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Thread: Lofton turned down a minor league deal

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    Lofton turned down a minor league deal

    Lofton Turned Down Two Offers
    Kenny Lofton tells Ken Rosenthal, "age ain't nothing but a number." However, he feels that his age (41 in May) is the reason he's not getting offers he deems acceptable this winter. He's turned down two offers: a minor league one from the Reds and a Major League one from the Rays in excess of $1MM.

    Rosenthal suggests Lofton may retire, which would be a shame. I don't think fans would think less of Lofton if he played for a million or two; most wouldn't even know his salary. As a part-time player with suspect defense, does he really deserve more? Maybe it was last year's $6MM salary that was out of line.

    Lofton says his hands are tied. But the reality is that his pride, rather than a lack of interest in his services, could lead to his retirement.

    www.mlbtraderumors.com

    Of the two, I think I'd rather have Patterson anyway. Good to see Wayne at least not overpaying for Dusty's vets.
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    Re: Lofton turned down a minor league deal

    good.
    "My mission is to be the ray of hope, the guy who stands out there on that beautiful field and owns up to his mistakes and lets people know it's never completely hopeless, no matter how bad it seems at the time. I have a platform and a message, and now I go to bed at night, sober and happy, praying I can be a good messenger." -Josh Hamilton

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    Re: Lofton turned down a minor league deal

    I'm guessing that Lofton was wanted in addition to Patterson

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    Re: Lofton turned down a minor league deal

    Quote Originally Posted by princeton View Post
    I'm guessing that Lofton was wanted in addition to Patterson
    I can't imagine that. I think they put out minor league offers to Patterson and Lofton, and CP was the first to bite. Why bring Lofton aboard now when they already have CP, Freel, Hopper, Dickerson and Bruce?
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    Re: Lofton turned down a minor league deal

    Quote Originally Posted by Benihana View Post
    . But the reality is that his pride, rather than a lack of interest in his services, could lead to his retirement.
    .
    Kind of a harsh thing to say by the writer. Lofton is 41 years old. I'm sure he's set for life financially. What if Rosenthall was laid off, but financially secure for life. Would he be willing to take a job at 1/6 of his former salary (Rays' offer) or audtion as an unpaid intern in hopes of landing a job at a newspaper (Reds offer)? I don't think so.

    If the owners want to play hardball with salaries, they've got to realize that some players like Lofton are going to opt to retire. I would've liked to see Lofton play one more year, but I can see where he's coming from.
    [Phil ] Castellini celebrated the team's farm system and noted the team had promising prospects who would one day be great Reds -- and then joke then they'd be ex-Reds, saying "of course we're going to lose them". #SellTheTeamBob

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    Re: Lofton turned down a minor league deal

    Quote Originally Posted by Benihana View Post
    I can't imagine that. I think they put out minor league offers to Patterson and Lofton, and CP was the first to bite. Why bring Lofton aboard now when they already have CP, Freel, Hopper, Dickerson and Bruce?
    Patterson is here for defense. Lofton would upgrade Hopper.

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    Re: Lofton turned down a minor league deal

    Wow, why the heck were we trying to get LOFTON!? Do we need another old outfielder or was this purely a clubhouse move? Cause I hear he was quite the clubhouse buzz kill over in Cleveland - getting actually angry at players for the "pie in the face" routine.
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    Re: Lofton turned down a minor league deal

    Krivsky does not insprire confidence in me when I read stuff like this. Yikes. Lofton is not even needed in Louisville.

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    Re: Lofton turned down a minor league deal

    I'm pretty sure this happened before the Reds signed Patterson. I'm surprised everyone seems surprised about it considering all the rumors the Reds were interested in him. IIRC Baker even said Lofton was looking for a major league deal which was a hint at the time that he turned the Reds down (this was before Patterson was signed).

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    Re: Lofton turned down a minor league deal

    Quote Originally Posted by princeton View Post
    Patterson is here for defense. Lofton would upgrade Hopper.

    The roster is too LH as it is without adding a Lofton layer on top of the Patterson veneer
    Never overlook the obvious

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    Re: Lofton turned down a minor league deal

    Quote Originally Posted by OnBaseMachine View Post
    I'm pretty sure this happened before the Reds signed Patterson. I'm surprised everyone seems surprised about it considering all the rumors the Reds were interested in him. IIRC Baker even said Lofton was looking for a major league deal which was a hint at the time that he turned the Reds down (this was before Patterson was signed).
    Exactly.. The Reds went after Loften first and when he turned down the offer, the Reds then went after Patterson

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    Re: Lofton turned down a minor league deal

    Quote Originally Posted by redsfan4445 View Post
    Exactly.. The Reds went after Loften first and when he turned down the offer, the Reds then went after Patterson
    Good. I'd rather have Patterson. Just not leading off.

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    Re: Lofton turned down a minor league deal

    Quote Originally Posted by REDREAD View Post
    Kind of a harsh thing to say by the writer. Lofton is 41 years old. I'm sure he's set for life financially. What if Rosenthall was laid off, but financially secure for life. Would he be willing to take a job at 1/6 of his former salary (Rays' offer) or audtion as an unpaid intern in hopes of landing a job at a newspaper (Reds offer)? I don't think so.

    If the owners want to play hardball with salaries, they've got to realize that some players like Lofton are going to opt to retire. I would've liked to see Lofton play one more year, but I can see where he's coming from.
    Redread: It appears that what you just described is pride. In both examples, Lofton and Rosenthal, it would be pride that would be keeping them from taking the job. They would be too proud to step into a job for which they feel they have proven they are over qualified for. We all succumb to pride and often regret it later. Maybe Lofton could just take the $1M (yes, one million dollars, not one hundred, or one thousand or even one hundred thousand dollars) to play baseball for one more year. If he's too proud to take the money because he thinks he's worth a lot more, I can think of about a hundred charities that would be willing to accept it. Maybe it would make him feel better if just did it for someone else. Sorry, I have a hard time feeling badly for a 41 year old baseball player who has made in excess of $60 million dollars in his career and now is whinning about no one being willing to pay him more than a million to play for another year. Harsh or not, that's nothing but an ego trip.

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    Re: Lofton turned down a minor league deal

    Quote Originally Posted by RedlegJake View Post
    Good. I'd rather have Patterson. Just not leading off.
    Corny Lofterson. Lofton leads off, Patterson plays defense. Think they look enough alike?
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    Re: Lofton turned down a minor league deal

    Quote Originally Posted by blumj View Post
    Corny Lofterson. Lofton leads off, Patterson plays defense. Think they look enough alike?
    That would be a pretty good player -now Kenny 5 years ago? heck yeah.

    The thing is, players get the blame when they are misused about as much as the manager. If Dusty leads Patterson off most of the time its on Dusty, imo, not Corey, because he's been up long enough for Baker to have a solid grasp of his strengths and weaknesses -and leading him off is about the easiest way to make Corey look bad, when he'd be a positive batting around 7th or 8th with his speed and defense. Some players have a lot of value used correctly but can hurt you a lot used wrong and Corey falls into that category. Contrast that with an all round great hitter like Dunn. If you bat him in the wrong spot you don't harness all his effectiveness but he doesn't hurt you. At the other end is Castro, no matter what you do with him he's going to kill you if he sees many ABs. You bat Corey in the right spot, Dunn anywhere and Castro never unless you've got no choice.

    For the guys who'll jump all over the Dunn comments about batting anywhere, I know he helps a lot more if he's hitting higher than the 5 hole - but my point is he is going to be a force wherever he is. And he validates my argument that players often get criticism that managers actually deserve - Dunner has been used in the worst spots for his skills so often in his career it affects his numbers and ups the criticism of him as a player. Much of which goes to Msrs. Boone, Miley and Narron rightfully.


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