McLane getting it from the Rocky Mountain News

[Ryan in Houston]

now this guy is a true  DOUCHE BAG

[HudsonHawk]

Quote:
now this guy is a true  DOUCHE BAG

Actually, Ringolsby is probably the best beat writer in all of baseball.  And he's not entirely off base here.  I don't agree that it's necessarily Mclane's fault, but there is a bad precedent being set with the Clemens situation.

[CJM]

I like Ringolsby too.  I'm kinda surprised he said McLane was the one that ran Nolan Ryan out of town.  I thought that was Dr. Mac.

[No? in Austin]

Quote:
I like Ringolsby too.  I'm kinda surprised he said McLane was the one that ran Nolan Ryan out of town.  I thought that was Dr. Mac.

Rigoslby was one of the media members who got caught spreading the rumor that McLane was going to low-ball Clemens with an offer because he loved the way Buchholz, Rodriquez and Nieve were pitching.

Now word is that McLane has offered 20 million for five months, a WOW of an offer.  Rigoslby and others who spread the original speculation/rumor are now caught with their pants down.  Any wonder TR would write this piece on McLane as a retort?  He is right in some sense, all this was avoidable (including making Rigolsby look like a fool) if only McLane would've allowed the Astros to offer arbitration.  That much is true.

But if you believe that this is about Clemens and his hurt feelings and getting a slap in the face, then TR has sold you a bill of goods.  This is about the media and McLane's relationship and perhaps how the in-bred reporting machine done fucked itself again.  Darn that McLane!

BTW - in terms of Selig and the bad precedent.  Ahum, what happened in 1999?  It was team Racket and eventually McLane who pushed the envelope on the "Trade me in the middle of my contract" clause, that made then GM Gerry Hunsicker mad as hell.  Hunsicker claimed that having to work a trade with a team *AND* pay the traded player as if he were a free agent was appalling and bode badly for the future of the mlb!  He blasted Team Racket and recieved kudos from other GMs around the league (flowers even, from the San Diego group).  McLane was the one who brought the negotiations back to life, however when Racket went to New York, he backed off his stance of a renegotiated contract to show that he wasn't about to push that button again and suffer the fallout that ensued.  Steinbrenner at the time couldn't afford the fallout either.

So here we are now, with Team Racket at the head of the class in terms of setting precedent once more in terms of free agency.  And, yes, it could've all been avoided had little ol' Drayton McLane just shut the door to that pandora's box when he could've.  Bad McLane, bad, bad, bad man.  Oh, and good businessman too.  Not necessarily good baseball man, but very good businessman.  And that is the part that is missing in TR's column.  That and the part where he's smarting from being totally wrong in his reporting a false rumor of lowballing by McLane.

[No? in Austin]

Quote:
I like Ringolsby too.  I'm kinda surprised he said McLane was the one that ran Nolan Ryan out of town.  I thought that was Dr. Mac.

Yup.  Dr. McMullen called Ryan "a despicable human being" on his way out.  Ironically, it was McLane who brought Ryan back into the fold and mended fences with the Ryan camp and the Astros.

Oopsy, sorry about that Tracy.

[guitarcec]

Quote:
Yup.  Dr. McMullen called Ryan "a despicable human being" on his way out.

i was amazed that someone would say this about a guy like nolan, who is widely recognized as nice, rather humble man, so i did some searching and couldn't find any quotes to that effect. do you have a source that does have one? if so, i would love a link.

i did, however, find a quote in which McMullen calls Tal Smith a "despicable human being."

 The Link

[pravata]

?Roger just told me that he was somewhat surprised but that he will live with it," Hendricks said. "Alan and I had told him about the possibility, but I believe, like most fans, he was still surprised at Drayton's decision."
The Link

Does that sound "spit in the face"?  Didn't the Astros pay the man the most that has ever been paid to a pitcher in the history of baseball last season?

"We told the Astros -- because it's their desire to know ? 'If you need an answer, you should presume he's not playing,'" Hendricks said at the Wyndham Anatole Hotel in Dallas, site of this year's Winter Meetings.

Hendricks said. ?If someone said, 'You have to decide today,' what will you do? The answer would be he would retire. He doesn't think at this point, based on the end of the season, that he's got seven months of baseball in him to go through that grind ..."

We told them to do what they need to do," Hendricks said. "If they offer arbitration, we understand. If they don't offer arbitration, we understand."
The Link

Ringolsby is not factoring in the Beltran fiasco, nor is he considering that the Astros were very close to obtaining Miguel Tejada.  How are the Astros responsible for any race other than the one they are in?

[CJM]

Great information Pravata.  The sad thing is most "fans" allow the media to think for them.  I have met many sports writers/columnists over the years, and 90% of the time it's somebody that was abused (or withdrawn) in H.S. with a need to now show how much better he is than everybody else (including the people they write about).

  The reading public is probably the most at fault when it comes to the state of sports journalism.  We allow some of these hacks to pass off anything they write as fact without being held accountable when they get it wrong (or talk from both sides of their mouth).  This is the ESPN era...damn the facts.

[Ryan in Houston]

Quote:
?Roger just told me that he was somewhat surprised but that he will live with it," Hendricks said. "Alan and I had told him about the possibility, but I believe, like most fans, he was still surprised at Drayton's decision."
The Link

Does that sound "spit in the face"?  Didn't the Astros pay the man the most that has ever been paid to a pitcher in the history of baseball last season?

"We told the Astros -- because it's their desire to know ? 'If you need an answer, you should presume he's not playing,'" Hendricks said at the Wyndham Anatole Hotel in Dallas, site of this year's Winter Meetings.

Hendricks said. ?If someone said, 'You have to decide today,' what will you do? The answer would be he would retire. He doesn't think at this point, based on the end of the season, that he's got seven months of baseball in him to go through that grind ..."

We told them to do what they need to do," Hendricks said. "If they offer arbitration, we understand. If they don't offer arbitration, we understand."
The Link

Ringolsby is not factoring in the Beltran fiasco, nor is he considering that the Astros were very close to obtaining Miguel Tejada.  How are the Astros responsible for any race other than the one they are in?

I had a nice little email exchange with Ringolsby, and he apologized for the factual error claiming that McLane ran Nolan Ryan out of town....

on the other stuff, he stood his ground.

However you want to slice it, not offering Clemens arbitration was a business move, and a logical one, considering what the Clemens camp was saying at the time--"I am probably done."

[homer]

 

Quote:
Correction
This column mistakenly said that current Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane ran pitcher Nolan Ryan out of town in the 1990s. The Astros were owned by John McMullen when Ryan left Houston in 1989.  

There is a the above correction included now, but the offending paragraph remains.

[JimR]

that is not why they did not offer arbitration. he held them up last year, and they were not going to get in that trap again.

[No? in Austin]

Quote:

Quote:
Yup.  Dr. McMullen called Ryan "a despicable human being" on his way out.

i was amazed that someone would say this about a guy like nolan, who is widely recognized as nice, rather humble man, so i did some searching and couldn't find any quotes to that effect. do you have a source that does have one? if so, i would love a link.

i did, however, find a quote in which McMullen calls Tal Smith a "despicable human being."

 The Link

That is very interesting indeed.  I have maintained that it was Ryan who he called "despicable", however seems I got my two stories incorrect.  It may of been Smith who he called this in order to justify hiring the inept Al Rosen, a crony friend of his.

Thanks.

[Arky Vaughan]

Quote:
That is very interesting indeed.  I have maintained that it was Ryan who he called "despicable", however seems I got my two stories incorrect.  It may of been Smith who he called this in order to justify hiring the inept Al Rosen, a crony friend of his.

Thanks.

You must not be a stuff-truster, Noe.

[pravata]

Quote:

Quote:
?Roger just told me that he was somewhat surprised but that he will live with it," Hendricks said. "Alan and I had told him about the possibility, but I believe, like most fans, he was still surprised at Drayton's decision."
The Link

Does that sound "spit in the face"?  Didn't the Astros pay the man the most that has ever been paid to a pitcher in the history of baseball last season?

"We told the Astros -- because it's their desire to know ? 'If you need an answer, you should presume he's not playing,'" Hendricks said at the Wyndham Anatole Hotel in Dallas, site of this year's Winter Meetings.

Hendricks said. ?If someone said, 'You have to decide today,' what will you do? The answer would be he would retire. He doesn't think at this point, based on the end of the season, that he's got seven months of baseball in him to go through that grind ..."

We told them to do what they need to do," Hendricks said. "If they offer arbitration, we understand. If they don't offer arbitration, we understand."
The Link

Ringolsby is not factoring in the Beltran fiasco, nor is he considering that the Astros were very close to obtaining Miguel Tejada.  How are the Astros responsible for any race other than the one they are in?

I had a nice little email exchange with Ringolsby, and he apologized for the factual error claiming that McLane ran Nolan Ryan out of town....

on the other stuff, he stood his ground.

However you want to slice it, not offering Clemens arbitration was a business move, and a logical one, considering what the Clemens camp was saying at the time--"I am probably done."

That deals with the factual error.  How about a failures to understand context and a failure of Ringolsby in the internal logic of his argument.

(Context) ?It would have been Clemens who had snubbed the Astros by refusing to accept their arbitration offer?.?

I think we all understand the Astros policy towards arbitration.  Did Clemens/Hendricks negotiate at all with the Astros prior to the deadline to declare arbitration?

(Internal logic) ?Yeah, right. As was argued back then - and what has become apparent now - is that Clemens was in a special budget class, and if he decided to pitch again he would create a revenue stream that would offset his salary.
 
So what happens?
 
The Astros' tireless efforts to improve their roster with the $18 million Clemens made last season ?

?.And, suddenly, even though they had approached the off-season as if they would not have to pay Clemens' salary, the Astros are scrambling to negotiate with Clemens.?

The money to pay Clemens was ?a special budget class? , yet that special budget class could be used to sign other players?  And this special money had to be scrambled for when Clemens was again available?  

Also, Ringolsby fails to address, not that he had to but it is pertinent to Clemens? situation, why, if Clemens really had wanted to play, why his answers to all efforts to understand his situation was to advise the Astros to go on without him, and agaiin why has he not signed with the Yankees, Red Sox, or Rangers already?  

This sentence is just self serving,

?McLane wants to at least create the impression he did everything within his power to retain Clemens??

$20 million dollars, starting the negotiations makes quite an impression; even if it will be prorated.

Ringolsby is typically much better than this.

[CrawfordBoxes]

Ringolsby is right, His opinion was very constructive in my opinion & to tell you the truth, I agree with him. The grocer didn't do everything possible, with that being said hopefully Drayton will get the deal done so we can have Clemens because I think he can still help us, But with the emergence of TBUCK and company it's not as high of a concern.

[pravata]

Quote:
Ringolsby is right, His opinion was very constructive in my opinion & to tell you the truth, I agree with him. The grocer didn't do everything possible, with that being said hopefully Drayton will get the deal done so we can have Clemens because I think he can still help us, But with the emergence of TBUCK and company it's not as high of a concern.

Right about what?  That "...it was (Mclane's) power-monger mentality that created this situation." ?  How is that constructive?  What does that explain? I'd be interested to hear an argument from someone (anyone, not just you) who understands what the Beltran negotiations, and even the Clemens negotiations last season did to the Astros about how the Astros could have signed Clemens.  If Mclane did not do everything possible, what more do you think the Astros could have done to get Clemens on the field?

[CJM]

I'm sure Clemens is very happy with the way things have gone.  He gets to keep doing his little drama show for much longer than if the Astros would have offered him arbitration.  Who's to say Clemens or his people didn't tell the Astros not to offer him arbitration because there was no chance he would play a complete season, and a very slim chance that he would play at all (and if he did play it would be with the Astros).  This works out better for him.  If that did happen the Astros know that going public with it would piss off Clemens and probably guarantee his retirement.  Who benefits the most from Clemens not being offered arbitration? Clemens gets a semi bidding war for his services without looking bad to the general public.

I'm not saying that this is what happened.  I'm only pointing out that this has been the best possible outcome for somebody that wants to start the season a few months late, but still needs to be the center of attention.  If the Astros were told that Clemens would either pitch for them starting in June or retire, but only if they didn't offer him arbitration would they say no?  The small PR backlash would be forgotten after Clemens either signs or announces his retirement in late May, or June. This was a business decision (not really a baseball decision), and how many people think McLane has made it this far by making bad business decisions?  This wouldn't be the first "handshake" deal that has taken place behind the scenes.

[CJM]

Quote:
Ringolsby is right, His opinion was very constructive in my opinion & to tell you the truth, I agree with him. The grocer didn't do everything possible, with that being said hopefully Drayton will get the deal done so we can have Clemens because I think he can still help us, But with the emergence of TBUCK and company it's not as high of a concern.

By the way, how constructive was his opinion when he said McLane was going to "low ball" Clemens?

[Arky Vaughan]

Quote:
Ringolsby is right, His opinion was very constructive in my opinion & to tell you the truth, I agree with him. The grocer didn't do everything possible, with that being said hopefully Drayton will get the deal done so we can have Clemens because I think he can still help us, But with the emergence of TBUCK and company it's not as high of a concern.

Ringolsby doesn't make any distinction between being willing to pay Clemens big money in arbitration and being willing to pay Clemens big money now. But there's a huge difference.

Under the arbitration rules, the Astros would be bound to pay whatever the arbitrator decided -- either the Astros' offer or Clemens' offer -- but not something in between.

Now, the Astros have the right to say no to any deal that they deem excessive. It's the difference between forced to pay $20 million with a gun to their head or agreeing to pay $20 million with the right to walk away.

[Arky Vaughan]

Quote:
Right about what?  That "...it was (Mclane's) power-monger mentality that created this situation." ?  How is that constructive?  What does that explain? I'd be interested to hear an argument from someone (anyone, not just you) who understands what the Beltran negotiations, and even the Clemens negotiations last season did to the Astros about how the Astros could have signed Clemens.  If Mclane did not do everything possible, what more do you think the Astros could have done to get Clemens on the field?

Apparently in the Richard Justice/Tracy Ringolsby universe (acknowledging that the laws of nature in the Richard Justice universe can change at any second), apparently the Astros should have been willing to hand Clemens a check, with the amount blank, and with the signature "Drayton McLane Jr." filled in at the bottom. Giving Clemens the right to pen in any figure he wanted would apparently have been enough for them.

[OldBlevins]

Quote:

Quote:
?Roger just told me that he was somewhat surprised but that he will live with it," Hendricks said. "Alan and I had told him about the possibility, but I believe, like most fans, he was still surprised at Drayton's decision."
The Link

Does that sound "spit in the face"?  Didn't the Astros pay the man the most that has ever been paid to a pitcher in the history of baseball last season?

"We told the Astros -- because it's their desire to know ? 'If you need an answer, you should presume he's not playing,'" Hendricks said at the Wyndham Anatole Hotel in Dallas, site of this year's Winter Meetings.

Hendricks said. ?If someone said, 'You have to decide today,' what will you do? The answer would be he would retire. He doesn't think at this point, based on the end of the season, that he's got seven months of baseball in him to go through that grind ..."

We told them to do what they need to do," Hendricks said. "If they offer arbitration, we understand. If they don't offer arbitration, we understand."
The Link

Ringolsby is not factoring in the Beltran fiasco, nor is he considering that the Astros were very close to obtaining Miguel Tejada.  How are the Astros responsible for any race other than the one they are in?

I had a nice little email exchange with Ringolsby, and he apologized for the factual error claiming that McLane ran Nolan Ryan out of town....

on the other stuff, he stood his ground.

However you want to slice it, not offering Clemens arbitration was a business move, and a logical one, considering what the Clemens camp was saying at the time--"I am probably done."

I emailed him too, and he was very apologetic in his response.  He usually is a good writer.