Going to Mexico
We’ve had several e-mails about the news that one of our best pitchers, Lee Gwaltney has gone to the Mexican League. Some fans seem to think that we “sold” Lee to the Mexican League for money. Nothing could be further from the truth. We do not receive a penny for Lee’s contract from the Mexican League.
Lee went to the Mexican League because they offered him nearly three times what he can make in our league due to our salary cap. Mexican clubs are not bound by American laws and/or contractual agreements so there is nothing we can do to stop them from raiding our rosters and offering much larger salaries. The Mexican League teams play in mostly large cities and in larger ballparks so they have a much higher salary structure than all American independent leagues. They are also much more impatient. They have roster limits for American players and if an American pitcher has two or three bad outings in a row, or a hitter has a bad stretch of games, they will bring in another guy immediately. They are constantly scanning the independent league teams’ statistics and offering contracts to players who are racking up great numbers, such as Lee. It happened to us last year with Pedro Flores. They offered Pedro several thousand more than we were paying and he left in mid season. He had a couple of rough outings down there and he was back with us pretty quickly. There are other factors which enter into the player’s experience and length of tenure, such as the language barrier (which was NOT a problem for Pedro) with regard to not understanding what the other guys in the clubhouse are talking about all day and what the manager or coaches may be saying in team meetings, etc, some rugged bus rides, spotty playing field conditions, and unruly fans who deride players, especially Americans when their performance is the least bit shaky. It all adds up to make the big bucks WELL EARNED. So… We have to let him go, wish him well, and let him know that we will welcome him back when the Mexican League season ends (which can be in time to rejoin us if his team is not involved in playoffs), or sooner if he wishes to return to the comfortable surroundings in good old Fort Worth USA.
In the meantime, the Cats’ players, coaches and staff will press on with the mission of presenting the best possible effort we can put forth on the field and off, every day.
JPD
