Major leaguer broke because of Stanford scandal

Scott Eyre, a left-handed relief pitcher with the reigning World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies, has joined the roster of major-league players ensnared by the Stanford Financial scandal. According to MLB.com, his assets have been frozen by federal regulators as they investigate the three financial firms under the Houston-based Stanford Financial Group umbrella for an alleged $8 billion fraud linked to certificates of deposit suspected of being phony. “Right now, I’m trying to figure out how to pay my bills,” the Mr. Eyre said Monday at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Fla. “I’m broke right now. I have $13 in my wallet.” That is quite a turn of fortune for Mr. Eyre, as well as fellow ballplayers Johnny Damon and Xavier Nady of the New York Yankees and Carlos Pena of Florida’s Tampa Bay Rays, who have also had their assets frozen in the wake of the scandal. Such players are truly high-net-worth investors — the most coveted type of client in the financial advice business. Over a 12 year career — during which he has posted a losing record of 26 wins and 29 losses — Mr. Eyre has earned $15 million, according to baseball-reference.com, a website that records and compares players’ statistics. Mr. Damon and Mr. Nady have earned $84 million and $7 million, respectively, over their careers. Mr. Pena has earned $10.2 million. Of course, Mr. Eyre still has plenty of cash coming in. In the off-season, he signed a one-year $2 million contract to return to the Phillies. But in the short term, his situation is dire. “I can’t pay my bills right now,” Mr. Eyre told MLB.com. “My wife just wrote all these checks to pay bills, and they’re all going to bounce.” “If it takes a week or two to get my money back,” Mr. Eyre added, “I’m going to have to ask my teammates for some money.”