OnlyBucs

353B3E3721283737520 wrote: Pat Meares is pretty high up on that list.




But didn't he get hurt badly soon after signing? He really could no longer play after that hand injury.

153332253323500 wrote: I've been hoping beyond hope that Polanco would start hitting but I'm now giving up.  I don't think it matters anymore.  Even if he were to go on a two week tear, which I'm not sure he's ever done in his career, the player coming back in return would be little more than minor league filler.
He's untradeable. Remember not only does he have a hefty salary, but he also will be due a 3 million dollar buyout.



Amazing, his buyout is higher than all but one player's salary on the team!




If Polanco's isn't the worst contract the Pirates have ever written it has to be in the top two.


Derek Bell was pretty bad.






And Raul Mondesi. He simply walked away. Nothing worse than quitting on your team.

5E787F6A636F786E660D0 wrote: I've been hoping beyond hope that Polanco would start hitting but I'm now giving up.  I don't think it matters anymore.  Even if he were to go on a two week tear, which I'm not sure he's ever done in his career, the player coming back in return would be little more than minor league filler.
He's untradeable. Remember not only does he have a hefty salary, but he also will be due a 3 million dollar buyout.



Amazing, his buyout is higher than all but one player's salary on the team!




If Polanco's isn't the worst contract the Pirates have ever written it has to be in the top two.
Here's a pretty fun free agent signing list to peruse:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... 1428273551


This link wouldn't open for me. Any suggestions?

164056424D57474C4156644349454D480A47240 wrote:

This link wouldn't open for me.  Any suggestions?
Try this. Then click on the tab "Pirates free agent signings, 1991-2020



https://legacy.baseballprospectus.com/c ... h-pirates/

2F796F7B746E7E75786F5D7A707C7471337E1D0 wrote: Pat Meares is pretty high up on that list.




But didn't he get hurt badly soon after signing?  He really could no longer play after that hand injury. 


he was injured before signing, everyone thought it was a minor injury.



Since signing a $14 million, four-year contract in April 1999, a month after a seemingly routine hand injury segued into an ever-worsening scenario of medical misfortunes, Meares has only occasionally resembled the player who hit .276 with 10 homers and 60 RBIs in 1997 for the Twins.



He was limited to 21 games in 1999, when his left hand so badly damaged he still cannot make a fist with it. Unable to grip a bat as he could before, he hit .240 with 13 homers in 2000 and .211 with four homers and 25 RBIs in 87 games last season.



"Something like this happens at the peak of your career … you can't make people understand how it feels," Meares said. "They look just at your batting average."



Meares seemed to be a real find for the Pirates after signing a one-year contract in 1999, solidifying a perennial Pirates' trouble spot at shortstop with steady hitting, occasional power and a reliable glove. Bonifay was so impressed during spring training, he began discussing a contract extension.



But just as spring training was concluding, Meares was struck on the left wrist by a pitch during an April 1, 1999, exhibition against the Phillies. The injury didn't seem serious, and with neither the Pirates nor Meares aware of the problems to come, the two sides completed the contract.



However, Meares later learned the hamate bone at the base of his hand was fractured, causing tendons that rubbed across the sheared bone to split and fray. The tendons were so damaged they had to be surgically tied together at the top of his hand, leaving the bottom of his hand so weakened he used the word "crippled" to describe it.



"It's the kind of injury that just doesn't happen to athletes _ it happens to roofers, people who fall and land on their hand," he said.



https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article ... and%20fray.

1E38392E38285B0 wrote: Pat Meares is pretty high up on that list.




But didn't he get hurt badly soon after signing?  He really could no longer play after that hand injury. 


he was injured before signing, everyone thought it was a minor injury.



Since signing a $14 million, four-year contract in April 1999, a month after a seemingly routine hand injury segued into an ever-worsening scenario of medical misfortunes, Meares has only occasionally resembled the player who hit .276 with 10 homers and 60 RBIs in 1997 for the Twins.



He was limited to 21 games in 1999, when his left hand so badly damaged he still cannot make a fist with it. Unable to grip a bat as he could before, he hit .240 with 13 homers in 2000 and .211 with four homers and 25 RBIs in 87 games last season.



"Something like this happens at the peak of your career … you can't make people understand how it feels," Meares said. "They look just at your batting average."



Meares seemed to be a real find for the Pirates after signing a one-year contract in 1999, solidifying a perennial Pirates' trouble spot at shortstop with steady hitting, occasional power and a reliable glove. Bonifay was so impressed during spring training, he began discussing a contract extension.



But just as spring training was concluding, Meares was struck on the left wrist by a pitch during an April 1, 1999, exhibition against the Phillies. The injury didn't seem serious, and with neither the Pirates nor Meares aware of the problems to come, the two sides completed the contract.



However, Meares later learned the hamate bone at the base of his hand was fractured, causing tendons that rubbed across the sheared bone to split and fray. The tendons were so damaged they had to be surgically tied together at the top of his hand, leaving the bottom of his hand so weakened he used the word "crippled" to describe it.



"It's the kind of injury that just doesn't happen to athletes _ it happens to roofers, people who fall and land on their hand," he said.



https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article ... and%20fray.




Thanks for that. I thought I remembered the injury coming soon after he signed the contract. It's hell getting old.