27 Apr 10
2 edits
Originally posted by MelanerpesThe young (good) guys still have ways to get their money without free agency. Braun will be eligible for arbitration this year, which means the Brewers will likely give him a new contract sometime this year or in the off-season. I'm guessing he'll be in for at least a a 10 million dollar raise even though he is not eligible for free agency for another 3 years. Prince Fielder, who is actually a year younger than Braun but has 2 more years of professional experieince, will make a tidy 10 mil this year.
If they allowed players to become free agents after only one or two seasons, Braun would be earning a lot more than this.
Look at what happened to Prince and the Brewers:
In 2008, after his 50-HR season;
"Unable to come up with an agreement for a long-term contract with the Brewers, Fielder and his agent, Scott Boras, signed a one-year, $670,000 deal with the Brewers. Fielder was quoted saying, "I'm not happy about it at all," showing his disappointment in not being able to reach an agreement with the club."
In 2009, after another good season:
"After the 2008 season Fielder was seeking an $8 million salary in 2009, while the Brewers filed for $6 million. On January 23 the Brewers and Fielder avoided arbitration and finalized a two-year $18 million contract."
27 Apr 10
Scratch that! Braun was signed to a 7 year contract last year.
"Left-fielder Ryan Braun has signed a seven-year contract extension with the team, keeping him here through the 2015 season.
It's an eight-year, $45,000,000 dollar contract, but it includes the current year for which he had previously signed.
Journal Sentinel Brewers beat writer Tom Haudricourt, a regular on Newsradio 620 WTMJ's Brewers 360', states the deal could escalate to $51,000,000."
Obviously the Brewers gave him low figures for his pre-arbitration years similar to what the Rays did for Longoria.
This year however he reamins the best deal in baseball (which clearly comes with a hefty price).
27 Apr 10
Originally posted by darvlayhe's got a .310 lifetime BA, and he's got 35-40 HR-yr power, and he probably has yet to have his best season, and he'll only be 31 years old in the final year of his contract in 2015.
Scratch that! Braun was signed to a 7 year contract last year.
"Left-fielder Ryan Braun has signed a seven-year contract extension with the team, keeping him here through the 2015 season.
It's an eight-year, $45,000,000 dollar contract, but it includes the current year for which he had previously signed.
Journal Sentinel Brewers beat writer Tom Hau ...[text shortened]... year however he reamins the best deal in baseball (which clearly comes with a hefty price).
and he's going to make only about $6mill per year over that time period?
now THAT has got to be one of the best deals in baseball.
28 Apr 10
2 edits
Originally posted by GalaxyShieldif someone is offering you $45mill and you turned it down, you'd be really upset if you did something like shred your elbow in an off-season accident, ending your career, and leaving you with rather little to show for it.
Braun was probably a little stupid signing that contract. But, being a Wisconsin resident and loyal Brewer fan, I'm glad he's locked up for a while. I would have given up hope completely if I had to say good-bye to him AND Fielder.
As it stands, assuming he doesn't go on a wild spending spree and saves most of this money, he and his family are now financially set for the rest of their life. He still has a chance of becoming a free-agent and getting a high-status super-contract at a still relatively young age of 31.
This type of contract is a very smart deal for BOTH sides. The player still gets paid extremely well, and the team gets the services of a young superstar without having to pay anything close to the full market value. It almost makes you wonder why there are ever any good free agents available younger than 31 or 32 yrs old.
28 Apr 10
Originally posted by MelanerpesI certainly agree and I think that a lot of these "less than market" deals are not nearly as good for the team as everyone initially seems to think. For every Longoria and Braun (assuming they continue to be healthy and play well) there are guys like Wang who wins 19 games two years in a row and then gets hurt or Alex Gordon (who just does not seem that good now but the team thought he was a superstar) or Liriano who misses serious time due to injury. Even for a guy like Beckett (who certainly has a track record) seems to have gotten a much better deal (pre-season) than he might have received post season (based on his first month). The certainty of guaranteed money should never be underestimated.
if someone is offering you $45mill and you turned it down, you'd be really upset if you did something like shred your elbow in an off-season accident, ending your career, and leaving you with rather little to show for it.
As it stands, assuming he doesn't go on a wild spending spree and saves most of this money, he and his family are now financially se ...[text shortened]... es you wonder why there are ever any good free agents available younger than 31 or 32 yrs old.
28 Apr 10
3 edits
Originally posted by quackquackThere are never any guarantees when you sign a player to a long-term contract. Injuries can happen at any time, and some players lose their skills at relatively young ages.
I certainly agree and I think that a lot of these "less than market" deals are not nearly as good for the team as everyone initially seems to think. For every Longoria and Braun (assuming they continue to be healthy and play well) there are guys like Wang who wins 19 games two years in a row and then gets hurt or Alex Gordon (who just does not seem that ...[text shortened]... based on his first month). The certainty of guaranteed money should never be underestimated.
But if you want to put a contending team on the field, you're going to need to have at least a few proven stars. For a smaller market team (or even the Yankees for that matter), locking up your own homegrown stars seems like a very good strategy. Fans also tend to develop especially strong loyalties to the homegrown players.
Even if a certain percentage of these deals go bad, it's still a much better bet to sign a still developing 25-yr old Ryan Braun to a $6mill-yr deal, than to go on the open free agent market to sign a past-prime 32-yr old with similar numbers to a $15mill-yr deal.
28 Apr 10
1 edit
Originally posted by MelanerpesI agree with the fan loyalty and I agree with the discount for certainty issue.
There are never any guarantees when you sign a player to a long-term contract. Injuries can happen at any time, and some players lose their skills at relatively young ages.
But if you want to put a contending team on the field, you're going to need to have at least a few proven stars. For a smaller market team (or even the Yankees for that matter), loc en free agent market to sign a past-prime 32-yr old with similar numbers to a $15mill-yr deal.
But I think teams are extending guys and not getting enough of a discount. To me the Phillies just signed two great players (Halladay and Howard) but extended before they had to and really did not get much of a discount. If either gets hurt and there is more than just a theoretical chance (one guy has a lot of milage on his arm the other is very large) they took the risk earlier than they had to (each was already under contract) and the team did not get the Longoria/ Braun discount. How much more would Howard get on the free market anyway? Would the team be able to bargain more freely in free agency? like demanding a weight clause? Would they want to consider a substitute (and there are a lot) like Fielder, Cabrera, Pujols, Morneau, Gonzalez? I just think there is a lot of wisdom in the Yankees policy of not extending guys undetr contract since you end up paying them close to the free agent rate anyway.
28 Apr 10
Originally posted by uzlessAdam Lind
I would have said Adam Lind and Aaron Hill.
Those two must be the cheapest 1-2 punch in the majors.
2010 Salary: $550,000
Indeed a great deal but, sorry, not the same caliber player as Mr. Braun.
Aaron Hill
2010 Salary: $4,000,000
Doesn't cut it.