it. That’s not in my control. I’m excited to be here. I walked into the clubhouse today and I’ve been grinning the whole time.”
Ludwick, who had a breakout year in 2008 at .299 with 37 homers and 113 runs batted in, is seeking $4.25 million in arbitration and the club is offering $2.8 million.
“Worst-case scenario,” said Ludwick, “is that if you had told me I was going to make $2.8 million four years ago, I would have said, ‘Awesome.”’
(8 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)
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Can’t imagine the club not agreeing to settle for “something in between”. That would be a real slap in the face to Ludwick if they don’t. Ankiel gets 8.25 mil, and Ludwicks numbers dwarfed Ankiels in every major statistical category. Plus, you are looking at an all-star selection here as well. If they can pay people 4 Mil to leave the team, then surely they would reward a player like Ryan for a job well done. He was one of the main reasons the team over achieved last year. Good luck Ryan, I hope you get the money you deserve….
Whoops, sorry for the typo, I know Ankiel got a little over 2.8 mil, not 8 mil. At this point, the team offer for Ludwick is right at 2.8 mil.
If Ank gets 2.8 then Mo needs to find more that 2.8 for Luddy. That just would not make sense otherwise. Besides, w/Ank being a Boras guy, he is probably gone next year—or maybe even before the season starts. Just my 2 cents worth
Well, Ludwick doesn’t have to fly to Phoenix tomorrow - all he has to do is take what the Cards are offering.
Seriously, negotiations nowadays are nothing compared to the way things used to be. Read “Ball Four” again sometime, when Bouton describes how he tried to get a raise from $10,500 to $20,000 after having won 21 games in 1963, only to be low-balled at $18,000 - and threatened with a $100-a-day fine for every day he didn’t sign the contract.
The best line in the story is when he quotes Dan Topping Jr. as telling him, “Don’t forget, you get a World Series share.” Bouton responded, “Fine; I’ll sign a contract that guarantees me an extra $10,000 if we don’t win the World Series.”
Anyway, Bouton wound up signing for $18,500, then won 18 games in the regular season and beat the Cards twice in the 1964 World Series. He asked for $30,000 for 1965; the Yankees offered $27,000. He got his thirty, after another long holdout, but the Yankees wanted him to keep it quiet. Which, naturally, he didn’t. But this was in the day when ballplayers weren’t supposed to tell what they were making.
(Another related story - the GM tells a player, after they’ve agreed on a particular contract amount, not to tell anyone what he’s making. “Don’t worry,” said the player. “I’m as ashamed of it as you are.”)
I wish my problem was if I would get 2.8 mil or more.