I was trying to point out the difference especially between Drew and Felix, that JD Drew was a rich man even before he made it to the majors, and for Felix to begin to earn as much as Drew did, he’d have to cash in at free agency. Economically there is a different path of a Latin phenom than an American phenom, and it benefits the American players. Latin baseball talent, for at least the first few years, is cheap.

Freedom of speech also means that we have the right to say… “Shut Up!”

He gets as many as he wants. I’m kind of amazed by this story. I was chilled by Gwen Ifil’s op ed in the New York Times earlier this week and by Bob Herbert’s this morning, but still I thought he’d get away with it. Does XM or Sirius hire him now and is there a post Imus effect on talk radio fron now on?

the good news is: you’re half-right. king felix is an incandescent talent, and his arrival (like those of nolan ryan, doc gooden, vida blue and roger clemens) is a welcome development for baseball fans everywhere (not just at safeco). and i’m not the least bit surprised that he took home the b.m.o.c at dice-k’s debutante ball (i said wednesday afternoon that i’d put ten bucks on felix throwing a no-no if i were in vegas). boston will be one of the many teams that “sucks on it” this year (and for years to come); long live king felix indeed. but…..

what un-confronted truth were you trying to bring to light in the second half of your missive? why this knee-jerk rush to defend the guest workers? over-paid american? japanese millionaire? underpaid venezuelan? here’s the facts: felix hernandez will have earned enough service time to become a free agent after the 2011 season (he’ll be 24). at that point, he’ll sign the biggest contract in baseball (if not world sport) history- and presently three of the largest five belong to latinos. japanese ballplayers are able to sign big contracts only as a result of baseball’s posting system, designed to keep america’s robber barons from hollowing out Japan’s well-established professional leagues. for he team, the posting fee gives them some return on their investment in developing talent, and though the player is a “free agent,” he is one whose rights belong to only one team (think of this as stalinist free agency). and as for j.d. drew: over-hyped? certainly out of college. overpaid? probably..though if adrian beltre and richie sexson merit 25 million a year between him, drew’s compensation is more palatable. but his riches have nothing to do with him being an american, and everything to do with the amount of time he’s spent in the majors.

thanks to jackie robinson, larry doby, pumpsie green, esteban bellan, chief bender et al, baseball is now the ultimate meritocracy, completely color blind (except for pitches on the black, a good game called by blue, and of course, a love of the green).

josephmoyer — it’s not too bad. Remarks like that poison this culture and there’s no shortage of them; in fact, quite the opposite. Some of us are weighed down every day by racist, sexist comments. And despite free speech, I’m not going to say everything I’m thinking right now.

Nother: are we assuming that all things are equal, or should we weight this according to their salaries? Drew’s contract averages at $14 million and Sexson’s is $12.5. Lets say the extra $1.5 million buys the Red Sox an outfielder as compared to a first baseman, so then we can judge their hitting as being equally paid for.

Did Ichiro plan to face Dice K with zeal or with an eel? It sure looked like he was swinging a limp eel to me.

Let’s see who is the more overpaid American at the end, Drew or Sexson. I’ll buy you a sake if it’s Drew.

Just having fun!