Ian Desmond agreed to a one-year, $8 million deal with the Rangers on Sunday and it might be the most disappointing day of his professional career. In 2014, Desmond turned down a seven-year, $107 million deal from the Nationals. Last November, he turned down a one-year, $15.8 million qualifying offer in order to hit free agency. Do the math and the shortstop — he will likely move to left field in Texas — has turned down a combined $122.8 million over the last two years.
I should begin by stating the patently obvious: no one should be feeling particularly sorry for Ian Desmond. Though he may have made one of the most thoroughly bone-headed, greed-driven decisions in sports history, Desmond is in no danger of having to wonder where his next Big Mac is coming from. The gross overestimation of his market value aside, he will continue to have plenty of disposable income, though not nearly as much as he would if he’d made that decision with his rational brain instead of the one driven by greed, avarice, an over-inflated estimation of his worth.
I’m still trying to wrap my head around the reality that “Desmond turned down a seven-year, $107 million deal” in 2014. That’s an average of $15.285 MILLION per year. For seven years. More than most mere mortals could possibly hope to earn in their lifetime, much less one years. I’m sorry, but if someone offered me that kind of money, there are only two questions I’d ask:
- Where do I sign?
- How quickly may I sign?
How full of oneself must one be in order to turn down contract offers totaling almost $123 million over the past two years? While I understand that professional sports careers are short and that an athlete must endeavor to make as much as possible in the short window afforded them, there’s simply no rational explanation for Desmond’s astonishingly poor business acumen. Having confidence in one’s abilities is a necessary aspect of athletic success, but there’s a very fine line separating healthy arrogance from self-destructive greed leading to exceedingly poor business decisions. Desmond, clearly swayed by his press clippings, apparently never stopped to consider that $15.285 is a boatload of money. How much is enough? It seems Desmond passed on the opportunity to find the answer to that very simple question. Most lesser mortals could only dream of having the opportunity to make that kind of money, which in my case would leave me financially set for life in every sense.
How much is enough?
In the future, I’d suspect Desmond will serve as a cautionary tale for those athletes who might think themselves to be God’s gift to their sport. “Pulling a Desmond” might just become common vernacular for athletes making seriously ill-advised business decisions. Desmond’s not about to be living off ramen and 7-11 donuts anytime soon…but he bet on himself and lost, to the tune of about $100 million. Ouch; I can’t begin to imagine what that must feel like.