If Delmon Young Doesn’t Get Fat, He’ll Get Paid More

HEY BEEFCAKE! (screen grab via CSN)

Well, here’s something.

From the AP:

Young's $750,000, one-year contract with the Philadelphia Phillies allows him to earn an additional $2.75 million in bonuses.

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.

Amazing. I wonder if, similarly, the servers at PBR have incentives for keeping their muffin tops below a certain threshold. Money for a tribal tat if you maintain an overhang of less than three inches!

Young told reporters on Tuesday: “To lose weight, it’s mostly diet. And it’s eating better. Eating those (sic) strict diet. You can get carried away with clubhouse food, late-night room service [whilst] watching a movie. Some ice cream,  some good luck cakes and stuff like that. Going back out in the outfield, you have to stay lighter. DH’ing, you can be BIG.”

Of course, weight clauses are not uncommon in sports. Football players, specifically, have weight and body fat weigh-ins and can be fined for going over or, presumably, under their target weight.