Sept. 13--With the stock market taking a beating recently, there may be those happy to hear that Angels left-hander Andrew Heaney signed a deal to sell stock in his future earnings on Thursday.
Huston Street did not sound like he'd be among the buyers.
On Friday, Street said he felt Heaney would be worth well more than the roughly $33 million valuation he received, and called it "the dumbest deal I've ever heard."
Since then, his views have mellowed, if slightly.
On Twitter, Street said that after Friday's game, Heaney made a compelling argument about the merits of the contract.
"He made great points to me after," Street wrote.
He clarified that he still thinks the idea of investing in players isn't attractive.
"The 'deal' that is horrible is the system and those investing in players," he wrote. "It takes years for a player to earn his salary and high volatility."
But, he said he believes in Heaney, and "Heaney is so good though he just might make them look smart. ... which at the end of the day is probably a bad deal for him."
On Thursday, Heaney became the first Major League Baseball player to sign a contract with the company Fantex. The company will pay Heaney $3.34 million in exchange for a 10% stake in Heaney's "brand income," and investors can soon buy shares of a stock linked to his earnings.
Investors can buy and sell Heaney's stock on Fantex's exchange. The company will issue regular earnings reports. It is a novel concept, one players are still figuring out.
