From the Windup: The Evolution of Loyalty

From the Windup is FanHouse's daily, extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.

It took me roughly six hours to formulate any sort of attack plan for this column. And that would be embarrassing if the column wasn't about the very thing that was really screwing my head around backwards: John Smoltz's comments to Jay Busbee.

"I say this for the first time, without reservation, if I'm going to bust my butt and if I feel like I'm good enough and it doesn't work out here, I will be pitching somewhere else ... My dream scenario would be to pitch in the playoffs again, and that's coming from a guy who's been in 13 of them. (Smoltz missed the 2000 playoffs with Tommy John surgery.) To me, that's what I'm about. So if the door gets closed here, it'll have to be explored somewhere else."

This is a terrifying statement for any fan of baseball and particularly for any lifelong Braves fan who places Smoltz as his favorite ballplayer ever. In fairness to Smoltz, of course, he didn't know the interview was going in Atlanta Magazine (not sure how that actually matters) and he did point out that the ideal situation was to finish his career with the Braves.

But still, terrifying. After all, Smoltz is the longest active player tenured with one team. There's a slew of superstars that have over 10 years with their team; Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Todd Helton, Roy Halladay and Chipper Jones. But Smoltz is the only guy with 20 in the majors right now. Or, for a better example, Rick Ankiel is 12th on this list, which says something about either him or the state of roster flux in major league baseball.

And 1999 or not, I'm gonna go with the latter. And it's sad. It's been sad. And, in all likelihood, it will continue to be sad. Imagining Smoltz in something other than a Braves uniform, or Albert Pujols in Cardinals' red is the same thing as imagining Jeter out of pinstripes or Brett Favre not wearing Wisky green.

Which is to say, it's entirely likely that anyone, in any sport, can end up spending the latter years of their career wearing another uniform. Karl Malone did it. Michael Jordan did. Now Favre is doing it. And there's a chance Smoltz will do it.

The bright side -- and admittedly this is optimistic -- is that maybe this trend won't continue forever. This seems like an odd statement, especially when I start thinking about the proverbial sharks that are circling the water in the MLB free agent pool. But at the same time, maybe there is a glimmer of hope, stemming from the economics of baseball.

Remember, Evan Longoria signed a six year deal with the Rays this season after only six games in the majors. He signed this because he likes the direction that Tampa is taking in attempting to build a longterm contender. And money; I would imagine he likes that too. But he was offered the cash because he's a young talent with the potential to be a perennial All Star.



And the Rays aren't the only ones involved in the fairly obvious shift to the usage of homegrown players in order to build a winner. Since the Yankees decided to evaporate their farm system in favor of the Carl Pavanos and Jaret Wrights of the world at the beginning of the decade, we've seen a gradual shift in value away from high priced free agents towards a focus on in-house talent.

That's not to say that everyone will stop taking more money to stay with the team that brought them to the majors; certainly Francisco Rodriguez stands out as a franchise-born superstar that will eventually bolt for literally greener pastures. But with the advent of improved farm systems and the direct correlation to winning that it has brought -- see: Brewers, Red Sox, Diamondbacks and the Rays, to name a few -- it's going to be less and less surprising to see young superstars locked up for longer periods of time.

This certainly doesn't guarantee that they end up with their first franchise forever. Obviously market dynamics will keep teams like the Rays from locking onto every young talent forever and players will leave for the money.

But the change in baseball economics -- hello, Moneyball -- that has occurred at the same time as a guy like Smoltz is winding up his Hall of Fame career makes me believe there's a legitimate shot at a generation of baseball players that at least appears more loyal than in years past, even if they're only really bound by the timing of their contracts.