Yesterday, after I posted on what someone from Men’s Journal had sent me and asked to share their article for our readers, I didn’t quite get a chance to weigh in on the totality of the article which covered a lot of ground. I simply posted a quick excerpt for them with a link to their full article.
It’s quite apparent that Matt Harvey has a taste for the finer things in life, is huge on fashion and loves women and the nightlife. So did I at his age…
Baseball players are all celebrities, especially the great ones, just like Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and David Wright. There’s nothing wrong with these guys dating supermodels and frequenting the hottest nightspots in the city. What they do on their free time is up to them.
That said, the only thing that really stuck out to me was a comment Harvey made when asked when he would get his luxury apartment in Manhattan like the other three I mentioned. Right now, Harvey is renting but he does plan to make the city is home and eventually wants to buy the best luxury apartment in Manhattan.
“No matter what, New York is now my home,” he says, finishing the night’s last drink. “I could buy a place now, but I’ve gotta wait for that $200-million contract. If I’m going to buy an apartment, it has to be the best apartment in the city.”
Including the vesting option, the 8-year deal that Detroit Tiger’s Justin Verlander signed before this season will pay him a total of $202 million dollars. Felix Hernandez recently got a $180 million extension. Elite level pitching is not cheap.
With contracts and salaries continuing to escalate, and super-agent Scott Boras guiding his every move, don’t kid yourself… There’s a fine chance that Harvey could eclipse those numbers especially if he continues to pitch at this level.
When talk of an extension came up in May, Boras brushed it off and said “not now, not yet.” He intimated that the two sides would be too far apart to even talk about it, and if the team felt that by acting early they could save on the dollars, that’s not where him and Matt were. He basically said, Matt will keep pitching and when the time comes to talk contract we’ll let them know.
We all know how Boras’ playbook works, and this isn’t someone who recommends letting teams buy out his client’s arbitration or free agent years. It’s all about creating a bidding war, especially for superstars, and getting that next record-breaking deal.
This is nothing we should worry ourselves about now. But certainly file it in the back your heads because arbitration comes knocking for Harvey after the 2015 season, and this will become a much more significant story the closer we get to that happening.
Original Post 7/16
“Man, do I f**king love this city,” Matt Harvey says, stretching out in an expensive French bistro in downtown Manhattan.
He sips his coffee and flashes a drowsy, laid-back smile. Having called a secret number to get a last-minute table, Harvey now sits among the restaurant’s mostly female clientele; lithe, stylish creatures waxed and tweezed in that particular New York way – in total anonymity.
Tonight, Harvey is slated to pitch his first start against the Yankees – a career-defining moment, according to this morning’s sports pages – though if that’s anywhere on his mind, he’s not showing it. It’s still May, but the 24-year-old Mets pitcher is in the midst of a logic-defying season, and is already drawing comparisons to the game’s greats for his 98-mile-an-hour fastball, gravity-resistant curveball, devilish change-up, and irresistible slider that routinely leaves batters chopping at air.
Lately, whenever Harvey, 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, is on the mound, the improbable occurs: The Mets tend to win. Earlier this morning, he passed newsstands featuring himself on the cover of ‘Sports Illustrated’ with the headline ‘The Dark Knight of Gotham.’ “Pretty awesome,” says Harvey, his smile widening.
Read the rest of this article by David Amsden at Men’s Journal.
Printed in entirety including images with permission of Men’s Journal.
