I glance at my watch.Seven more minutes of break time.“If someone doesn’t have a contract for next year, when will they know if they’re getting one?And what team it’ll be from?”
“On when, I’m pretty sure other teams can’t offer him a contract until July.”
“July?!”
That’s a little over five months away.It feels like an eternity.
“They can’t formally offer him one.They can still talk to his agent.Cleveland could offer him one sooner.”
“How much sooner?”
She groans softly.“I’m still learning all this, so I might be wrong, but I think they could offer him a contract at any time unless they have cap issues.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“Okay, imagine a big bucket of money the front office people have to spend on players.Every team gets a bucket with the same amount of money.The owners can’t add any more money to it.They’re capped at the amount of money in the bucket.And things are always changing.Let’s say they have all of the money in their bucket committed and then they move a guy down to the minors and trade another guy.Now there’s some money back in their bucket, because they won’t have to spend as much, and they can use that money for someone else.”
“Okay, that makes sense.So when someone says a team might not be able to be competitive for a player, it’s?—”
“Darling Maxwell, drop it.”She scolds the pig softly, probably not wanting to wake the baby.“Sorry.It’s because they might now have enough money left in the bucket.”
I see Magnus’s situation in a whole new light.Every game must feel critically important.He’s kind of in competition with his own teammates, trying to show the decision-makers that he’s worth cutting someone else so they can keep him.
“I didn’t know it’s like that,” I admit.
“I know this is just hypothetical, but take Magnus, for example.He’s going to get a contract.The question is, will Cleveland lock him down or will another team get him?And that has to make it really hard for him to get close to people.”
“Yeah.”
I hear snorting sounds in the background.
“Just remember it’s outside his control,” she says gently.“He’s under a lot of pressure to perform, and I’m sure he wishes he knew where he was going to be next year more than anyone.”
“I have to get back to work, but this was really helpful.Thank you.”
“Anytime.And if you ever need me to take the boys to the skills practice, my Suburban has plenty of room for them and all their equipment.”
“Thanks.Jules is my backup, but if I ever need a backup backup, I’ll remember that.”
“Okay, talk soon.”
“Bye, Suki.”
I put my phone in the pocket of my scrub pants and head back to work.
14
Magnus
I’ve had it with this road trip.The flu is still running through the team; we’ve had crazy time-zone changes, and our gear is still sweaty from the humidity in Tampa, where we played last night.
Nashville is the last stop on this trip.I never thought I’d be eager to get back to the Grand Madison, but even my new room there is better than trying to sleep on airplanes or crawling into a hotel bed in the middle of the night.
My mom’s been keeping me updated on Elin.She’s not any worse, but she’s not any better, either.It’s hard being powerless to help her.
I’m an even-keeled person; I don’t lose my temper much.But I’m tired and my gloves smell like a decomposing raccoon.What’s even worse is that Cole Thompson, a twenty-year-old true rookie, is sitting next to me in the locker room.
My teammates called me a rookie when I joined the team, but they dropped it pretty quickly.I was new to the team, but at thirty-one, I’m a veteran of the game.Thompson did a little time in the minors, but this is his first season in the big leagues.He’s been on a hot streak, and he refuses to let anyone wash any of his clothes.
