What, Exactly, Is a “Performance Bonus?”
Along with the news that Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon are reuniting to join the Rays comes word that Damon will be paid a $750,000 performance bonus. I’m not even going to attempt to make a bad joke about performance.
(Okay, I just did. Sorry about that.) Anyhow, I’m wondering how the Rays will determine whether or not Johnny earns his $750,000 in 2011. Will the bonus be based on the number of tickets sold throughout the course of the season or the number of bodies that actually show up at the Trop? If so, how would they attribute the totals to Damon, as opposed to any other player? Or maybe it has to do with how many Damon jerseys they move? How many bobble head dolls? I don’t mean to be deliberately obtuse. I just don’t get it. Can someone explain?
As for the Angels’ acquisition of Vernon Wells, I’m glad he’s out of the AL East. He may be a streaky player for whom Anaheim overpaid, but he always seemed to do damage against the Yankees and I’m not sorry to see him go west.
Meanwhile, we head into another weekend without answers for our rotation. I remain mystified by this. Yes, Yankee fans are spoiled, used to having our pick of the best guys available, blah blah blah. So what. We’ve long moved past the years when Andy Hawkins and Dave LaPoint were our aces. We deserve better. Right, Hal? Look at me. I’m talking to you.
Confessions of a She-Fan 
”Those Oldies but Goodies remind me of you-oo…”
— with apologies to Little Caesar & The Romans, let’s give Rays Renegades a tip of the cap and a hearty Good Luck… hey, it just underscores what we know, and you SoCal-ers take for granted…beisbol is ENTERTAINMENT. Remember the Wheeze Kids of Philly, circa 1983? And they won a pennant, too…so yanevaknow! Maybe Johnny D will regrow his “Jesus” look, only pronounce it Hay-Zeus in honor of his new/old teammate, Dreadlock Manny. Oh, the possibilities…at least the Rays will be FUN now…!
Don’t know what to think about what fun we stodgy old pinstripers will have. So right, Jane…another pitcher or six would HELP…wherefore art thou, Cashmaneo…?
But that’s OK. No snow but arctic cold in D.C. today…we toodle down the road to Va. to visit some old friends, one of whom is a BIG Yankee fan…bringing him copies of some old WS videos, and a Sinatra CD…good times guaranteed…!
Yeah, Dave. Maybe Johnny will return to his “Jesus” look with Tampa, although wouldn’t he have done it in Detroit if he wanted it back? Too hot down there for all that hair. I say he shaves it all off this time! Wherefore art thou, Cashmaneo? Beats me. He’s had a busy winter, rappelling down a building, eating pancakes in CT, celebrity bartending. Maybe he’s having a mid-life crisis. Stay warm today and have fun in VA with your friends.
Not sure Hal can hear ya, what with that large obstacle of a toupee on the top of his dome 😉
–Jeff
http://redstatebluestate.mlblogs.com/
http://mtrredstatebluestate.com
Jane…
This is a hoot! But interesting. Tropicana Field, where the Tampa Bay Rays play is not in Tampa, but in across-the-bridge St. Petersburg, which has much in common with a retirement community, and is quite near the spectacular Salvador Dali Museum. Plans for a new stadium are stalled. Attendance is pathetic, even when the Rays lead the division, except when the Yankees and RedSox come to play, then you can’t get a ticket or a parking space, because a lot of folks in Florida are from Some Place Else. You would think because the Rays have become contenders that ticket sales would improve, but then there was this recession. So it’s a big issue.
I can just hear the negotiations:
Boras: “But you have to pay him more — all the Yankee fans & all the RedSox fans will come to see Johnny Damon play!”
Friedman: “Öh, yeah? We were the ALDS champs last year and still had empty seats!”
Boras: “But this is Johnny freakin’ Damon… and he’ll be with Manny. You’re going to have to turn them away at the door. You won’t have enough hot dogs to sell when these two hot dogs come to town. You know it’s true!”
Friedman: “You have any idea how hard it is to get a Tampa resident to come to a game in St. Pete? It’s like getting a New Yorker to go to Jersey. Yeah, it’s just like that. Tell you what, how about we give Johnny an extra $150,000 for every extra quarter million dollars in ticket sales we see after he gets here. Tiered. Additive. If we earn it, he earns it. Deal?”
Boras: “WTF? Deal!”
Yikes, I should have made one of those cool animations! Anyway, the season is getting inneresting!
Damon theories at http://baseball4girls2.blogspot.com/search/label/Damon
Regards, Renée
I know exactly where the Trop is, Renee, having been there more than once. I meant “Tampa” as in the name of the team. (I still don’t know what they’re not called the “St. Pete Rays,” but never mind.) I like your scenario between Friedman and Boras, but I have to believe it was Boras who suggested the bonus. It just sounds like something he would offer to sweeten the deal. Btw, do you really think the low attendance is due to the difficulty in getting people to drive over the bridge to St. Pete (as well as the recession)? It’s really not far so that one puzzles me. I always thought it had more to do with all the snow birds and, as you say, the fact that people are from Someone Else.
It’s not a rug, Jeff! I’ve seen it blowing in the wind! LOL
It’s definitely a “do,” Paul. But then his father had a lot of head hair, real or not.
I never noticed how “Trump-like” Hal’s hair really was. That takes some time and effort to do.
http://paullebowitz.com.previewyoursite.com/blog/?p=267
LOL, Melissa. And how did you know that movie is one of my all-time favorites? I can recite every line. “Oh, Jerry. Let’s not ask for the moon. We have the stars.” Sigh.
Me thinks Hal must be a Bette Davis fan:
http://www.altfg.com/Stars/n/now-voyager-2.jpg
Melissa
PS I’m still here – I’ve been reading but not commenting!
Jane,
It is actually a escalating bonus check incentive based on home attendance where Damon will be issued a Rays payroll bonus check of $150K each time the Rays hit attendance numbers at the 1.75 million, 1.85 million,1.95 million, 2.05 million and 2.25 million for a possible $ 6 million dollar haul in 2011.
Bet that is the last time Damon’s agent Scott Boras uses a ploy of his player being an attendance enducer. It is a bold idea, but iof it works…..look out MLB!
Rays
Thanks for the specifics of Damon’s deal, Renegade. A bold move indeed. What I still don’t understand is how Boras managed to convince the Rays that his client would be directly responsibility for the upward attendance figures at the Trop, but good for him for trying it and getting it.