Remember Matt Harrington?

Great Outside The Lines article on him on ESPN. He now makes $11.50 an hour after turning down $4.9 million.

For those who don't recall, here's the rundown from Wikipedia:

*2000 Major League Baseball Draft, first round with the 7th overall pick by the Rockies

A right-hander with a 95+ mph fastball, Harrington was considered one of the top pitching prospects in the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft. He was selected by the Colorado Rockies with the 7th overall pick. However, Harrington and his agent Tommy Tanzer were never able to come to terms on a contract. Tanzer asked for a $4.95 million signing bonus, which was 25 percent more than what the previous year's No. 1 pick Josh Hamilton had received. The negotiations proved acrimonious, with Tanzer accusing the Rockies of backing out of an alleged pre-draft agreement to sign for his stated asking price, and the Rockies denying that such an agreement ever took place.

The Rockies' final offer was $4 million and a guaranteed major league callup by the end of 2002. Harrington turned down the deal, sat out the season and re-entered the draft in 2001. While Harrington and his parents publicly supported their agent at the time, they ultimately fired Tanzer and filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against him for giving bad advice. Tanzer was replaced with super-agent Scott Boras, who vowed to get Harrington to the point where his market value to his high school form. However he too proved unsuccessful getting Harrington signed.

*2001 Major League Baseball Draft, second round with the 58th overall pick by the Padres.

In the 2001 Draft, Harrington slipped into the second round, being drafted by the San Diego Padres with the 58th overall pick. The Padres offered him a $1.2 million signing bonus. Boras, who wanted twice that amount, rejected the offer and Harrington again declined to sign. He played in the independent leagues during the following season, putting up unimpressive numbers for St. Paul of the Northern League and Long Beach of the now-defunct Western Baseball League, going a combined 2-6 with a 6.75 ERA. He was released by Long Beach's manager Steve Yeager. Although the Padres were still free to make additional contract offers until the day of the 2002 draft, they chose not to after scouting Harrington in independent ball that May. They felt Harrington's skills had diminished, and notified him that they were not interested in signing him to a contract, and would not be drafting him again.

*2002 Major League Baseball Draft, 13th round with the 374th overall pick by the Devil Rays.

Despite his struggles in the independent leagues, Harrington was drafted again in 2002. This time, he was taken by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 13th round. Again, he failed to agree to a contract. Tampa Bay's offers ranged in the $5,000-$20,000 range, standard 13th round money.

*2003 Major League Baseball Draft, 24th round with the 711th overall pick by the Reds.

In 2003, he fell to the 24th round of the draft (711th overall), before he was selected by the Cincinnati Reds, who were just offering little more than a chance to play.

*2004 Major League Baseball Draft, 36th round with the 1,089th overall pick by the Yankees.

In 2004, he would be drafted by the New York Yankees in the 36th Round (1,089 overall), who didn't even bother to offer him a contract.

Greed is a very bad thing... and people say Boras and agents like him are not ruining baseball... who knows what he could have been without that 1 year layoff between 2000-2001

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Originally Posted by TheNamelessPoet

Greed is a very bad thing... and people say Boras and agents like him are not ruining baseball... who knows what he could have been without that 1 year layoff between 2000-2001

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Boras 99% of the time gets his clients signed.

Odd that he plummetted so far. Too bad. and yah, another strike against agents - although looking at the rockies $5 mil over 8 years offer, i too would've been against that.

This case just happens to be strongly against greedy agents. But if he had signed, it would be another Van Poppel.

He still probably has more money than any of us will make in our lifetimes(collected a million or so from the insurance policy, and probably got a million or two from the Tanzer lawsuit).

Yeah, he's doing OK with it actually. His father is the one that will "take it to his grave". Even though it's most money than most people on here will see in their lifetime, it shows you another side of him that's not consumed by greed. It sounds like there was a lot of bad advice beyond the Harringtons' control. Regardless, it's a nice "everything happens for a reason" story (if you believe that) since he met his (future) wife in Fort Worth when he was pitching in the independent league, and now is married with children. Nice to see he's happy at least.

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Originally Posted by BINGLEBOP

Yeah, he's doing OK with it actually. His father is the one that will "take it to his grave". Even though it's most money than most people on here will see in their lifetime, it shows you another side of him that's not consumed by greed. It sounds like there was a lot of bad advice beyond the Harringtons' control. Regardless, it's a nice "everything happens for a reason" story (if you believe that) since he met his (future) wife in Fort Worth when he was pitching in the independent league, and now is married with children. Nice to see he's happy at least.

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tsk tsk
:p

Attachment 23883

haha, you know i rarely capitalize

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Originally Posted by defense

He still probably has more money than any of us will make in our lifetimes(collected a million or so from the insurance policy, and probably got a million or two from the Tanzer lawsuit).

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Well I seriously doubt he got money from Tanzer, and if he did. Probably not too much. And i'm curious how much money Boras got paid. I doubt he did anything on commission. I always cringe when the players ask for so much money when they haven't done anything on the field. It's one of the few things that I think the NBA got right. Every slot in the draft has a price tag, and it's not negotiable.
But of course that would require a salary cap.

my friends are right when they say I love the toilet humor cuz I laughed hardest at the doodie being x'd out.

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Originally Posted by etothep

haha, you know i rarely capitalize

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It was your final exam, so I think you made an exception.

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Originally Posted by reflections

Well I seriously doubt he got money from Tanzer, and if he did. Probably not too much. And i'm curious how much money Boras got paid. I doubt he did anything on commission. I always cringe when the players ask for so much money when they haven't done anything on the field. It's one of the few things that I think the NBA got right. Every slot in the draft has a price tag, and it's not negotiable.
But of course that would require a salary cap.

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He is still atleast a millionaire right now pending he didn't dispose of it in an irresponsible manner. And in Texas, he can probably survive decently with the Costco job if his wife works.

Just saying how he is more successful than the majority who are painting him out to be a loser.

Hubris and Greed are bad.
At the end of the, agent or not, it was his decision.
I feel bad, I wish he could have been more knowledgeable about how businesses worked.

You hear about guys always saying they want use thier scholarships in college in case a pro career doesn't work .. this is why.

perfect example of what excessive greed will get you. I am sure Harrington has regrets, but he probably could have eventually developed into a solid ball player if he could have developed somewhere with pros...not worrying so much about money.

I'm sorry if you are fortunate in any lifetime to play professional ball, you play for whatever the hell they offer you. this nickel and dime crap can ruin young careers. I would play pro ball and put my business on hold for 10 grand a year.

I wonder if Aaron Crowe will learn from this

It's not entirely a player's choice in terms of what he signs for. Sometimes you hear a veteran say he would "play for free" or something like that, but the Player's Union just wouldn't allow it. Granted, Harrington's situation was different. I still do have more sympathy for him after reading the article though, especially if their accusations are true. You just don't know how it works in the business of baseball until you've gone through a negotiation like that. Neither him nor his family had any experience with that, and they thought they could trust their agent.

Anyway, no big deal either way to me. He's happy where he is, so more power to him.

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Originally Posted by Jeffy25

I wonder if Aaron Crowe will learn from this

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Sitting out ONE year usually isn't going to be a big deal. If Crow fails to sign this year...and next...and next...etc. than he's comparable. I also blame the Crow situation on the Nationals, not him.

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Originally Posted by HoustonGM

Sitting out ONE year usually isn't going to be a big deal. If Crow fails to sign this year...and next...and next...etc. than he's comparable. I also blame the Crow situation on the Nationals, not him.

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If the Nationals get any worse, im going to blame the sluggish economy on them.

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Originally Posted by HoustonGM

Sitting out ONE year usually isn't going to be a big deal. If Crow fails to sign this year...and next...and next...etc. than he's comparable. I also blame the Crow situation on the Nationals, not him.

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probably true, but I wonder where Crowe will go this year, and if he will get signed

and to think San Diego State Stratsburg wants 6 years at 50 mil.....that price tag doesn't even compare to 9 years ago

Of course, Strasburg is much better now than Matt Harrington was in 2000. Not that he's necessarily worth that price tag, but I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up getting that.

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Originally Posted by BINGLEBOP

Of course, Strasburg is much better now than Matt Harrington was in 2000. Not that he's necessarily worth that price tag, but I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up getting that.

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8 mil a year and you have never faced a professional hitter in any league....no minor leagues, independent or majors...and you'll be gaurenteed enough to retire on for 6 years of work

Strasburg is not likely to get $50 mil. It's posturing from Boras.

Yeah, I agree. I don't think he'll get that much, but if he did, it wouldn't be a surprise to me.

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Originally Posted by defense

He is still atleast a millionaire right now pending he didn't dispose of it in an irresponsible manner. And in Texas, he can probably survive decently with the Costco job if his wife works.

Just saying how he is more successful than the majority who are painting him out to be a loser.

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True, but considering how he got into the situation first. I wouldn't put him in the responsible category.
Hopefully he didn't Mike Vick his money

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Originally Posted by reflections

Hopefully he didn't Mike Vick his money

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Or "invest" it with Lenny Dykstra.

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Originally Posted by BINGLEBOP

Or "invest" it with Lenny Dykstra.

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Yeah, if athletes didn't have to worry about getting money thieved from them by ponzi schemes, hanger on's and agents. Now they gotta worry about former players.

Now seriously....How did Dykstra's neck never explode like some guys head in "Scanners"?

Nails, is an idiot, and a terrible example to young ball players

dude reflections, I just noticed the heineken drinker on your sig. Much respect to you. Thats my beer of choice.

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Originally Posted by reflections

Well I seriously doubt he got money from Tanzer, and if he did. Probably not too much. And i'm curious how much money Boras got paid. I doubt he did anything on commission. I always cringe when the players ask for so much money when they haven't done anything on the field. It's one of the few things that I think the NBA got right. Every slot in the draft has a price tag, and it's not negotiable.
But of course that would require a salary cap.

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I'm not sure about that. I'd think that you could put a rookie wage scale in place without an overall salary cap.

Or you could bring back the old bonus baby rule, where if you sign an amateur player to a large bonus, you have to keep him on the major league for an entire season, or lose the rights to him.