Originally Posted By: Animalman
.From what I read, Sabathia wasn't unenthusiastic about New York, just interested in playing in California, his home state. Personally, I think the "homeward bound" assumption about free agents has always been sort of a sports journalist kneejerk comment(just to create hot stove league banter), or in the case of the current Teixeira-Baltimore negotiations, a bargaining ploy used by agents to get the big market teams to offer that extra chunk of cash.



I think it goes both ways, Ken Griffey Jr. could have made significantly more towards A-Rod money when he came to the Reds from Seattle but took less and a big chunk deferred. There are a lot of free agents that resign for a hometown discount as well, but I agree if they don't resign before their contract is up and hit the open market, the hometown thing is a bargaining tool.