Ok..let’s stir it up just a bit….

Home town discount is a fantasy. Players say nothing but good….or what their agents tell them to say…..while they are under contract.
Personal appearances and community involement? Well how much golf can
you play in the off-season? A lot of this is contracted.

Under constant bombardment from a ‘homer’ media..of course they say how
much they love St. Louis, how nice the fans are. Some of the leading questions are embarrassing. I am waiting for one player to say ‘yes the fans won the game tonight..section 32..they won the game’

Or ..’well you are sure ‘giving back to the community’. If I hear that once more by an interviewer or a ‘talking head’ on a news set I will scream. It is a cliche that should be burned and buried.

They are not gods…not by long shot. Except in St. Louis.
They take more than they give..and that’s ok.

Could this sports town mature…just a bit?

it’s a myth….here’s another thing to remember. Most towns that aren’t your hometown look alike. St Louis is a nice place and the fans are definitely vociferous in their support. But there are other good sports towns too where the fans love the team. Until you’ve lived in New England you can’t imagine how much they love the Red Sox. Players will take the money other than the occasional end-of-his-career guy who is content to stay put. But that is the rare exception.

deep breaths. it’ll be ok. of course veteran players have been known to take less money to play in stl. better to play here for a LITTLE less than to make a little more and play in …..PITTSBURGH. **shudders**

It’s not a myth - see Mark McGwire - but it is a rarity. I don’t get the impression that Holliday fell in love with St. Louis, and he’s only 30 years old. He’ll probably follow the money.

I say go after J.Bay instead because he’ll give the club more bang for the buck.

Mr. Hummel has it right.
Rarely does a player not follow the money. It’s also about the ego thing of using the contract as a measuring stick of accomplishment as well as about the $$’s itself.
That said, I’ll just about bet the farm Pujols will not be in STL in 2012.

I also agree with Ed. The players, even the “good guys”, get much more than they give. For you folks wanting to pay Albert $25 million per season, do the math. That works out to OVER $150k PER GAME. He should be worshiping the fans that are making him rich and not the other way around.

Listened to the characters from Field of Dreams describe the love of baseball last night. I know it’s only a movie but it made me long for what sounded like better times.
What we’re evolving to now isn’t sport but a carnival.

Lets see,… Mr Hummel, Mr Burwell, Mr. Gordon, and Mr. O’Neill, due to the sagging economy and lack of readership were going to cut your salaries by 25% and hope you take our home town discount even though we know New York, Chicago, or Los Angles is offering you a 25% pay increase with incentives but if you stay in St. Louis you get to work with Mr. Goold and Mr. Miklasz. Plus you get to spend two more years wishing you would have stuck needles in your eyes other than interviewing Tony after a 12-4 loss. That sound about right?

I think atleast 2 of the 4 would have bought their tickets and waving good bye to the St. Louis skyline.

It’s unfortunate but there is hardly any loyalty in sports these days. See Mark Burhle…he’s very outspoken for his desire to wear the Cardinals Uniform…he signs with Chicago. Pujols says “it’s not about the money and more about being competitive”. Ok Albert…put your money where your mouth is and sign an extention far below market value so the Cardinals can afford to surround you with top tier talent. The only time i’ve heard of someone doing this is McGwire…didn’t he restructure his contract so the Cards could afford to sign Edmonds?

There is an old adage……money talks B.S. Walks.
If you think that anyone would give up millions of dollars to play here, or anywhere else, your nuts.

Put it into terms common folk can understand. You are a salesperson for XYZ Group in St. Louis and the past three years you are the top salesperson in your firm. ABC Group comes to you and offers you the same position with a signing bonus of $100,000 to help with moving expenses etc. and 20% more commission on your sales for the first 2 years, but you have to move to Denver. You go back to your current boss and tell him what’s going on. He counters with a 5% commission increase for two years and no bonus since you won’t have to move. What do you decide? I take the Denver job. And in two years, when the Cardinals offer Pujols 7 years $140M and the Yankees offer 7 years $200M, what do you think Pujols will do?

This is slightly off-topic, and I will understand if it gets deleted for that reason:

As a long-time reader of Cardinals coverage on stltoday.com, I wouldn’t mind if Bryan Burwell were removed from all Cardinals coverage here. I used to read his columns about the Cardinals when they would occasionally be posted here. I thought that he was a decent sportswriter who wasn’t an expert in baseball, but who occasionally made good and interesting points.

But Mr. Burwell’s reputation as a journalist has been ruined in the eyes of this fan, by his recent attribution of an unsourced, fabricated, racist quote to Rush Limbaugh.

(And I don’t care what Mr. Burwell’s political views are — I don’t come here to read about politics. I’m talking about basic journalistic and ethical standards. I’m talking about having reliable documentation to back up your quoted “facts,” before you make an accusation of racism.)

When an athlete says “it’s not about the money”, it damn sure is. Ask the Cleveland fans who watched Jim Thome walk to Philly because he “needed security for his family”. Both teams offered the same money per year, Philly just added one more guaranteed year. Gonna be an interesting winter….

Who cares???? Seriously, too many folks/fans put too much of their personal emotions into sports. This is a game where grown men are paid big time dollars to play a kids game. IMHO I think too many fans forget this. I have cheered for the Birds on the Bat since 1952 through the good, the bad, and the some really ugly seasons. As a youngster I lived and died by how the Cards did. Needless to say I died a lot with the teams of the ’50s. However, I learned that players come and go. Some come and go by choice — others through no choice of their own. But one thing remains constant — there will always be a TEAM that wears the Birds on the Bat uni. Players come and go — the team itself remains and that is who I will continue to watch and cheer.

I believe a player will only take a home town discount when the amount they are going to gain elsewhere is minimal and the team they are going to play for is not as competitive. Having said that I don’t mind losing Holliday if we can get Vladdy. Pujols would love a fellow Dominican. (I am pretty sure he is Dominican, don’t quote me) Plus from the first time I saw Pujols I knew that he was the best hitter I had ever seen and from the first time I watched Vladdy I knew he was the best bad ball hitter I had ever seen. Respectively the two best hitters I have ever seen. Plus Vladdy has a cannon for an arm and can run and play defense. Yes I said it…he can catch a fly ball. Any thoughts? Also am I correct to believe that for some reason his contract will be less than Holiday or Bay? He just doesn’t seem to be the sexy choice at this time, probably because he plays on the West Coast and people just don’t stay up late enough to watch him play. Also he is very low key and doesn’t bring attention to himself. St. Louis would be a good place for him to continue to lead by example and not be bothered.

McGwire only stayed in St.Louis because he knew Tony would keep quite on his use of Steriods. He trusted him and it worked out well for everyone. He took less money but got to use roids, the birds get the bat.
On the the other players, after highschool and college, baseball becomes a JOB. 7 days a week 8-10 hours a day. Like any other job, if your good you get paid for it. Most people I know (and I’m not one of them) would take the money. You’d almost be silly not too.

Albert Pujols has been a Cardinal great for many years now. Why not reward Albert and trade him just before his contract expires and let him make the money he deserves. Off course trade him to an American League team for some pitching and a good switch hitter.

How does Bryan Burwell still have a job? This paper is a disgrace. At a minimum, he should have been suspended. Let’s see Bernie censor this comment.

The examples some are offering to illustrate the folly of the “hometown discount” are comparisons to normally-paying jobs, like sportswriter. Of course, if any of us has the opportunity to earn $100,000 a year vs. $60,000, we would be foolish to turn it down. We are talking about guys who earn millions a year. You can’t convince me that, once you get to that level, there is a significant different in lifestyle between earning $12 million a year and $20 million. I think it was McGwire who said that, when you get to that level, you should go where you would be happiest, because if you can’t be happy on $10 million a year, you can’t be happy. In a recent interview, Al Hrabosky asked Jim Edmonds if he “missed the 1st and the 15th” (pay day). Edmonds, who didn’t even know what he was talking about at first, said, “Actually, I’m doing all right.” Pujols and his family have a typical house in a typical neighborhood. He could play for free for the rest of his career and not sacrifice an iota of lifestyle or his family for generations to come (not that I’m suggesting he do that). The fact is, he has the luxury to play where he wants. He says his priority is being on a winning club, and I see no reason not to believe him. If the Cardinals show a commitment to winning, I believe he’ll re-sign. I suspect the reason he is in no hurry to sign an extension is that he wants to see what the team does this off-season.

it’s not a “hometown” discount… it is a St. Louis discount… The Cardinals are long storied and extremely victorious club… taking a “discount” (which usually just means a “fair” price) to play for the Cardinals does happen from time to time…. while in general hometown discounts are not the trend, very few organizations can show the consistent winning and winning attitude from its organization and fanbase that St. Louis can.

Holliday woudlnt be taking a discount because St Louis is where he ended the season..if he takesa hometown discount it will be because St Louis is a special place to play and the Cardinals are one of the most consistently successful organizations in MLV history

Jeremy,

Vlad Guerrero will be 35 in February and has been in a steady decline the last two seasons. He will come a lot cheaper than most, but will he stay healthy and produce?

Who cares????? The economy is bad, housing is continuing to deteriorate, STL is dropping to the bottom of the scales in places to live and work, there is no new bsuiness coming in, the airport is a third class airport, crime is uncontrolled in the City, and we are worried about the Cardinals and who and why someone would come to “play” ball.??????? WOW, look at the major local headlines: They are more about Cards and Rams than real issues….Get a grip on reality polple!!!!

Burwell,

You rarely have a coherent thought and you are never funny. Please retire.

I will never blame an athlete or entertainer for taking the money. Careers in sports can be over in the blink of an eye. Just ask Juan Encarnacion. Plus, the blood-sucking government and agents take their pound of flesh, to say nothing of unhappy wives, or in some cases, all the “friends” hanging around the front door.

Show me the money!

And, by the way, you can kiss Matt Holliday goodbye. Boros is reportedly asking $22 million a year over 8 years. Money like that can be used to build the best player development system in the majors, which is precisely what the Cardinals need to do.

Bryan Burwell has absolutely no integrity whatsoever. To outright lie in columns is utterly disgusting, and unprofessional at the very, very least. He is an embarresment to the Post Dispatch and gives real journalists a bad name.

Hey Greyshark1,

I agree with your point, but this is a sports blog, so people want to talk sports to get their mind off the issues you mentioned. Go to the business section and talk economic conditions if you want.

Every time we have seen Holliday on TV, he seemed like he was keeping himself just a little bit apart, maybe distant from the rest. It was like he didn’t really want to let himself get fully involved or caught up in the moment. Maybe it was because he was new to the team, but there was just an awkward feeling, just something a little bit not right. During celebrations he seemed to join in well enough, but what was his regular day-to-day clubhouse behavior like? Perhaps he didn’t want to get too involved because he wasn’t planning on returning? Maybe he will surprise us and sign?

I can’t believe the PD has not suspended Burwell for his rascist/bigoted/false reporting. If he was white he would have been fired within two days. Is the PD afraid of Obama/Holder? YES, apparently… only an freedom of speech opinion here! Are PD owners/management bigots by continuing to employ rascists/bigots reporting to the public in a very biased opinionated way? I would like to know what Burwell and similar reporters at the PD are investing in; perhaps there should be some protests against their ownership in that business.

Are any PD business investigative reporters looking into that? Why not?

Hometown discounts happen, but a player would be a fool to do that without some assurances about the ownership’s commitment to winning. The Cardinals have proven they are just that… committed to winning the last 15 years. The brewery management was not prior to that…. sorry Torre and Whitey. As I recall, McGwire and Edmonds both gave hometown discounts. Renteria didn’t. Was it because of LaRussa? or that Edmonds respected McGwire and Puljols and LaRussa benefited. No other players have stayed with LaRussa. Carpenter really had no choice with his injuries. Morris was jettisoned by LaRussa; rightfully so. Rolen was too manly and independent and probably politically incorrect for LaRussa. Without influences from other players LaRussa has not had many, if any, player want to remain with him. At least that is the appearance. Unless the Cardinals give up big bucks; Pujols is gone in two years. Better draft well on those draft choices from DeRosa and Holliday. We may get a draft pick on Ankiel if he is offered arbitration.

Why does the Post Dispatch continue to employ race baiting reporters that report rumors and unverified quotes? I regret having click on this link to find Burwell commenting here. I do thank the PD for allowing me to post my dribble.

Two truths: 1. Anyplace can be just fine if you’re rich. 2. St. Louis (and the midwest) isn’t for everyone.

Another gem of an artical written FOR Roger Hensley not BY Roger Hensley….keep up the great work Roger!!!

Seems to me that MLB can do itself and players a big service by educating players to compensate agents on an hourly rate rather than on a % of capture basis. Why should agents make more than a good lawyer? Less to the lawyers means more to the players and, perhaps, that difference would make players more comfortable with the non-financial aspects of their contracts. After all, most players have families that have to be uprooted.

BTW, how about the letter Mr. DeWitt sent out to ticket buying fans yesterday. He thanked them for supporting the team and providing the organization with the flexibility to make some late season adjustments. I thought it was the right thing to do and a classy thing beyond that.

There will be another Holiday to pick off next year. We shouldn’t get our panties in a bunch if he leaves.

Carpenter’s deal was an example of a hometown discount.

As far as Burwell is concerned…he’s a loser with a capital “L”. He thinks he’s funny, but he’s not. He thinks he has insight, but he doesn’t. He thinks he’s a stud, but he’s clearly not. He thinks he can write anything he wants with no accountability, but he can’t. He thinks he’s NOT RACIST, but he is. Look at his career path. Washington D.C., Detroit, St. Louis. That is going down a ladder…not climbing one. His occasional appearance on ESPN’s “Sports Reporters” only solidifies his lack of credibility. That conglomerate is either a group of gnomes or regular customers at the “Hungry Heffer”. The closest that group, with the exception of John Saunders, got to an athletic endeavor was handing out the jock straps to the football players in high school.

I think Hummell nailed this answer, especially with the agent getting a piece of the pie and encouraging his client to follow the money.

From which website did Burwell copy his answer???

Carpenter’s deal was way more than what any pitcher with previous arm issues should have gotten. That was like the Lohse deal…more than what they deserved. That is why Carp re-upped.

The mythical “hometown discount” is what you talk about after you’ve signed the gazillian dollar contract. Then you say how much you love playing in Town X.

Holliday will follow the money, but when they hand it to him, he’ll drop it.

I don’t buy that there is a hometown discount. These are personal decisions and how a person decides is indicative of their intentions and sometimes their character. Two players really stand out in my mind. I think it was Andy Benes, a few years back, who put his trust in his agent to get the deal done. When the agent held out at the last minute Benes wound up in a place he didn’t want to be. As Dan pointed out, Jeff Weaver had a real future with the Cardinals and Dave Duncan, but followed the money elsewhere. Other than his success against the struggling Cardinals in the playoffs, what has he done since the 2006 World Series? I think Benes eventually learned he needed to make up his own mind. I think to Jeff Weaver, the lure of money was more enticing than the lure of success on the diamond.

I agree with those who suggest Burwell should seek his fortunes elsewhere.

It happens. It’s rare, but it does. How about Matt Morris and Jim Edmonds. Both got deals done without testing the waters for less than it was speculated they would have received on the open market. I’m sure there are more examples.

Hey Jeff…..No way is Albert “king of the clubhouse.” He is there if players want advice…and doesn’t exactly reach out. Chris Carpenter would be your only choice. He helps players whether they need it or not and has the respect of all of his teammates not only for his on the field leadership but also for his clubhouse leadership. I’ve heard this reported many times from the reporters that actually spend time in the clubhouse. Don’t say such stupid things, ok?

Ok first off this article was about a hometown discount. I think it exists but for only a certain type of player. Usually it happens with older players wanting to settle in a city that they love.

For those of you constantly ranting about Burwell, do us all a favor and stop visiting the PD website and don’t buy another paper. Stick to your word and if you are that ticked off, stop reading the paper. I am sure you can get all the news you need over at FOXNews.com

Burwell bashers: I feel sorry for you haters. Burwell only got one quote that was never substantiated. We all make mistakes. He has every right to speak out against Limbaugh being a part owner. It would have destroyed the franchise. Limbaugh wasn’t simply too divisive. You are the type of people that call people racist, and you should take a look in the mirror. Hypocrisy! And I am a white middle class teacher. You can’t relate to how blacks feel at all about modern subtle racism, and in Rush’s case, overt racism.

Hey Burwell…so you’re saying a player can’t secure his family’s financial future making 100 million in eight years instead of 115 million for the same time period? Those remarks deserve hometown criticism!

Would someone tell me different if its true, but is Cryan Burwell not the most negative sportswriter in the city. Limbaugh no good, no home team discount, no, no, no, you’d think he was a Republican congressman. Go write something about the preseason prospects of Mike Anderson’s basketball program, I am sure you can find something negative there too, MA didn’t recruit enough big men to fill the Lyons/Carroll hole in the front court. I don’t get it, it must be miserible to live in a life where everything is so bad.

White middle aged school teacher = liberal who supports reverse racism

Why even ask Burwell anything??? He’ll turn it into a race issue.. “Now black ball players shouldn’t have to give a discount on account of 100 years ago blah blah blah….Whitey, of course he should

Rush Limbaugh would have destroyed the franchise? Having him as an owner would have meant a lot towards keeping the Rams in St. Louis. Think about that in about five years when the Rams are back in LA. Do you really think St. Louis has another chance at an NFL team if the Rams leave?

The local media and fans should be embracing the Checketts / Limbaugh group. Leave personal and political feelings out of it.

I think players choosing the security of a contract extension where they choose multiple years over chasing the last dollar is very often misinterpreted as some sort of a hometown discount. Especially players who haven’t had a “big money” deal yet, they are content with “set for life” money rather than risking injury waiting for free agency and a potential bigger payday. In most cases it’s the smart thing to do too.

I find it funny about the person who said, its just “one mistake” –If your a doctor and you happen to amputate a leg instead of an arm; well, its just “one mistake” If your a stock broker and you accidentally buy a client a 1000 shares of BRK A, well its just, “one mistake” If your a bridge developer and you use the cheapest material available and the bridge collapses well, its just “one mistake” If your trying to buy an NFL team and a so-called “journalist” lies and destroys your every chance to purchase the team, well again; its just “one mistake” –Sir, you must bag groceries for a living; where your “one mistake would be to accidentally use paper instead of plastic. –Get a clue. –Sometimes all it takes is “one mistake” to ruin something that cannot be fixed, but in the case of Mr. Burwell, it wasn’t a “mistake” –It was a downright lie; and he should be punished accordingly.

Baseball has always been a business but in our youth we didnt realize it yet. As we got older and more wise it became obvious and we remembered the inocense that was ours…not baseball’s SO, Enough about how in the good old days players were just happy to play the game It wasnt a business and everyone stayed in there city out of loyalty etc.etc.etc. The fact is… The players were basicaly forced to play for the team and couldnt shop their talants around untill Mr Curt Flood challanged that. Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle all held out for more money and threatened to not play. (That was their only option.) How many people reading this story have jumped jobs for a bit more? Where is the loyalty to your employer?

I think we all should step back and remember this is a business and a process. The team sets the budget, looks a player development, and then sets limits on what it will spend. No emotions - no loyalty - just maximize profits and put the best (or at least most marketable) product on the field.

As for the players - at this level look at the buyers. They are the biggest and best teams out there. As a player any one of them is going to be competitive (by the very nature that they can afford you). So there really is nothing pulling a player here vs the other places that will be calling. Believe me - their stars will roll out the red carpet too!

So this is all just nonsense in my mind and is nothing against the fans - just business on both sides.

PS: As for Rush’s mom who logs in and posts under 50 screen names - time to go back in your cave and roll the stone back in place. Not that I care if Rush steels your money, tells you what to think, and fills your empty head with hate. Just go to one of your ditto head forums. The rest of us don’t care about your wittle baby tirade. If you hate PD so much - go away! Faux News is happy to have you and no one will ever say something you don’t agree with over there.

I agree that comparing $100K jobs to $10Million+ jobs really is apples & oranges. Totally different. If you can’t live on 10 mil/year you have issues. And I disagree with the panel; it’s not always about $!!! Some people actually care more about winning, their families, lifestyle, location, etc.

We shall see with Mr. Pujols. I really think he loves StL and would love to stay…provided they stay competitive. He wants to win; that is clear. Does he want to be the highest paid player in baseball? I don’t think he cares. He would rather make less and be surrounded with a better team.

Maybe I’m wrong…we’ll know in a couple of years.

Burwell-is this answer just what you feel or did you actually speak to someone?

Send the greedy you know whats on their way, including tlr. Good riddens.
What, AP is getting $50,000 per at bat and the rest of us slums are working
all year to make that. Baseball is is terrible shape and the fans need to
stop going.

SO WHEN will a SPROTWRITER HAVE ENOUGH GUTS to write that these guys are
so OVERPAID IT STINKS TO HIGH HEVAN. Interview mr. AP muliti millionaire
and ask him if he thinks he earns his dough. Come on AP, you are milking
people out of awful pay day in and day out. SICKENING.

Come on…there is no ‘loyalty’ when it comes to spoiled millionaires. Please… They will go here the money is, and could care less about the fans, really. Anyone who thinks that a professional ball player (NFL, MLB, NHL, etc) will stay in a town because of some “home town discount” needs to seek therapy. It is all about money for these guys - they could care less about you or your hometown….

Its about the money. St. Louis is a fine town just like many others but it will always be about the money. Even the owner said he couldn’t have pulled it off unless the fans came in and forked over the overblown prices to watch a game. I doubt his family would have suffered a lack luster Christmas but aleast he sounded sincere. St. Louis has water to the east but it still will never be New York and if a player ever does want to play here it will be because they paid him first and St. Louis is a nice town second.

Didn’t see this coming? lol. We should have all known Holliday would be gone at the end of the season. And we all should have been fine with it. Shame on you if you thought there’d be a “hometown discount.” Such a thing is a farse. I’m aware of the examples other people have cited, but realize that those are rare occurences. Example: sometimes someone wins the Powerball, but have you?

Money ALWAYS talks in sports. And you know what? It should! Sports is a business, first and foremost. The players are the ones with the marketable talent, not the fans. They deserve to be paid what the market will bear, just like any other business.

If your not happy that the Cardinals can’t afford to keep Matt Holliday, and won’t be able to afford to keep Albert, then don’t cry and whine when you have to pay $9 for a Budweiser or $5 for a hot dog at Busch Stadium. Do you want a seat at Busch to cost as much as Yankee Stadium? These are the side effects of an “arms war” in baseball.

Don’t get so wrapped up on a certain player or players being in a Cardinals uniform. Do I want Holliday to stay, sure. But if he moves on, fine. Life goes on. He’s not our property, and we shouldn’t feel any entitlement to him, expect him to give discounts, or him not to go to a competitor.(Kinda like GB Packers fans with Favre, huh?) He has the right to go where he likes, and for the money he’s comfortable with. I’ll respect him for that.

I am glad the lily -white cardinals lost a player would be crazy not to get all the money possible while they can and at least i can stick to the subject.

I seriously don’t understand 1) how Bryan Burwell still has a job and especially 2) how anyone decided to put him on the radio.

Did Burwell get his answer by typing, “hometown discount” into Wikipedia?

Jason Bay Jason Bay Jason Bay

Burwell’s a racist

YO MarCUS, the lilly white stuff. Get over it man. Do not wear your
attitude looking at one’s color.

“It’s not about the money.” The Big Lie of the sports world.

Ok folks…let’s be real. If any of us had some super natural, god given ability to make millions of dollars, wouldn’t we take advantage of it? Of course we would; so why would pro athletes be any different. Loyalty to a team or town…come on. If I was offered a job in northern Siberia and could make millions, I’d be on the next plane east. And if we don’t sign Holliday or DeRosa or heaven forbid AP has to have Tommy John surgery and miss most of next year…will they cancel the season? Win or lose, and I like the former much better, we will follow the Cards without fail. And like Mr. Golterman said, players always love the town, the fans, the manager, etc…until they leave and then the truth comes out. I didn’t hear Rolen, Edmonds, or Miles heap praise on TLR or the Cardinal top brass very often.

Makes one appreciate Mark McGwire even more. Not only did he give a big hometown discount, he won over other players to take a discount to play in St. Louis. I bet he’s talking to Holliday right now.

Maybe Bernie should be suspended for making up a story about the LA Times columnist sitting in Billy Devaney’s box. Can you believe anything in the PD anymore?

How much fricking security do you need? Holliday got something like $12 million last year. I’m sure he didn’t spend it all. Put that money in an intrest growing account at even 5% and your set for life. That’s only one year. Are they going to live in Castles with guards posted outside? I didn’t see a lot out of Holliday that would want me to spend from 10-15 Million a year on him. If he had Albert’s numbers, then yes. Otherwise get behind Albert and get lesser money.

Total myth. Don’t believe they exist. The concept of “hometown discount” probably originates with fan bases. It makes us feel better to think that the players like us so much, that they’ll gladly take millions less. Commish has it correct. The agents have huge influence in where the player goes and it’s to the money, almost always. Matt Holliday will have little choice about where he plays. He’ll go where Boras got the most money. Only the older players think of such things as “going to a winner” or “good environment”.

There is a discount, it is just not very large for most players. Example: Player A is offered 18.5 million a year to play for the organization he came up in, in a city he and his family likes is comfortable. He is offered 19 million a year to play somewhere else. Most likely he is not going to uproot his family for an extra 500k a year, and will sign with the hometown team. So that is a discount, it is just not a large discount.

“Hometown discount” is one of two phrases we Cards fans need to discard from our vocabulary. NEVER count on a player when agents and $’s are involved.

The other phrase would be “Big 3″ when speaking of the starting pitching staff. The Cards have 2, count ‘em TWO ( Waino/Carp) reliable starters wand one highly overpaid journeymen (Lohse) with a bad contract and another (Piniero) that could be this offseason’s Lohse.

Has anybody posting here watched HGTV? A house that cost a million here will cost 3 to 4 million on either coast and the same goes for the cost of living. Why is the idea of a hometown discount so ridiculed when you can live here for a lot less and be treated like a hero even when you screw up like Holliday did in LA. In Philly he would have been booed when he got back to Philly and here he got applause. Faulk renegotiated his contract several times to stay here and to keep good players around him. It depends what kind of MAN you are and he was good one who cared. I hope he joins the Rams ownership group because they need a good man like that. Pujols is a caring man, hence his Downs Foundation, and I think if the Cards put good players around him he will stay for less.

STL is a great place for people who don’t spend much money (like you). Obviously, the richer you are in STL, the fewer things/places you can spend your money on.

For the athletes, they need more millions so that even their great x 5 grandson will be financially secured!

Don’t try to compare people making 10 million a year to someone making 50K a year - and don’t bash people for making as much money at their chosen profession and being in the top 1% as a professional ballplayer.

It’s easy to say what you would do if you were in their position, but you’re not and nobody knows what it takes to be a professional ballplayer -talent, timing, training, commitment, etc unless you have been a professional athlete so don’t even try.

“It’s not ballplayers fault you can’t hit a 95 mile an hour fastball or a major league curve”. Most people aren’t even the best at their own jobs, so don’t rail on people who are just because they make a lot more than you or I do.

You want to talk politics and economics - fine, sports pages are not really the forum but don’t try to mix the two -it’s like water and oil, they just don’t mix well.

You want to save the schools and the intercity, then go ahead and let’s hear more than talk about - what are you prepared to do about it.

Yes baseball is not the sport it was, but you can’t turn back the clock. Sports are more about entertainment, but don’t bash Pujols because he wants to get paid what he is worth, he is what is right with baseball and is a great ambassador for the game.

Baseball is not the savior of the city but it at least baseball provides economic stimulus and tax revenues that help the city and the image of the city as well.

As a person who grew up playing baseball and has been a fan for a long, long time, can’t we just accept someone who is the best at their chosen profession and admire excellence and accomplishment for what it is.

I think Pujols deserves more credit than most because he does give back to the community, special needs kids and the Dominican Republic, too. Yeah he has the money, but he gives the time and the commitment, too!!

We can live on without Holiday, DeRosa, etc… all good ballplayers and teammates - but I don’t think we can sign em anyway. El Hombre should be the face of the Cardinals for the rest of his career!!! He’s the core, build around him!!

I hope the Cardinals find a way to sign him long-term - he is a once in lifetime player and a great ambassador for the game!!!

In the meantime, trade for some good young pitching - starters and maybe a closer, too!!!

There is most definately a hometown discount. Pujols could have gotten alot more when he signed his last contract, but he took a fair market value to stay here with a manager he likes and in a town that supports their team. You don’t think players like Hanley Ramirez and Ryan Zimmerman would like to play in a town where on a tuesday night there is a packed house to see the Pittsburgh Pirates. No one is going to give away money, but I think Pujols would take a 10 year, $200 million contract to stay here when he could probably make $30 mil a year in New York, Boston, or Los Angeles. I think Holliday would take a 7 year, $100 million contract to stay here and hit behind the worlds best player. Everyone saw how ARod worked out for the Texas Rangers and no one wants to be known as the best player to never win it all.

This is always an interesting conversation. I would encourage ANY player considering leaving the Cardinals for money (greed) to look at the majority of other players who have done so — especially if STL wanted to keep them. Not many careers have skyrocketed for said players. Gregg Jefferies and Jeff Weaver are two examples. I know there are many others.

Sound great.
I am planning on taking a trip this december, but im not sure where yet.
Anny suggestions?

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