TOM was hit by a Randy Johnson fastball for uttering:
 TY> between business decisions and blind loyalty.  Is there any instance
 TY> when a team should not outbid everybody else for one of their players?
It's not a matter of out-bidding, it's a matter of coming up with an offer 
that shows that you care. Clemens would have signed for less for the security 
of a 4-year contract (Which, I've read that Boston did finally offer when it 
was too late. Maybe their offer was genuine or maybe it was a last-minute 
attempt to keep their fans from revolting).
Jerry Jones took this all to new heights a few years back when he refused to 
come up to what Emmitt Smith wanted and when the team started 0-2 sans Smith, 
he ponied up to the bar and paid him off (More, I might add, than what Smith 
had originally asked for). He refused to give Moose Johnston the contract 
that he wanted so Moose played on a one-year contract, became an unrestricted 
free agent and signed for $500,000 more per year than what he had wanted in 
the first place. Several of their players became free agents that season and 
they said that if Jones just got in the ballpark that they'd sign but he 
didn't so they left (The reason that they became free agents was because of 
how he treated Smith. When he went to them with contract offers that were 
front-loaded to take advantage of the fact that the money wouldn't count 
against the next year's cap, all but Aikman and Williams refused).
--- TrekEd 1.00
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