Saturday, May 15, 2004
Vidro’s staying “home”
Posted by Matthew NameeWell, this sure surprised me. Jose Vidro just signed a 4-year, $30 million contract extension with Montreal, taking one of '04-'05's hottest free-agent commodities off the market.
There's a message here, I think, but I'm not sure what it is. Vidro's theory? "By signing me, it's a sign we are going to have a home next year. We don't have a permanent home but I feel like in this team I'm in my home."
It's a nice move, anyway. The years and dollars are probably a little less than Vidro would've gotten on the open market, and he's one of the most consistent players in the game. Since 1999, Vidro has batted at least .300 every year, and his worst OBP since 2000 was .371 in 2001.
Matthew Namee cofounded The Hardball Times in 2004, when he was working as the assistant to baseball author and Red Sox executive Bill James. Matthew still lives in Kansas, where he is currently pursuing a law degree. He can be reached at mfnamee [at] gmail [dot] com.