He tries hard this year. But then again, isn’t it in his best interest to try hard anyway, since next year he wants the big payday?

On one hand you want to show the player that he is valued, and hence try to keep him happy, but on the other hand no matter what, the moment July 15th passed; we all knew the calculus; Haynesworth has to play lights out this year to get one of those monster contracts in 2009.

But what was his leverage, really? That he doesn’t play and the team doesn’t win? He has essentially short-circuited the franchise process in a way that is becoming more common, and the CBA is again going to need to be reworked since franchise tags and transition tags have been rendered irrelevant vs. their initial purposes.

So… If Albert has a great year, look for Reinfeldt and Adams to not be the high-bidder on a contract war because they don’t “overpay” for players. Their definition for “overpay”, however, means to pay market rates for expensive players. You may invoke the Roos and Stewart contracts as proof to the contrary, but I think that since those contracts were second quartile in terms of pay, FO could justify the numbers to themselves.

Here’s to hoping Albert has a career year; we’ll miss you buddy when you are gone!