Article on Delgado

March 6, 200521 yr

I don't know if this was posted already but it's a good read

JUPITER, Fla.?Former Blue Jay (reluctantly) Carlos Delgado insists he's done as a major-league player after his current contract expires.

And despite the congratulatory phone call from president Paul Godfrey, leaving the door open for a return to Toronto, the proud Puerto Rican slugger is not sure of his future in real life, beyond this $52 million (all figures U.S.), four-year (plus an option) deal with the Marlins.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there," Delgado said. "(Godfrey) did make a phone call the very next day, if not the same day. He said thanks and wished me the best. He said the door here is always open. It goes to show the kind of classy guy he is. But I have to deal with what I have in front of me now. If the opportunity comes and something works out, it would be nice for both of us. But I can't commit to anything."

Godfrey, the consummate real-life politician, deep down might have had ulterior motives for the offer to Delgado. One idea might have been to head off a potentially rancorous exit for the former fan favourite regarding the way he was handled on the way out the SkyDome door.

The Jays underestimated the free-agent market. They lowballed him with an initial offer: two years, $12 million. They compounded it by asking his agent, David Sloane, to agree to turn down their offer of arbitration, at the deadline, so the Jays would receive two draft-pick compensation. That's a slap and would also be a bad business decision for the player. If a team knows they will lose draft picks, there are fewer bidders.

"Definitely," Delgado nodded. "I thought (the offer) was low. I don't know if they underestimated the market or they just made a courtesy offer. Whatever, it wasn't going to cut it. That's why we didn't agree (to decline arbitration). It wasn't going to put me in a good position.

"From the fans' point of view, it would have made me look like an ass. Here's this guy, they offered him arbitration and he turned it down. Who the hell does he think he is? It wasn't the best decision for me."

Another team that grossly underestimated the total package that is the man was the Mets. New GM Omar Minaya and his assistant, Tony Bernazard, a former official with the players' association misplayed the race card. They approached Delgado as a fellow Latino, instead of, first, as a man. Mistake.

"At the beginning, that was their approach," Delgado said. "It doesn't matter if you're Latin, American or Italian, if we're going to talk business, talk business. I'm not doing you any favours, you're not doing me any favours because we're speaking in Spanish. I'm a man first. I am nobody to tell anybody how to approach me. You do what you have to do, then, I decide what I want to do."

I have some good friends there.'

The Mets could have been front-runners, with a more subtle approach. They had been on an off-season roll, with Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran both responding positively to Bernazard's culture-first approach. But on the team's recruiting trip to Puerto Rico for Beltran, they lost Delgado.

"Sometimes you want to kill two birds with the same stone," Delgado explained. "You've known you're coming to Puerto Rico for a while. So you wait until the last day. It's not like I live around the corner from the airport. I live two hours away.

"If there's something so important you've got to tell me, call me and say, `I want to talk to you. Can you make it to San Juan or can we come to Aguila?' Don't come and stay in Puerto Rico for two hours, then turn around and blame it on me."

Another frustration for Delgado, in terms of where he wanted to play, was the negotiating style of the Orioles. Face it, if Delgado had signed with the O's, his numbers over the next five years at Camden Yards would put him in hall-of-fame territory.

"I kept telling David I wanted to talk to the Orioles," Delgado said. "I'd really like to play there. But they were kind of slow. I know Mr. (Peter) Angelos was dealing with the compensation money with D.C. and this and that. But I made every effort, pretty much until the last day to tell David, `I want to keep talking to the Orioles. I want to see what they have to say.'"

In the end, it was the Marlins who delivered the goods ? with an approach that included lunch at Joe's Stone Crab in Miami, personal attention to detail, respect and the right money. He leaves a leadership void in the Jays' clubhouse, but believes that the growth will continue with some of his pupils.

"I watched Vernon Wells become a major-leaguer," Delgado said. "I watched Doc Halladay bounce back and become the most dominant pitcher in 2003. I will always remember them. It's nice. It's as if you're a teacher or a mentor and you see your guys doing good things.

"Take a kid like Alexis Rios. He's going to be a star. He'd do good on his own, but I felt good when I'd take him and say, `Alexis, if you do it this way, or you do this that way.' The same with Orlando (Hudson), I'd say, `Orlando, you're awesome. You're going to be great, but maybe you want to do this different,' or `maybe you don't want to say this at this time.' I've seen him come a long way. It makes me feel good. But, really, they did it. I didn't. I can tell somebody, but if you're not willing to try, I'm good for nothing."

Clearly, a big part of Delgado will always remain in Toronto.

"I've been involved with a few charities, like Special Olympics," he said. "As long as I have the time, I will come back. Toronto is a cool place, a great place. I have some good friends there. I'm going to miss the Yorkville area and all the great restaurants. In fact, I think I'll miss everything about Toronto."

The Blue Jays will find out how much they miss Delgado

From the Toronto Star

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