SAN DIEGO _ Rare problems can reveal rare solutions. See, Lloyd of London insurance and the Padres.
The Padres, getting too cute during the 1998 pennant race _ yes, the Padres used to get into pennant races _ created a big problem for themselves.
Blocking the Braves, they put in a waiver claim on Blue Jays closer Randy Myers, believing they could rescind the claim.
"Sorry," the Blue Jays said, "he's yours."
So the Padres were stuck with Myers' bloated three-year contract. (Must be a Myers thing. See: Wil.)
Other ballclubs poked fun at the Pads for the gaffe, but the story didn't end there. Three years later CEO Larry Lucchino and friends clawed back $11.9 million of the $13.3 million paid Myers. The get-out-of-jail-card? Myers developed a timely bum shoulder, bringing an expensive insurance policy into play, and San Diego attorney Harvey Levin won the insurance claim. (Lucchino was a lawyer who'd worked under Edward Bennett Williams, a famous trial lawyer.)
So ... just spitballin' here ... do MLB teams have high-cost disaster insurance _ and could MLB lawyers blunt some of baseball's economic pain caused by the coronavirus scourge?
Seems nutty. But I've heard such scuttlebutt among baseball scouts.
Ron Fowler says there's nothing to it.
"The Padres do not have insurance that covers us for a pandemic," he said. And Fowler said he "doesn't believe any MLB teams do" have catastrophic insurance.
A baseball term applies here. The industry will have to wear this one.
