Hey All,
Well, without being insensitive to Huff's issues, whatever they may be, I've got to remind everyone that MLB is a business, and Huff is an extremely high paid employee of the Giants' franchise. The money the franchise is paying him kept them from pursuing other players who could be producing for us, and his presence on the roster has hurt two prospects who need playing time at 1B.
If he is unable to play due to anything other than a physical injury, then he should be suspended without pay. And if he can't get his head together, then he should negotiate his release from his contract with the Giants, and go on about resolving his life issues...but not on the Giants' dime.
I really don't care about Aubrey Huff's personal problems, outside of their impact on the performance of the Giants. Heartless? Nope. Ask Aubrey Huff how much he'd care if my house burned down today. I don't know him, and he doesn't know me. The fact he plays for my favorite MLB team doesn't change that.
LoneStar
lone;
i know you will take some heat for this, but i have to agree with you 100% i do not like to see any human being suffer for whatever. yet in this case, huff has the resources to help get his life back on tract. he is lucky that he does not have to worry about where is next meal is coming from or that his housing will be taken away from him for not being able to make a payment. in his case, he should be able to get the best of professional help to solve his situation. he is lucky that this is affordable to him. most of the rest of our society does not to have this opportunity.
i wish huff the best in getting his life in order.
Hey mm,
"i know you will take some heat for this..."
Oh, I know. Everyone is so concerned about being politically correct in the Age of Victimization. Everyone is a bloody victim...no one is held to their personal responsibility.
I've got zero issue with Huff getting himself well...I just don't believe the Giants should have to pay him to get it done, or hold a roster spot for him while he's doing it. This isn't a physical injury resulting from his play on the field, it's a mental/emotional condition.
The guy ripped the club off for $11M in 2011, and is in the process of doing the same thing in 2012...while blocking our two top 1B prospects...he's already gotten all the passes and sympathy he's ever going to get from me.
When the Giants offered Huff the contract they did, they did an entire view of him before they sent their offer to him. It's their job to look at his physical makeup, mental makeup, substance abuse issues, off the field issues etc.etc..
MLB contracts are guaranteed as you know. And no one hands out 20+ million dollars without doing their homework on the entire makeup of a player..
Which is why players like Zach Greinke and Josh Hamilton will be considered "higher risk" players than their purely physical condition would suggest..
What I'm getting at is, if we should be upset that we've paid a player 22+ million dollars and blocked our future 1b prospects for a guy who regressed in his play, his physical condition, his attitude and now mental health, it should be Sabean.. it's not like all of this is some huge suprise. Think back to 2010. What so many people contributed his success to was "getting back into shape" and "playing for a winner finally motivating him"...
Huff accepted money that was offered to him by the people whose job it is to determine wether he was worth investing in. Everything else has just been Huff being Huff.. A beer drinking, lack of conditioning, overgrown kid playing a game, poorly..
i don't know enough about his "condition" to speak on it, neither do you. My wife is a clinical Psychologist and last night I talked to her about it. She said about 70% of the patients that come to her part time job seeking disability just need better diet and exercise and don't truly suffer from the condition. But for those 30% who do really struggle with it, it can be as crippling as any major physical ailment.
Hey heat,
Point taken.
I just don't agree that an employer should have to pay a guaranteed contract to a player with a non-work-related disability.
But if that's what the collective bargaining agreement says, then you're right, it would be on the club to do a full 360 screen of all players...especially those making more than $500K a year...before offering them a contract.
Still...how do you test to determine whether anxiety or other related disorders will emerge in the event of a divorce, death of a close relative, or some other event that may or may not ever come to pass?
How do you know that it is not work related?
No one knows here. My guess is that it is a little bit of everything. As it usually is in the case of a mental health diagnosis. In my own opinion, if his marriage was getting rocky and life was starting to fall apart for him, it would very likely affect his job. But nobody knows what his issues are except him, Bochy, and his family.
I am not even going to get into the issue of who "should" pay for this and whether he should step aside. Because if that means he should step aside I suppose that means everyone else should as well. Most of the population cannot afford to do that. It would be nice if we had a system in place in this country where you could take more than 5 days off and not lose vacation or personal days to do so. That is practicing good health. To me, the whole idea is discriminatory, which is the last thing anyone with a mental health disorder needs.
I hope Aubrey figures it all out. I would be surprised if he plays baseball ever again. I remember listening to an interview during the offseason on KNBR and I thought he sounded like he was done. He just seemed exhausted. I bet a lot of his personal issues have been going on for some time.
The fact is, who cares if he plays or not? I am sure that is the last thing on his mind (outside of maybe letting his teammates down) Aubrey understands that there are more important things in life than him playing baseball. Huff needs to take care of himself.
If Huff ever steps back into the batters box at AT&T, for the Giants, or any other team, I will stand and applaud him. Some people don't know when to separate sports and life. I consider myself the biggest Giants fan I know, but this guy deserves more respect than to call out his recent performance. It takes courage for him to do what he is doing and I recognize that. Thank you Emmjay for calling it out.
It should be interesting to hear Huff talk to the press tomorrow. I have no clue what to expect. It could be anything from "I'll be back in 10 days" to "I'm retiring from baseball for personal issues"
Hey eb,
"How do you know that it is not work related?"
Ahhh, a representative of the Age of Victimization has spoken.
If Huff is unable to perform for anything other than a physical injury suffered during the execution of his work duties, then it's not work related.
We're not talking about some rookie who was dumped onto the AT&T turf in swaddling clothes, like Crawford was in 2011. This is a veteran coming into the end of his playing years. Huff has been booed before, and he's been benched before. Where do you see a link between his personal emotional problems and the performance of his work duties?
Couldn't disagree with you more. I understand your point, but I don't share it.
(Don't worry, we're still friends!) :)
I totally agree with your synopsis of anxiety v. Depression disorders. Oftentimes physicians will prescribe the same medication to treat the two. SSRI's (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) are both used as treatments of both ailments. Hopefully Aubrey is getting the therapy and/or medications he needs to treat the ailment.
-RIP-
Hey mj,
I appreciate your response. It's not that I'm heartless...I've experienced anxiety attacks myself, and have taken meds for them, so I know what it feels like, and have sympathy for the man. But as a small business owner, there was no one there to give me time off with pay when I was having my problems, and my employees sure as heck weren't going to carry me. I would never expect them to.
But that's exactly what Huff is doing to the Giants, and regardless of what the collective bargaining agreement guarantees him, I believe he owes it to the franchise and his teammates to take personal responsibility for what is, IMO, a personal health issue.
The guy is a multi-millionaire, for heaven's sake, and money and a roster space is ALL I've spoken to here. I would never wish anything bad for Aubrey Huff, but I resent the idea of any employer being held responsible for a condition that has nothing to do with his employment.
Hey LGSF,
All I'm doing is separating business from emotion, and emotion from business.