The free agent madness
continued with The Twins shelling out the most money they have ever spent
(4-yr, $49mil) on a free agent to Robinson Cano…
err… no, wrong… pitcher Ricky Nolasco.
I remember when I had
to apply for disability payments. I was routinely turned down the first two
times (which they told me happens to people with no legs) but I was also told
not to worry. That when I got it, the first check would include a lump sum of
all the monies owed backdated to the month I first applied. They were right… I
was granted disability in the 2K per month range and my first check, minus the
30% cut to my attorney, was $18K.
I knew this money was
coming just like these teams know the new television contract money is coming
next year. Is the raising of this market values just teams over spending now
because they know that the lion share of these monies are tied into multi-year
contracts that they will be able to afford?
I easily could have
gone out and bought a big flat screen TV on payments (if they existed then) and
just cleared some ‘living costs’’ (i.e. trade an existing contract for a team
controlled player) to get my budget back in line for the first year (season).
The guy has a lifetime
(8-years) ERA of 4.38 and WHIP of 1.29. He’s pitch 2014 as a 31-year old. He
has only 1,076 strikeouts in 1,312 innings. He’s reached a 2.5 WAR level (what
he’s being paid to pitch) only once in his career. His career ERA+ is 94 (the
league is 6% better) and his ERA- is 10.6, which is 8% below the league
average.
Am I missing something
here?
Is every team other
than the Mets raising the salary bar this year in what we thought, going in,
would be a talented-less free agent market?
Will there reach a
point that all these team’s cups run over and the Mets can come in at the end
and pick up the scraps at a decent rate?
We just wrote about a
guy that is going to be paid around $12,000,000 a year for four years after coming
off a 3-yr, $26.5mil deal negotiated by the Florida Marlins. Can we just assume
major league ballplayers will be paid more every year regardless of what they
produce during the period they were previously under contract?
Hell, under those
conditions, Frank Francisco is probably due around
$10mil in 2014.
5 comments:
I think things are starting to become clearer, with regards to the Mets relative lack of activity so far. Sandy is a lot of things, if not patient and calculating. Despite what the "fans" want, despite all of the negative media attention and the abuse he takes in blogs like this one, I don't see Sandy making a horrible, long term commitment like this Nolasco deal.
Instead, he will bide his time (and most likely, if history is any guide) and end up making the most logical/sensible decision for the future of the team. I trust him so far and I am glad we aren't making any "Omar" type desperation moves in November.
Anonymous -
Your defense of Alderson is to be commended, but your lack of identifying yourself isn't. Blogs are for fans to express how they feel. Sandy Alderson is taking no abuse from this site or any other one. And I'm sure he doesn't read any of them either.
I can't speak for the other writers here, nor for the people who send in their comments. I go both ways on Alderson. I love the trades he has made and I know he is not being given enough money fro the owners, but his concern for the number of years on free agents has limited this team in the free agent market.
I for one would rather improve from within... see my 8am post...
Anyway, please join the site even if it with a made up name. 'Anonymous' is so, well... anonymous.
Mack - what makes you think that the Mets are not participating in the free agent feeding frenzy along with every other team? Earlier this week, in a response to an email I sent him, Alderson said "As our signing of Chris Young indicates, the market for players is crazy right now. But we continue to look." That is a direct quote. It makes me wonder if Sandy isn't reluctantly giving in to the fact that he will have to overspend to fill the hiles he knows must be filled.
Anonymous is right about Sandy being patient and calculating, but I get the feeling that he is not going to let a serious target of his slip through his fingers unless the asking price is truly outlandish. (Peralta's price was truly outlandish, and what we hear from Cruz is even more so.) If, on the other hand, a Choo or Granderson hasn't signed early, he'll hold out for a bargain price, as he tried to do with Bourn last year.
I also would like to encourage Anonymous to get a name, but maybe he doesn't have one of the accounts needed to sign up.
Herb -
Sandy Alderson is a very smart man.
I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't solve this through trading for existing contracts (portions paid by the player's old team) and avoiding this whole FA frenzy.
Mack - I agree completely. Several of my potential acquisitions involve just such trades. But I wouldn't discount the idea of going after a FA if he thinks the fit is ideal and the price is in his comfort zone.
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