First world problems right here.
Miami Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton, who signed the first $300 million contract in the history of North American sports back in November, indicated in an interview with Ben Reiter of Sports Illustrated that he was initially “angered” by the contract offer.Â
I think they were thinking I was going to be like, ‘Oh, well, sign me up!'” Stanton told Reiter. “I put the paper down, and I was like, ‘I’ll tell you right now that numbers don’t mean anything. If you think you’re just going to pay me a bunch of money, and I’m going to go live my lavish lifestyle, come to the park and get my ass kicked every day, and go back to my lavish lifestyle, you got another thing coming.’ I said that straight to their faces. I was angered.
If that’s not enough, it took Stanton two weeks of decision making before he actually took the 13-year, $325 million contract from the Marlins.
On the surface, Stanton’s “anger” was justified. He had seen the Marlins gut their rosters in the past in some of the most ridiculous fire sales in the history of the sport. To Stanton, it was more about wanting a plan from the organization than the money itself. From the way it sounds, Stanton’s anger stemmed from the fact that the powers to be in Miami expected him to quickly sign on the dotted line without any hesitation.
Money isn’t everything as it relates to professional athletes. To some, it’s even a secondary factor.
With that said, how could a contract structure like this force someone to tell those offering the deal that he was “angered?”
To the common person, that’s absurd.
Photo: USA Today