Phillies OF Delmon Young Has a ‘Fat Guy’ Incentive in His Contract
By Josh Hill
New Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Delmon Young recently signed a $750,000 contract with the team, but with incentives he can make that contract worth up to $2.75 million. One of the incentives in Young’s new contract is a weight controlled incentive that pays him $100,000 for every time he checks in at a certain weight set by the Phillies.
Young will step on a scale six times this season, and according to reports, better not be a pound over his target weight or the Phillies don’t have to pay him a dime of the $100,000 for that trip to the scale.
"The deal for the AL championship series MVP, announced Tuesday, calls for him to get on a scale on six occasions to be chosen by the team. He’ll receive $100,000 each time he makes weight, according to details obtained by The Associated Press. The first three times, he must be 230 pounds or less, and the second three, 235 pounds or less."
Young’s weight has fluctuated over the years, as he dropped 30 pounds when he was with the Minnesota Twins but ballooned back up to a questionably healthy weight. Young’s play seemed to be effected by his habits off the field, and the Phillies want to be sure they get the best out of Young, a guy who was once one of the best outfielding prospects in all of baseball.
The outfielder can also earn $1.5 million based on his performance, so his new contract isn’t structured completely around his weight. As lazy as some people are in this country, if you offered them $600,000 to lose some weight, that’s a hard offer to refuse, so Young doesn’t have very many excuses as to why he’d be overweight unless this is a deeper psychological issue.
The exact dates of his weigh-ins aren’t known, but Young’s ‘fat guy’ incentive has to be one of the weirdest incentives ever to be included in a contract.