Funny Rotoworld Commentary

[ocmusicjunkie]

I think everyone is half-right about contract years.

I don't think a player can just decide "I need to be clutch this season. It's a contract year. I'm going to put up numbers".

BUT

He can decide to get into better shape. Hit the weight room more. Watch his diet. Spend more time in the cages taking BP.

It isn't that the added motivation helps him on the field. It's that the added motivation gets his lazy butt to work harder when he isn't on the field.

[Dodger Blue]

Its a long time ago but Danny Tartabull was the ultimate contract year player.

[Arlo]

Clutch and contracts years in the same thread? Take cover!

[jonnyblack]

I'm with the music junkie. Much of this contract year stuff goes back to character. There are guys like scott rolen and guys like javy lopez. nuff said.

As for Beltre, he had that apendectemy (sp?) operation in the Dominican Republic, a country known for its clean medical facilities and advanced research in extensive surgical recovery time. This happened during a crucial time in his development as a ball player, setting him back at least two and maybe three years. He is twenty-five, now, and not the overhyped teenager the dodgers presented in 1998. He is in the best shape of his life. I think it just happened to be in a contract year, in this particular case. He should be a solid player for the next decade.