Baseball GMs & 100 Million dollar Contracts. When will they learn?

In the aftermath of this year's winter meetings and a couple of free agent signings I starting thinking about this trend we are seeing in baseball regarding contracts. Now a days we see absurd contracts on a yearly basis. Every year a few players will get a  6+ year 140 million+ dollar contract which pays them 20+ mil per season until they're 37+ years old. This off season we have seen three such deals starting of course with my Mets signing David Wright to the tune of 7 years 122 mil extension to the 16 mil he's due this season, so 8 years 138mil. As a Met fan am I happy he signed? Yes. Is he worth that much? No, but yes. More on that in a minute. Then the Los Angeles Dodgers signed Zack Greinke for 6 years 147 mil, followed by the Anaheim Angels signed Josh Hamilton for 5 years 125mil a couple days later.

In doing my research I found that this trend of hefty contracts started almost 15 years ago, in 1998 when Kevin Brown became baseball's first 100 million dollar man after signing with the Dodgers for 7 years and 105 mil. In 2000 following a trade from the Mariners to the Reds, one of my favorite players ever, the kid Ken Griffey Jr. signed a 9 year 116 mil contract. Following that 2000 season, Dan O'Dowd signed former Met great Mike Hampton to the richest contract in baseball history at the time 8 years 123.8 Mil. It only stood as the highest contract ever for 2 days. Enter Tom Hicks, the former owner of the Texas Rangers, who signed Alex Rodriguez to a 10 year, 252 million dollar contract on December 11th, 2000. That signing became the highest paying contract in sports history and more than doubled Mike Hampton's. Some people applauded Hicks for the signing as they felt he snatched up the most coveted free agent baseball had ever seen, or at least since young Barry Bonds hit the market in '92. A-Rod was 25, a 5 tool player, whom many thought would one day be the best player in the game, if he wasn't already. He was coming of a .316 AVG-41 HR-132 RBI-134 R-Gold Glove caliber season. Signing him was a no-brainer, but at what price? Hicks thought that number was 252 Million over 10 years. 25 mil a season. Never had that money been paid to one player, 25 mil per season. Outrageous, even for someone as talented as A-Rod. 

With the contract Texas committed to using 1/4th of their payroll on one player for the next 10 years. By setting this precedent with A-Rod, Hicks made it impossible for other teams and GM's to have a chance at signing players for a respectable amount. Other GM's took note and realized what they would have to dish out 20 mil, or close to it, to keep their best players or best free agents. Players have asked for outrageous contracts in negotiations, and no matter how outrageous it's not close to A-Rod's deal. We have seen that players have won as there have been several subsequent outrageous contracts (17+ mil per season):

2001

(SS) Derek Jeter: 10y, 189m, 18.9per

(OF) Manny Ramirez: 8y, 160m, 20per

2002

(1B) Jason Giambi 7y, 120m, 17.1per

2004

(OF) Carlos Beltran: 7y, 119m, 17per

2006

(OF) Vernon Wells: 7y, 126m, 18per

(OF) Alfonso Soriano: 8y, 136m, 17per

(P) Barry Zito: 7y, 126m, 18per

2007

(3B) A-Rod: 10y, 275m, 27.5per

(P) Johan Santana: 6y, 137.5m, 22.9per

(3B) Miguel Cabrera: 8y, 152.3m, 19per

2008

(1B) Mark Teixeira: 8y, 180m, 22.5per

(P) CC Sabathia: 7y ,161m, 23per

2010

(1B) Ryan Howard 5y, 125m, 25per

(C) Joe Mauer: 8y, 184m, 23per

(OF) Matt Holliday: 7y, 120m, 17.1per

2011

(P) Cliff Lee 5y, 120m, 24per

(1B) Adrian Gonzalez: 7y, 154m, 22per

(OF) Carl Crawford: 7y, 142m, 20.2per

(OF) Jayson Werth: 7y, 126m, 18per

2012

(1B) Albert Pujols: 10y, 240m, 24per

(P) Cole Hamels: 6y, 144m, 24per

(1B) Joey Votto: 10 years, 225 Mil, 22.5per

(1B) Prince Fielder: 9 Years, 214 Mil, 23.7per

(OF) Matt Cain: 6y, 127.5m, 21.1per

(OF) Matt Kemp: 8 Years, 160 Mil, 20per

(SS) Jose Reyes: 6y, 106m, 17.6per

and the 3 previously mentioned signings of this offseason. I know I'm missing a few too.

Well we know how everything worked out for Tom Hicks. A-Rod had 3 good steroid using seasons while in Texas, hit 156 home runs and won an MVP one year despite his team finishing last. Hicks couldn't keep spending that amount of money on him and was forced to trade him to the Yankees and eat a portion of the contract. Texas eventually filled for bankruptcy and Hicks sold the team to Nolan Ryan. A-Rod has had a few good regular seasons with the Yankees, won two more MVP awards, and even hit well in one postseason to help the Yankees win a ring. However, he opted out of his original contract in 2007 to sign the highest paid contract in sports history, again! This time 10 years, 275 Mil. Now he is 37, got pinch hit for and benched in the ALCS last season and is getting ready to have his second hip surgery in 3 years. He is still owed 116 million over the next 5 years. 

I'd say that it has certainly went bad for the Rangers and is now going bad for the Yankees. Most of the contracts on that list didn't pan out. In fact, I can only point to a handful that were "worth" it: Jeter, Ramirez, Cabrera, CC and maybe Teixeira. However the trend hasn't stopped. Bloated contracts keep coming because there is no way players will ask for anything less than what has been previously given. Additionally, and more importantly teams are forced to dish out close to 20 mil per season to keep their best players or add players to help. If they can't do that they watch him go, listen to their fans cry and their team loses. If they can keep him, fans are happy in the short-term but feel the financial burden years later when he no longer produces at the same level and the team can't bring in anyone else because they are weighed down by the contract. This is happening now with A-Rod, many of the others on the list and sure to happen to any of the recent signings. All of theses 100 million dollar contracts amount to short term happiness, most of the time very short term, and long term sadness and regret.

Now in the case of my Mets and David Wright. Wright is our best player, face of the franchise and now, since the trade of R.A. Dickey, the only reason to go to a Mets game next year. Because of this we absolutely had to sign him to an extension. Not only that, we had to offer 17.25mil per season or he would have walked to some team that would. Is he worth 17.25 mil? In short no player is. However, because of what he means to us and his status as one of the top 3 or 4 3rd basemen in baseball he might be close to worth it, for now. He will play like he is worth it for the next 3-4 years (I hope) but on the backside of the deal he certainly won't be. Then we'll be dishing out 17 mil for a shell of himself. What hurts most is that we probably won't be in contention for much of the first half of his deal and when we start getting better in the back half (if this young pitching comes around) we won't be able to afford other players because of his contract. In total this contract, like most 100 million dollar contracts, adds up to short term semi-happiness long term depression and regret. When will these GMs learn?  

No Hitter

After 50 seasons and 8,019 games my New York Mets finally had their first no hitter. The man who pitched it? Johan, or as everyone is saying "No-Han," Santana.

My ESPN Scorecenter app sent the buzz to my phone around 7:06pm letting me know that the Mets game had just began. It was another fairly regular Friday night at Citi. The drama around this game was Carlos Beltran's return to NY after his 7 up and (mostly) down years. He would actually be involved in something more dramatic as the night became historic.

I get updates after the 3rd and 6th inning as well as the end of the game. After 3, Mets were up. After 6, Mets were up. I thought:"Cool, were doing out thing. Bout to get this win." Then I got another buzz. "Johan Santana has not allowed a hit after 7 innings." Then another "Johan Santana has not allowed a hit after 8 innings." Then another "Johan Santana enters the 9th inning with a chance to throw a no hitter."

Can't tell you how excited I was, but also nervous. I would have jumped to the closest TV if I could but I was at a play with Grandma so I just had to hoped for the best. Finally, I found out what happened as I got 3 more buzzes from my phone. Scorecenter let me know twice via the end of the game update and the baseball headlines update. New York Times let me know too: "Johan Santana throws the first No-Hitter in Mets history."

We finally did it. Johan "You know who big" Santana did it.



It's so awesome! I'm happy that it was Johan. He has been a beast the whole time he has been a Met. We could never give him enough run support in his first few years, years where he could have won Cy Youngs. Nonetheless he always pitched well. Unfortunately, he was shutdown in September of 2010 and had shoulder surgery. He missed all of last year due to rehab and returned this year. He is no longer the dominant (pitch speed wise) pitcher that he used to be, but he has been very good this year and now has the 1st no hitter in our history.

The no-no didn't come without controversy though. Beltran hit a sharp liner down the 3rd base line in the 6th the was ruled foul. It actually was fair, as it hit the chalk. It would have broken up the no-no and prevented history. But it was ruled foul and no-no attempt went on. It's kind of sweet that Beltran didn't break it up, payback for him not coming through when we needed him the most: final at bat of game 7 of the 2006 NLCS.

Johan didn't do it by himself. Queens native, and life long Mets fan turned Mets player Mike Baxter gave up his body to help preserve the no-no in the 7th.

Thank you Mike. Thank you Johan. Thank you Mets. History. Proud to be a Mets fan!

Reactions to the amNewYork (News) 8/9/11

Read through the amNewYork this morning and had some reactions to the news.

How many times has "Between Barack and a hard spot" been used as a headline?

The economy is pretty bad man.

Are the Republicans purposely at odds with Obama just because he's a Democrat or because he's black or both?

Could Obama had spent more time handling the crisis instead of tackling his initial agenda? Maybe.

Hilary supportes saying she woulda been better. Word?

The old MTA chief up and left for a new gig in China. Someone had dirt on him...serious dirt. Really why he left.

I wanted to be in the Triathlon. Maybe next year.

They're raging in London.

Another Texas Governor is set to run for Pres. Remember the last one? Oh aight.

Watch The Throne is pretty damn good (Next post). amNew York's fave Jay and 'Ye features are pretty dope ones.

Bernie Williams is one of my favorite Yankees (players) ever.

Jets botched the Ellis thing. He really stuck it to them going to the Pats.

Mets game didn't make the edition bc the game ended to late. We got the walk off win though.

Not addressing Reyes on the DL.

#respect to the 1st Latino owner. Is his name Manuelo?

DeSean ended the holdout. Now I can take Eagles seriously.

Real Madrid signed a 7 year old. Another reason to hate them.

Let me get this Crossword...hopefully its easier than yesterday's.

It Was

Giants World Series Champs

Congrats to the San Francisco Giants who won the World Series on Monday night.

They defeated the Texas Rangers 3-1 in game 5 to win the series in 5 games (4-1). They defeated soon to be Yankee Cliff Lee on Monday (for the second time in the series) courtesy a Edgar Renteria 3-Run Home Run in the 7th inning. Renteria went on to be named World Series MVP. He's no stranger to World Series heroics though, he had the series winning hit in 1997 for the Marlins. He's been one of my favorite players every since, I pick his batting stance whenever I create myself in any baseball game.

I'm very happy for the Giants, as I was rooting for them. The main reason was because I owe them. Their departure from New York after the 1957 season led to the founding of my NY Mets. Our cap logo and the orange we wear comes from them. Guess I should say thank you.

I had other reasons too though. They're from the National League, where my allegiance lies. They play in one of the most beautiful stadiums in baseball (NL has all the best looking stadiums). Of course they also have Cody Ross (#sayitlikeross) who had a ridiculous postseason (.294 5 HRs 10 RBIs). It was probably because of his beard:

Speaking of #bawse beards, there was Brian Wilson who dyed his joint black:

Fear the Beard

They really represented the team concept: a group of low ego guys working together for the good of the team. They relied on mostly home grown talent,a bunch of cast-offs and journey men, and a rookie sensation: Catcher Buster Posey. They won games with great defense, timely hitting from unlikely sources (Renteria, Ross, Jaun Uribe, Aubrey Huff) and outrageous pitching. 2 time Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum (also known as Big Time Timmy Jim) defeated Cliff Lee twice, Matt Cain didn't allow an Earned Run in the postseason and Madison Bumgarner threw 8 shoutout innings in game 4, dude is 21.

Congrats again Giants, you earned it. #Respect

Mets, hope you took notes.

K-Rod Arrested...#LetsGoMets

K-Rod in cuffs.

Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez was arrested late last night after the NY Mets crushing defeat (I'm a fan) at the hands of the Colorado Rockies. After the game K-Rod got in a argument with his father in-law and then got physical, backing him against a wall and the repeatedly punching him in the face. The incident happened in the Family Room, in which several of the players families were. K-Rod proceeded to shower and curse out a few reporters before attempting to leave the stadium in this:

Clean White Lambo #Respect

 I can understand why K-Rod was upset, the Mets Bullpen blew another save opportunity before he had a chance to close it out, it hurts (even more that former Met great Melvin Mora did us in this time). Despite the anger K-Rod was out of control. He's added another horrible story to this depressing season (at least we got some backpage love) and may have written his ticket out of NY. 

Luckily, Johan Santana "You Know Who Big" got on the hill today and dominated to put this behind us: Complete Game Shutout allowing 4 Hits and Striking Out 10.

#LetsGoMets 

LOL