I'll play the Devil's advocate. $17 million is a heck of a lot to pay for Bagwell.On the other hand, nobody forced the Astros to sign Bags to the six-year contract extension before the 2001 season.
We discussed this issue a few podcasts ago, and I thought it was provocative because our "false rumor" had the Astros brass requesting that Bagwell retire, so that they could collect.
If the Astros forced Bagwell into this position, I felt that this would likely violate the insurance policy, making the insurance money unavailable. So, I think that our "false" rumor may have not been false, after all.
The Astros just have to lie about it in order to collect.
This is going to get ugly.
Imagine if Bagwell goes to his own doctors and gets a clean bill of health, and then demands a trade. This is probably Bags' only logical, next step.