Jump to content

2011 MLB Season Thread


Gary

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 3.8k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

People got pretty mad at me when I said the Howard contract was terrible, IIRC.

EDIT:

Players should generally make what the market bears, but fans aren't out of bounds to feel uncomfortable about big guaranteed money for players who are in danger of steep decline, because those kinds of deals can really hamstring organizations down the road, and if you have an interest in affordably attending games, seeing your team succeed, or both, big contracts can jeopardize both of your interests. Look at the Cubs with Alfonso Soriano: they gave him a stunningly huge, backloaded, immovable, lengthy contract. I believe he's signed through 2014. Now even in 2009, Soriano was showing flashes of brilliance but also alarming flashes of "can't play baseball at a major league level anymore." Can't field a position. Can't hit a breaking ball. Can't run the bases. Nevertheless, an insane amount of money has been committed to him based on his 2006 season, and eventually the Cubs will either have to eat his contract and essentially never spend money on anyone at all for the balance of his contract, or keep paying him to miss every pitch and be deathly afraid of hitting the left field wall. And needless to say, ticket prices have increased exponentially since 2007 and will continue to increase, future hikes which will probably not be commensurate with on-field success.

Big money isn't intrinsically bad, but bad paper is. Should Ryan Howard make $25 million next year? In all likelihood, yes. Should he make it in 2015? Time will tell, but I have a feeling he shouldn't, if you believe that players should be compensated based on what they'll do rather than what they've done.

This pretty much happened

♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Away from this board, admiral, I don't think you'd find many defenders of the Howard deal, even at the time. One of my friends, who is a Phillies fan, was adamantly against the deal. It was an insane overpay at the time, and as the actual contract kicks in, looks even worse for the same reason a lot of long term deals look horrible. Injuries, players decline with time, and especially in a position like first base, their value largely comes from their bat alone. With Howard being a true three outcome type, the only thing he brings to the table is power and the ability to get on base, because his contact skills are not good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmm?

Howard is due like $140M over his next 5 years.

The worst contract in the game contest has a new leader.

No, it's still Vernon Wells.

(You're welcome)

And us Blue Jays fans thank you every day for it ^_^

Who/what did the Jays end up getting for Juan Rivera? I remember it being cash or a player to be named.

Looking at the deal and those that followed....

Angels - Vernon Wells, his massive contract and his incredible batting average

Rangers - Mike Napoli's career season

Jays - Frank Francisco, $20+ million off the books and whatever the Dodgers could scrape up for Juan Rivera

In conclusion: :cursing:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks like Theo Epstein is near close to (or in some places reported as "is") leaving Boston to become the GM of the Chicago Cubs.

Boston Herald, USA Today, ESPNChicago

It's the Cubs, which means this deal is sure to fall through.

Actually knowing the Cubs Theo will go there and be an epic disaster leaving them in far worse shape when he gets fired in three years. Like what Omar Minaya did to the Mets

ecyclopedia.gif

www.sportsecyclopedia.com

For the best in sports history go to the Sports E-Cyclopedia at

http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com

champssigtank.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks like Theo Epstein is near close to (or in some places reported as "is") leaving Boston to become the GM of the Chicago Cubs.

Boston Herald, USA Today, ESPNChicago

It's the Cubs, which means this deal is sure to fall through.

Actually knowing the Cubs Theo will go there and be an epic disaster leaving them in far worse shape when he gets fired in three years. Like what Omar Minaya did to the Mets

It's not. Always. The Mets.

-----

Thinking about it over the past couple days, Theo is inheriting a much different situation with the Cubs than with the Sox. With the Sox, he inherited a pretty decent team. Went to the playoffs in his first year (Aaron Boone). Then broke the curse in his second year, and it was pretty much all coming up roses for him until the last two years (and even then he made some of the biggest free agent signings that, on paper, should have worked.

With the Cubs, he's going to have to build the team from the bottom up. There's a few pieces to keep and build around obviously, but it'll be interesting to see if he goes and tries to make the big splash or makes it a process.

5963ddf2a9031_dkO1LMUcopy.jpg.0fe00e17f953af170a32cde8b7be6bc7.jpg

| ANA | LAA | LAR | LAL | ASU | CSULBUSMNT | USWNTLAFC | OCSCMAN UTD |

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.




×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.