It's not going to make a Top 10 List of Bad Ideas or anything. But Chase Headley's decision a few months to spurn the Padres' proposed contract negotiations isn't looking real smart right now. At the time, here's what one lucky scribe scribbled:
When Chase Headley missed his moment
USA TODAY Sports
Look, the Padres are being foolish. Headley’s coming off a fantastic 2012, he’s doing really well in 2013, and he’s under team control through 2014. He’s also going to turn 30 a year from now. It’s quite possible that Headley will never look as good as he looks at this exact moment. If I’m Chase Headley or Chase Headley’s agent, I ask for ownership’s best number and then I make a counterproposal and then about two seconds later I sign for whatever they’re offering. Because the offer’s never going to be better than right now.
Before 2012, Headley sported a career 105 OPS+.
In 2013, he’s got a 107 OPS+.
So what looks more like the real Chase Headley? His 145 OPS+ in 2012? Or his 105 OPS+ in the other 2,813 plate appearances in his career ...
The answer’s looking fairly obvious at this point. He’s still a good player and he’s still going to become an exceptionally wealthy man when he signs his next contract. But your scribbling scribe was probably right last spring: Headley’s moment was then, and now it’s probably gone forever.
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