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Bearded Wizard called, he said what about him.... oh and BEHOLD!
the yankees are are overpaying for the decline years of a legitmatly great player who seems likely to set all sorts of records in pinstripes. that alone has value above whatever difference his level of performance is above lowell or cabrera minus hughes/chamberlain/kennedy/whomever they would have to give up to get him. all things considered, the best thing for both sides, really.
I'm frustrated with the clause to give ARod a bonus for breaking the HR record.
However, I'm no more frustrated with that than I am with any performance bonus for a $13M+ per year player.
Jesus Christ, if you are one of the top 15 paid players in the game, you'd better be competitive for the CYA or MVP. Why should you get a extra $100K for finishing in the top 5, or whatever?
Sure we will get the occasional visits here in California, but I don't get to enjoy the beauty of the game Alex Rodriguez brings everyday. (No I don't want a subscription to the YES network)
Instead, he is going to play for the spoiled rich kids who couldn't appreciate #### about the game of baseball!
It is sad that baseball has turned into this.
Do you actually believe your own sanctimonious horsecrap?
Next time the Red Sox aren't in first place, you can cue the "They spend more than us" whine.
In total value, it's about 10% more than this player got seven years ago now, and it's roughly the same in annual value. Given his 2007, he certainly wasn't taking a pay cut. Years 9-10 may be foolish, but that's the cost of doing business here. Had the Yankees stuck on 7 or 8 years, I'm very sure that they would have lost the player.
The franchise with the highest payroll just opened up the wallet to its best player. This isn't a Texas suddenly paying big-time situation.
They all hate us anyhow
Let's drop the big one now.
As you sow, so shall you reap.
So what happens now if it is suddenly revealed that Alex is taking weekly shots of testosterone..
I think we have to wait until we see the final contract language.
he sees his stripper girlfriend that often?
It sounds like contracts 101. But it isn't just a 10-year risk by the franchise, it's a 10-year risk by the player.
Oh...wait.
Nevermind.
Psych!
They can afford the money. Given A-Rod's 2007 season it doesn't look like much decline is imminent. As long as he retains his hitting ability, A-Rod will still have lots of value and the Yanks can eventually move him to 1st base and/or DH to ease the defensive workload. The front end rewards seem sufficient to justify the later-year risks, but a lot of things can happen to change the equation either way. However, I'm not so sure the Yanks are absolutely stuck with all 10 years if A-Rod tanks at some point in the contract. He could retire. It's a lot of money to walk away from, but McGwire left millions behind when he left.
nice!
Aren't performance-based clauses like this prohibited by the CBA?
Do we really know what was the cost of doing business here? Did any other team even make a concrete offer? Seems to me the Yankees chose to give a year 9 & 10, but in hte absence of other offers we don't really know if it was necessary.
This is an athletic player who is likely to stay in good shape, and while there is risk of his production falling off a cliff, I think there's less risk of that with A-Rod than with 80% of the players out there. Plus, while his production will decline with age, it will be declining from very very high levels. Sure, in 2015-17 Rodriguez will be a LF/DH, but he may well be putting up a respectable OPS that's league-average for the position.
On top of that, he'll be lowing past Ruth and Aaron at those ages, giving him marquee value beyond his yearly production.
I write all this knowing that while this is a likely scenario, there is the chance that A-Rod declines more dramatically for whatever reason. But I think that's a rational risk for the Yankees to take; in the contract's waning years, A-Rod may only represent 12%-13% of the NYY payroll or even less, so it is unlikely to hamstring the franchise financially.
I'm very happy A-Rod is back. Tremendously happy, in fact. However, the way people speak about him sometimes I think they don't realize 2004 and 2006 happened. Might he put up league average offense for a LF/DH in 2015-17? Sure. Is it a likely scenario? No. I really don't see how that can be said.
In 1999, the highest AAV was $15M (Kevin Brown).
Two years later, ARod checked in at $25.2M.
It seems to me that, in 10 years, even with a significant performance decline, ARod will be "worth" $27.5M, considering what those around him will likely be making. Hell, there's a good chance he'll even be underpaid.
Based on the the recent salary explosions and increased baseball revenue, in 10 years shlubs like Suppan and Silva might be making $18-20M per year. Based on a 10% annual baseball-inflation rate, that is quite realistic.
If ARod is still playing 150+ games a year at that point--adding to the HR record every time he goes deep--even with MLB-average performance, $27M may well seem reasonable.
#### him and the Yanks. They deserve one another.
I'd say zero, since there are no free agents named in the Mitchell Report. It hasn't been written yet, and the eleven free agents in question are players who were invited to speak to the Mitchell Commission (to respond to supposed evidence of their PED use). Presumably, the players invited (and their agents) would have already been aware of the invitations.
He gets traded to the Angels in 2014?
For Claudell Washington?
I'd say that within 4 to 5 years either ARod is discovered to be on drugs or if clean to be a total disaster of a contract by that time. Stupid decision by the Yankees and for that I applaud them.
Everyone is quoting a rule against "a bonus for playing, pitching or batting skill" which I have had a hard time locating -- it does not seem to be in the actual rulebook or in the CBA. Anyway, I don't think that the contract would be approved if it actually included a bonus for hitting so many home runs over the life of the contract, or something. Rather, it will probably be something like a share in the profits from any promotion associated with "Little Alex's Big Home Run Milestone" or whatever.
Yankees - Push, they're getting what they paid for and they have to pay the full amount now
Texas Rangers - Big Winners in this deal
Torii Hunter - Winner due to the extra cash the Rangers have now
Torii Hunter - Winner due to the extra cash the Rangers have now
Maybe. I would as soon see them use the savings to reduce the cost of parking at the Ballpark. Then when I go to watch them finish 75-87 with or without Torii Hunter, at least I will be saving a few bucks :)
Henry Aaron didn't really slow down until 40, although his playing time started dropping a couple of years earlier. Willie Mays posted OPS+ of 149, 124, 156, 124, 139 and 158 between the ages of 35 and 40. Babe Ruth's late 30's were pretty freakin' awesome. Exceptional players don't age like ordinary players, because they are, after all, exceptional.
When trying to project a player like this, the thing that makes the least sense is a nice smooth gradual decline. Assuming good health, it is much more likely that Rodriguez will remain an excellent to outstanding hitter until somewhere between his age 38 and age 40 seasons, and then suddenly fall off a cliff.
I'm not saying that in 5 years ARod is going to be putting up .250/.320/.400 numbers. What I am saying is that in 5 years ARod is not going to be putting up .310/.410/.630, not unless he is on something or the game changes radically. If he puts up .280/.375/.520 is he going to be worth 32 million dollars or anything even close to that?
According to the article, they're negotiating a clause for him to "share revenue" as he approaches the HR record. Not a bonus, "shared revenue". To say nothing of whatever bonuses are also going to end up in there for awards and such. This contract will breeze past $300 million easy. Interested parties can point to the base value and declare victory, but ARod is going to get exactly what he wanted in terms of dollars.
I don't think this is a bad contract. Given current baseball economics in any multi-year deal you're really paying for the first half or so of the contract. It's going to be a long time before ARod isn't valuable. Steroids and so on, but elite hitters don't flame out at 35 anymore. And given that we're going to see another wave of the $15-20 million a year contracts coming up when certain players start to reach free agency, ARod's deal is going to look less and less bad, and in the meantime he's going to give you 6-7 years of very high level performance. And the all-time HR record assuming lightning doesn't strike.
EDIT: Also, someone pointed out baseball inflation - to say nothing of regular inflation. My quick calculation tells me that if inflation increases at a nice benign rate of 2.5% per year over the next 10 years, that $27.5 ten years from now is about $21.5 in today's dollars. We'll have to see if the contract has an inflation kicker (probably not) but it will get cheaper and cheaper as the years go by. I'm more and more convinced that this is a good deal.
Okay so if this is simply deferring some money to the future for todays performance what is the annual salary for the next few years? How long will he be a .310/.410/.610 hitter? 4 years? Then what is the next step, the next step so on and so on.
So is it 55, 50, 50, 35, 30, 25, 20, 5, 3, 2? And is .310/.410/.610 worht 55 million dollars?
They sure as hell better, because he's really not going anywhere now. So you either boo the guy for 10 years, or you swallow your pride and somehow convince yourself to cheer for the best player in baseball.
That's part of why it's a good contract, because you're not paying all the money up front. You get his best years at a discount (theoretically, no one knows how he's actually going to perform) and then you "pay him back" later on when the money doesn't cost as much b/c of inflation. That's one of the reasons among several why long term contracts, assuming no disasters/acts of god, are often better for the buyer.
EDIT: They're also, for various reasons, often better for the seller, injury being the best example in the case of athletes. Basically, when you have a fairly good idea of what's going to happen over a period of time and what it's worth, long-term contracts are good for both sides because neither side gets screwed by year-to-year fluctuations.
In terms of how ARod's going to perform, I don't know ... but the reality is that no one was going to sign him for less than $25 million a year. So if you want to dance at the party consider that your base. So getting him for a number that's slightly above and considering that you're really only going to eat the last 2-3 years of the contract (I expect), at which point you'll be paying him cheap dollars, seems like a good shake to me. And I'm not a Yankees fan, btw.
Or both. Call it the Mickey Mantle precedent.
Obviously we don't know if there were any other bidders but that's my feeling as well. The Yanks appeared to be A-Rod's first choice. The could have negotiated a lower salary if A-Rod was indeed in a weak bargaining position. And this talk about Boras being humiliated is a little exteme. Look, from the public perception viewpoint, he was sent to the corner with dunce hat, which isn't a good image to have out there for some hot shot college player X looking for an agent in the upcoming draft. But his client just received the larger contract in baseball history w/o any reported bidders. That's hardly a defeat and probably the only thing a player will look at when looking for agent.
Yes. No player has ever represented this organization with such perfect fidelity.
Sure it will be "cheaper" but by how much? We are not talking about 10 million dollar contract a year for 10 years when the top talent right now is getting paid 8 million. This isn't early 90's when salaries were going up up and up. Since his signing 6 years ago nobody has come close to signing a contract worth the amount he is getting. Clemens and some others got somewhat close but that was on a one year basis.
In 7 years time 35 million or whatever he is going to be getting paid in yearly salary by that time is still going to be tons of money. They are not getting anything on the cheap. His salary at that time will still be a premium salary and his performance will not be anywhere close to the paylevel. He might be worth 10 million of it which means the other 25 million was for the right to have ARod on your team back in 2008 or 2009. So then was ARod worth 50 to 55 million dollars in 2008? If he wasn't then backloading didn't do a thing in terms of saving money for the Yankees.
I absolutely agree. He got his player a bigger contract at age 32 than any player has ever received in history, at any age. He also got him signed through his age 42 season with, and again this is the kicker, no other bidders. This might be the greatest move an agent has ever made.
It isn't the early '90s, it's the late aughts. But last I checked, salaries are definitely going up up and up. It's true that nobody has matched the AAV of his last contract since it was signed, but the cost of lesser talent has exploded and that means that his contract represented a better value because he was costing less of a premium.
But I agree that the Yankees are not getting anything on the cheap here. I just don't think that was their goal.
Add to that the obvious ############# of eliminating the Texas subsidy, and the potential for even more money through "shared revenues" and this doesn't look too good for the Yanks. I'd expect them to overpay to get the player, and they can probably afford it and it may not be a bad deal in the long run, but this seems like a bit too much to bid in the present environment.
Well done.
The bidding was Hank vs Brian.
Does this mean that Cashman has lost the control he gained back last off-season?
Actually, I think they're going up faster.
Not the top guys, per se, but a league average start (e.g. Jeff Suppan) gets 4/40.
Absolute crap pitchers (Marquis, Pineiro, injured Mulder) are getting multi year deals at 5M+ per.
And player cost has fallen from 55% of revenue to 40%.
Most liekly, salaries will absolutely explode over the next 5 years. Santana is probably looking at 7/150.
If salaries continue to go up at 10% a year. Paying ARod 27.5 M in 7 years is like paying him 14M today.
Pierre and G Matthews make 10M per today. It will be a bargain.
I think this is just a recent phenomenon, not generally true. Despite all the wringing of hands when A-Rod signed his first big deal, I said that this was actually a good deal for owners because it would set an upper salary limit. Never before had there been such a talented free agent at such a young age. Before that, players would continually set new salary records, but 2 or 3 years later their performance had diminished, so it was easy for the next guy to say "I'm better than him, I should get more." The top salary was about $2.5M in the late '80s, and then started soaring upward over the next decade. With A-Rod just entering the prime age when he signed, it wasn't likely he would soon be eclipsed as a player, and indeed he wasn't. So that's part of why the top of the market has slowed. If Rodriguez now begins to decline, the next super free agent may have a chance to set a new salary mark.
I think it means that Cashman and the Yankees were lying.
8/200. At least.
1) Is Alex Rodriguez an outstanding player who makes the Yankees much better than if they didn't have him? Clearly, he is and he does.
2) Is Alex Rodriguez going to continue to be an excellent player for some time to come? It's impossible to say for sure, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect him to be somewhere between excellent and outstanding for the next 4-7 years and somewhere between pretty good and very good for the remaining 3-6.
3) Do the Yankees make more money than the other teams in the league? Does that mean they should be more willing to spend big money for top players? Yes and yes.
4) Are the Yankees likely to be hampered in their ability to pay other top players by this contract? It's possible, but I don't have any particular reason to believe it at this time.
5) As a fan, would I rather my team maximize its wins/dollar or its gross wins? Emphatically the latter. It's not my money, so the Steinbrenners should spend as much as they are willing to if it improves the team.
In this light, I can't see that this is anything but a great triumph for Yankee fans.
That would make ARod a MUCH better deal. You'd have to think that any pitcher from age 29-37 is going to miss at least 1.5 seasons to injury. And the risk of catostrophic injury has to be much higher than for ARod.
I do think Arod's deal is a good deal. Some people are way underestimating baseball inflation. Doesn't anyone remember how ridiculous 25.2 million a year seemed just 7 years ago?
The baseball players association should push for a $1M minimum salary in the next negotiations. The only way they're going to get salaries back to 50% of revenues at this point is to raise the floor.
I hope (and think) you're being sarcastic. 25.2 is still ridiculous.
Somebody screwed up here. Heck, maybe everybody screwed up here. The Yanks screwed up letting AROD walk away at a price they were willing to pay but losing all the Texas money. If the Yanks are willing to "share the revenue" of his HR chase now, surely they'd have been happy to let him "share the revenue" coming from Texas. That is, if willing to guarantee 10/275 with a chance at 10/300, why not have just offered 10/300 guaranteed with the Texas money making up the difference? Boras seems to have misread the market, though it hasn't really bitten him or his client in the butt. AROD either waffled about whether he really wanted to play in NY or he just created a big dose of bad PR cuz he trusted Boras' opinion about the market (not that you could blame him for trusting).
Anyway, if the Yanks were willing to pay this now, they obviously should have been willing to pay it a few weeks ago when they could have kept the Rangers' money. If AROD/Boras was willing to accept this now, they should have been willing to accept it a few weeks ago and the only explanation for not doing so is thinking they could do better elsewhere.
Still, as screwups go, this worked out pretty well for all involved. The Yanks get a great player (at least for a while), AROD gets bejillions, Boras gets his commission and sportswriters get 5 easy columns a year for the next 10 years no matter how things work out.
I have routinely stated on here that I wanted A Rod to play in California, ideally for the Angels.
That I would buy an A Rod jersey, and that I would routinely go and watch him play ..
So yeah I am very disappointed. Pissed actually.
If you are trying to knock me for knocking spoiled Yankee fans that don't understand the game, I could easily claim that 50% of the 'fans' that don a NY Yankee cap worldwide, don't understand #### about the game, and I wouldn't be that far off ...
so what did I say that was horsecrap.
Just a fashion accessory that their favourite rapper wears.
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