Money isn't everything
posted: Saturday, April 14, 2007
Jake Westbrook might have been the most coveted free-agent pitcher this offseason, with Carlos Zambrano likely to re-sign with the Cubs. Pitching-starved teams would have looked at Westbrook's reliability, his durability, his ability, and someone probably would have pitched him a $60 million offer.
But here's the thing: In Jake Westbrook's world, there really is no practical difference between $60 million and the $33 million he took to re-sign with the Indians on Friday, in a three-year deal. The difference is just numbers, money that he almost certainly wouldn't spend, anyway. "Not with the way I was brought up," said Westbrook.
He already has a home in Cleveland and a home in Georgia, and his family is comfortable, already. "We felt real strong about what we had here," Westbrook said over the phone Friday evening. "We know what we have here. The unknown is something we didn't really want to test out. I've got a comfort level here as a player, with the organization, but as a family, we've got one, too. In that sense, we're very happy."
Westbrook pitched briefly for the Yankees in 2000, and I can remember him sitting at his small locker in Fenway Park and reading a Bible. He was quiet and reserved, in a clubhouse of superstars, but as a beat writer, you got a really strong sense from Westbrook then that he was extraordinarily grounded, someone who knew exactly how he believed he should conduct himself, someone who had a strong faith;
he still does.
"He is truly an exceptional guy," Cleveland general manager Mark Shapiro wrote in an e-mail. "This job ultimately is about betting on people. We gather all of the objective information available, and in cases like Jake, all it does is confirm what we already know.
"There is not a player we know that has higher character, professionalism, and work ethic. He is an elite preparer at every level and has evolved into a leader on our team. In the end, this deal would not have gotten done unless Jake had wanted to be here and had made the choice to do so. Clearly, like Carlos Guillen, this is an example of a player appreciating his teammates and his environment and making a decision to remain without knowing all of the alternatives and upside out there. Special person."
If Westbrook had chosen to test the market and pursue more money, it would have been his absolute right. But it is not surprising that, in the end, he took far less cash than he might have made because he recognized that what he has now makes him happy.
"It's awesome," he said. "I'm very much at peace with this, and now it's just a matter of going out and trying to win baseball games for this team."
Jim Ingraham wonders, with good humor, if Westbrook
reads the papers.
• On the day that the Indians announced Westbrook's signing,
Shapiro didn't want to talk about negotiations with Travis Hafner, writes Bud Shaw. A teammate says Westbrook is
worth every penny.