I just find it hilarious that they owe a 40-year-old Mike Stanton $3.5 M

I find it hilarious he lost a job to Kent Mercker.

Noooo! Mike has to keep pitching! He's just 75 appearences short of the all-time record! How could the Reds deny him that? Cruel world.

I find it hilarious he lost a job to Kent Mercker.

Keep hope alive, Tommy Greene!

Noooo! Mike has to keep pitching! He's just 75 appearences short of the all-time record! How could the Reds deny him that? Cruel world.

Don't worry, he will end up with the Gnats

Don't worry, he will end up with the Gnats

Only if they can pry him from Ed Wade's cold, incompetent hands.

If the Reds had done this before March 25, would they still have owed him the full $3M?

Or the Giants. Surely they could trot out a situational lefty 75 times this year. Hell, Mike can get 35 appearenes alone coming in in the 4th inning when Zito gets battered.

Apparently the odometer rolls over at 40 for Baker. He has no use for any player 20-25, will consider a 25-30 year-old if they're a top-tier talent, is devoted to his 30-39 year-old players, but then has no use for anyone over 40.

If the Reds had done this before March 25, would they still have owed him the full $3M?

No, the full $3.5M was guaranteed regardless of when he was cut.

The only time when clubs can cut a player and pay just 1/6th of his salary is following an arbitration award.

I find it hilarious that Stanton is only 40. I thought situational lefties were born 34 years old.

I wonder how many times Stanton has lost his job to a younger, presumably better, pitcher, only to end up outlasting said replacement? Pedro Borbon, Jr. was the first guy.

The only time when clubs can cut a player and pay just 1/6th of his salary is following an arbitration award.

Thanks. Why did the Jays only pay $500,000 of Reed Johnson's $3M contract then? Single-season contracts are different?

What's the most a club has paid a player to not darken their clubhouse door again? Is it Damion Easley's Tigers contract?

I find it hilarious that Stanton is only 40. I thought situational lefties were born 34 years old.

Stanton isn't really a situational lefty. His career OPS vs. lefties is better than rightes, but not by much (less than 50 points). During his effective period he'd have years where lefties actually hit him better than righties.

Edit: To add, Stanton appears to have outlasted Chris Hammond, who replaced him with the Yankees in '03.

Why did the Jays only pay $500,000 of Reed Johnson's $3M contract then? Single-season contracts are different?

I believe that Reed Johnson was a NRI who had signed a minor league contract. I don't know the specifics, but the $500k buyout was probably something that he had pre-negotiated in the event that he didn't make the team.


What's the most a club has paid a player to not darken their clubhouse door again? Is it Damion Easley's Tigers contract?

My guess would be the Rockies with Denny Neagle.

I'm worried that the Giants might eclipse that with Barry Zito at some point...

What about the Diamondbacks with Russ Ortiz?



Geez: Stanton, Neagle, Mercker, Hammond, Ortiz, Borbon, Greene... what's going on with this thread? This is like a graveyard of old Braves pitchers.

Geez: Stanton, Neagle, Mercker, Hammond, Ortiz, Borbon, Greene... what's going on with this thread? This is like a graveyard of old Braves pitchers.

Derek Lilliquist says hi

Thanks. Why did the Jays only pay $500,000 of Reed Johnson's $3M contract then? Single-season contracts are different?

Service time, I believe. Johnson has 4 years of service time. Stanton 14 years.

From Cots "If the player is not claimed (clears waivers), the club may option him or assign him outright to the minor leagues, though he must continue to be paid according to the terms of his contract. A player may be assigned outright to the minors only once in his career without his permission. Thereafter, he may either 1) reject the assignment and become a free agent, or 2) accept the assignment and become a free agent at the end of the season if he’s not back on the 40-man roster. Additionally, player with 3 years of major league service may refuse an outright assignment and choose to become a free agent, regardless of whether he has been sent outright to the minors previously. A player with 5 years of major league service time who refuses an outright assignment is entitled to the money due according to the terms of his contract."

Stanton gets paid, no matter what happens, no matter what he chooses, because he has more than 5 years.

I believe that Reed Johnson was a NRI who had signed a minor league contract. I don't know the specifics, but the $500k buyout was probably something that he had pre-negotiated in the event that he didn't make the team.

Johnson was on the 40-man roster and had a major league contract. I'm a bit unclear of the specifics and how it's calculated, but Johnson's payout was classified as termination pay and it depended on how many days there were before opening day.

Edit: rfloh beat me to it.

remember that time the Red Sox traded for 1 inning of Mike Stanton in late september. In his 1 inning (the 6th of a blowout), he K'd Matsui, let up a single to Cano before picking him off, and then induced a groundout to short from Tino Martinez. Boston gave up 2 warm bodies for those 3 outs.

His first outing of the season was as a Yankee, pitching against the red sox, and his last outing was as a Red Soc, pitching against the Yankees.

Stanton has a career ERA+ of 112. That's lower than Greg McMichael and Alejandro Pena, and really isn't much better than Mark Wohlers or even Mercker or Joe Boever. At least he's no Randy St. Claire!

Ah, June 27, 2004. The day my already-smoldering hostility to Mike F'ing Stanton turned irrevocably into eternal hatred.

The double-header against the Yankees, in which he came in with the bases loaded and promptly gave up a grand-slam to Matsui in the 8th inning of Game 1 to turn a 4-1 deficit into an 8-1 rout. And then Game 2 . . .

The Mets have rallied, improbably, from a 6-0 deficit after the first inning to pull within 7-5 going to the bottom of the 7th. Stanton comes in with the bases loaded and one out (mind you, they walked Posada to load 'em up, to bring Stanton in). What does our hero do??? He gives up a single to Sierra (two runs), and then later a single to Cairo (Miguel Cairo, for God's sake) to plate two more. Four runs, 11-5, game frigging over.

I wanted to murder Art Howe, and I wanted to never see Mike Stanton pitch in a Mets' uniform again. That the Reds would sign him to a huge, ludicrous contract after that was just absolutely mind-numbing. Funny, in its train-wreck sort of way.

I found this out this year. Any one-year contract can be terminated in spring training for 30- or 45-days pay, depending on the date of release.

This applies to FA players on MLB contracts and arbitration awards, as well.

(I'm sure there's a wrinkle I'm missing in there, but that's the rule as was explained to me...)

#23

I thought that rule only applied to arby players, 30 days pay if cut before March 14th, 45 before the 31st.

Is Mike Stanton really the worst reliever in the Major Leagues?

If not, you have to figure that SOME team will pick him up for their bull pen -- there are more than a few shaky pens out there.

To add, Stanton appears to have outlasted Chris Hammond, who replaced him with the Yankees in '03.

Hell, after the 2004 season the Mets replaced him with Mr. Koo. He outlasted that guy too.

Is Mike Stanton really the worst reliever in the Major Leagues?

He can't possibly be - the Indians just spent time and energy trying to decide between Jorge Julio and Scott Elarton for their last roster spot.

Stanton might have been the worst for the brief period when he was on the Reds but J.D. Durbin had just been cut from the Phils.

I always think of Stanton as one of the mainstays of the Yankee dynasty, like Jeff Nelson and Luis Sojo. That one inning he was on the Red Sox was almost as incongruos as David Cone's year as a Soc.

I dunno, look in the Rays pen and you will find someone worse.

That one inning he was on the Red Sox was almost as incongruos as David Cone's year as a Soc.

Stanton was also a Sock in '95-'96. So it's not quite as weird. No weirder than Bret Saberhagen and Dale Murphy as Rockies.

I thought that rule only applied to arby players, 30 days pay if cut before March 14th, 45 before the 31st.

Nope. Yesterday, I believe, was the one of the big deadline days to save some $$$ on those contracts; it came up in several papers' coverage of their local team's cuts.

What about the Diamondbacks with Russ Ortiz?

This was the record at the time. I can't think of anyone that's broken it.

This is his walk year.

Nope. Yesterday, I believe, was the one of the big deadline days to save some $$$ on those contracts; it came up in several papers' coverage of their local team's cuts.

I thought it depended on the particular contract - even a one year could be guaranteed, depending on the negotiation.

That one inning he was on the Red Sox was almost as incongruos as David Cone's year as a Soc.

Stanton was also a Sock in '95-'96. So it's not quite as weird. No weirder than Bret Saberhagen and Dale Murphy as Rockies.

Not weird, but incongruous:

Dale Murphy didn't last the season whereas Saberhagen was with the Sox for two seasons plus parts of two others.

Another odd stint that was "incongruous" in the sense of post #28 is Juan Marichal ending up with the Dodgers for 6 games.

I find it hilarious that Stanton is only 40. I thought situational lefties were born 34 years old.

I remember when people thought Stanton would be the next great closer...22 yrs old, 34 saves at 3 stops (AA/AAA/majors), 105K in 95 innings.