Thanks for the reply Blankslate, I’m a national league guy and don’t really pay attention to AL baseball until late in the playoffs.
How involved you are in that community is another consideration, as is how long you might possibly play.
It feels to me like being a good player on a bad team is a great way to set yourself up for post-sports success, as you can go into any number of local endeavors because of your local fame.
It’s a job. I’m sure we’ve all had jobs that weren’t with ‘first-place’ outfits. Maybe the people are nice, maybe it’s a good place to live. There can be other considerations.
I guess I’d rather be the best player on the shitty team than move on. I’d be the one with all the people wearing my jersey in the stands. I’d be the one getting the biggest cheers, having the most people wanting my autograph, and so on. I’d never be blamed for losing a playoff game or for the team sucking in general. Big league bucks without big league worries.