Brandon hasn't said anything (out loud) about wanting to throw for the Cardinals, but the idea that he could step on the field and take the starting QB job is just as preposterous as this email his agent Jonathan Maurer sent to MLB Trade Rumors.com.
"Webb loves Arizona and they will be considered highly, but Brandon WILL be looking at an incentive-based contract [with] a guaranteed base where [Brad] Penny and [Rich] Harden at $7.5MM, [Ben] Sheets at $10MM and [Tim] Hudson's $9.33MM average annual value are all conversation starters.
"Webb, when healthy, is one of the top pitchers in the game. Arizona is a great place to play, ([though] it has always been a hitter's park, Webb has dominated there) but I anticipate significant interest in what is a very healthy Brandon Webb, with his signature life back on all his pitches."
The idea that, after going two years without facing a hitter, Brandon could command that kind of money is just plain nuts.
I guess, to be fair to the agent whose job it is to get as much money as possible, it's just part of the game.
But can he seriously think that a team would be willing to take that kind of risk on Brandon? The same Brandon who just about six weeks ago said he wanted to make six starts this season.
Now, after facing a couple of teammates in a simulated game and seeing the potential of maybe (perhaps) throwing a few innings out of the bullpen, he (at least his agent) thinks that teams are going to be willing to pay him that kind of scratch?
Maybe there's teams out there crazy enough to do it, but I agree with my colleague that the Diamondbacks should do absolutely nothing to help increase his market value. What could the D-backs possibly gain by letting Webb pitch out of the pen this year?
Any notion that Webb would give a discount to the team that picked up his option, despite his arm problems, and paid him over $15 million the last two years to rehab is gone.
Good luck, Brandon. Too bad your agent felt the need (again) to negotiate in public from a position of insanity.
Then again, Webb was a pretty good football player back in the day, so who knows?