Fielder, Hamels not happy with renewals
With contract renewals set to occur over the next few days, two big names stepped forward today to voice their displeasure with their team’s decisions.
Cole Hamels called his contract given to him by the Phillies a low blow, while Prince Fielder was upset with being renewed a second time in as many years.
Hamels was renewed at $500,000 and was said to be looking for “a couple hundred thousand” more than his renewal rate and indicated that he wouldn’t forget this later down the road.
They do want to keep you happy, and that will affect down the line with certain things that come up because you can’t just all of a sudden throw everything out at (a player) at the last second and think that’s really going to make him happy, because he’s still got check marks for what they didn’t do in the years before. I felt like it wasn’t necessarily equal compensation for what I do and for what I can do.
Fielder, who had his contract renewed for the second straight year, will receive $670,000 in 2008.
I’m not happy about it at all, the fact that they’ve renewed me two years in a row. There are a lot of guys with the same amount of time I have who have done a lot less than me and are getting paid a lot more. But my time is going to come and it’s coming quick, too.
Both players are likely to be arbitration eligible next season as they will either surpass the three years of service time or be granted an extra year of arbitration as a Super Two player, in Hamels’ case. The low balling on the part of each team’s front office may work for 2008, but both will see their salaries skyrocket in 2009 as the result of their arbitration hearings.
Filed under: Cole Hamels, Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies, Prince Fielder