Red Sox To Meet With Beckett

Its going to be interesting to see what Theos 1st offer to Becks is...Im guessing in the 16-18mil per...4yr deal with maybe an option for a 5th...If Theo signs Bay,Beckett and can land Gonzalez this offseason,I think that could be considered a great success..

I've noticed the glitch too, it is very annoying.

I think Theo wants an idea of what its going to take before deciding if he wants to take a crack at Lackey or go the trade route. But going 3yr/16 with an option for a 4th year might be an opening offer.

I think he is gonna want 4 with the 5th being a vesting option thats easily attainable. 17-19 a year is my guess. Becketts freaking awesome, I'd give it to him considering what Burnett got and becks is way better

No site is perfect. If it means hitting F5 a few time's, it's worth it.

Point is, this site just rocks!

What glitch exactly are you talking about?

Yeah, from what I've seen the posts kind of blended together. And not in a good way. You get like the headline and story, then a headline and ad in between that story. Kind of like behind it, like text wrapping in Microsoft Word.

Best I can describe it lol.

Anyway, I'd love to see the Sox re-up with Beckett. Dproc, your "4 year, $70MM" suggestion seems perfectly reasonable, as well as a very good deal for both sides. Maybe the Sox try to add a 5th year and make it $80-$85, but if not, that offer is good.

yeah, i agree. we absolutely NEED to sign Beckett and get him back to his 07' form. I'm not sure their is a suitable replacement out their without decimating the farm.

i like holliday but at what cost? 5-6 years, 75-125 MM!

If any body thinks Beckett is going to take less than 20 Mil a year you are dreaming.... Beckett aint giving Boston a home town discount and hes wont sign just to wear the B on his hat... Theo has to pay up or let him walk...

If any body thinks Beckett is going to take less than 20 Mil a year you are dreaming.... Beckett aint giving Boston a home town discount and hes wont sign just to wear the B on his hat... Theo has to pay up or let him walk...

Posted by: Adam Dunagan | November 03, 2009 at 08:13 PM

It is highly unlikely that Beckett gets $20MM from anyone. He has a long history of blister problems, which "significantly impair performance" of a pitcher. It may not be a UCL problem, but it is still serious. Seeing as how Beckett will turn 30 in May, I can see Theo going 5 years for $16MM per, but definitely not $20MM.

Adam - you need to read.

no way Beckett talks?

He talked 1 year before free agency and signed his last deal for less than free agent money.

Then in spring training this year he said he and his agent would approach the Sox this offseason to see if there if what it what.

Beckett's behaviour isn't that of a Boras client who only wants every last dollar.

Beckett's behaviour isn't that of a Boras client who only wants every last dollar.

Posted by: quintjs | November 03, 2009 at 08:38 PM

Give Adam a break. He's so accustomed to overpaying for players... He must be a Yankee fan.

Beckett isn't going to get $20M per year not because he wouldn't get it in the open market if he were a free agent. The reason the Sox are approaching Beckett now about an extension is that in exchange for taking a few mill less than he'd get in free agency ($20M per, lets say), the team gives him a 4/5 year contract extension at say $17M per. The extension can replace his 2010 option at $12M and he's making an extra $5M in 2010 alone, with a guaranteed $68M over the next 4 years after that.

It just depends if Beckett wants to risk injury or poor performance in 2010 or if he wants to take the guaranteed money. But in order for the team to offer an extension to Beckett now, he's got to give something back. If they had to pay full market value, they'd be better off waiting to see how he pitches in 2010.

Yankees 2011 rotation:

Sabathia
Halladay
Beckett
Lackey
Burnett

Sorry, just had to do it.

Posted by: vtadave | November 03, 2009 at 09:15 PM

HAHA Were you get that, Joke of the Day!

Anyways, I see Beckett signing at

2015 - 17.4 Million
2014 - 17.7 Million
2013 - 18.2 Million
2012 - 18.7 Million
2011 - 19 Million

A total of: 91 Million over 5 years.

Adam - you need to read.

no way Beckett talks?

He talked 1 year before free agency and signed his last deal for less than free agent money.

Then in spring training this year he said he and his agent would approach the Sox this offseason to see if there if what it what.

Beckett's behaviour isn't that of a Boras client who only wants every last dollar."""

Keep Dreaming...

Adam, that was a posting fee (in lieu of a huge trade package) to negotiate with the best pitcher in baseball. The fee was so high because, once again, Borass and the NYY were driving up the price. Besides getting Daisuke, the Red Sox became a premier player in the Japanese and Asian markets, and a first choice for Japanese players. That $50M got the Sox Daisuke, Oki, Tazawa, Saito. Both Kawakami and Kikuchi were very interested in the Sox. That was money well spent. Had the Yankees outbid the Sox (again) they would have gotten Daisuke's 33W, Oki's incredible 2007 performance and probably won the '07 WS. Once again, that money was well spent, and has been repaid many times over.

BTW, your racism becomes you.

And lets get some facts straight about Beckett's last extension. It was signed in the middle of 2006, at the time he never pitched over 180 IP in ANY season, the day before he signed the contract his ERA was 5.12 in his first 1/2 season in the AL East.
He would be foolish not to accept 30m guaranteed at the time, with possiblity of making it 42m if healthy.

"How Quickly sox fans forget Rice K's 51 Million Dollar Posting Fee..."

How quickly Yankee fans forget Kei Igawa's $20M posting fee...

Its cute seeing the Yankee trolls in here pretending that players for the Red Sox have the same mercenary mentality that players for the Yankees do. There is a reason they play for the Yankees and not the Red Sox, its because they are only concerned with their pay check. Beckett will sign a team friendly contract with the Sox as he did in his last negotiations and there won't be much fuss or posturing between the two sides because they have respect for each other. Beckett knows that it handicaps his chances of wearing another ring if he starts demanding $20M+ and I'm more than willing to bet he settles on a contract somewhere around $16M per year over four years. Wait and see for yourselves... or you could keep pretending that other teams in the league excessively overpay their players like the Yankees do.

I think that the possibility of an extension is good, as there may be a perfect storm of a few factors:

1) Beckett had a decent year, and would have certainly been a strong Cy Young contender, had it not been for a late dip in performance. That makes two years in a row that Beckett has had problematic finishes to the year. This may slightly depress Beckett's value.

2) As some commenters noted, AJ Burnett's contract may be a floor for Beckett's negotiations, or at least a reference point. I think that going forward, Beckett's value can only surpass Burnett's contract, especially if he is able to improve upon his performance in 2009. This may help to focus the discussion on whether an extension is possible or not.

3) The intangibles also favor Beckett. I think the Sox brass like the way that Beckett handles himself, both on the field and off of it. You never read about him in the press for off-field antics, and he does contribute to local charities, etc. Further, I think that it's possible they like Beckett as a mentor for some of their young talent (Buchholz, Kelly(?), and Bowden) going forward. To lock up Beckett now may actually give the Sox some room to deal one or more of their young prospects for an athletic upgrade at SS/3B/OF.

4) Beckett clearly doesn't like the uncertainty of playing for a contract, as indicated by the timing of his last contract. I think that he may be willing to take less money for more certainty, which may also play into the likelihood that a deal gets made.

I wouldn't be surprised if a deal is 3 years + option/buyout at:

2011 - $13.5
2012 - $15.5
2013 - $17
2014 - $18.5 / $2m buyout

The total value of the contract is $64M, which is a fairly decent bump from his previous salary. The other scenario I think the Sox could offer is to renegotiate the extension to include a higher pay for 2010, which would potentially give both sides a "win-win" in terms of money and years

"Its cute seeing the Yankee trolls in here pretending that players for the Red Sox have the same mercenary mentality that players for the Yankees do. There is a reason they play for the Yankees and not the Red Sox, its because they are only concerned with their pay check.
Posted by: Blackcourt | November 04, 2009 at 07:11 AM "

Dude that stopped being funny 5 years ago, Boston is not a small market team, get over it. Carl Pavano turned down more money from Boston to go to the Yankees, yet we crucify Pavano for being just about money and cashman for the stupid signing.

"Since the NYY MO is to pay 30% over market (including the one extra year),
Posted by: Joey B | November 04, 2009 at 08:04 AM "

Yeah Tex signed for 160m and they overbid the Sox by what 10m? But if Theo signed him it would because Tex loves baseball and Theo's a genius right?
right? Here's a tip, every FA is signed to an overmarket deal (ie. Carlos freaking Silva got 48m) because teams start bidding against one another.
Even with the CC deal- Santana got 6/138 while under team control, CC got 7/161m, pretty close when you handicap it for being a FA.

"And lets get some facts straight about Beckett's last extension. It was signed in the middle of 2006, at the time he never pitched over 180 IP in ANY season, the day before he signed the contract his ERA was 5.12 in his first 1/2 season in the AL East.
He would be foolish not to accept 30m guaranteed at the time, with possiblity of making it 42m if healthy."

I don't know, he could've made an insane amount on the open market.

He was set to hit free agency after the 2007 season, so unless he continued to struggle, which was relatively unlikely given his HR/FB ratio and how out of line his K/BB was with his track record, he would've probably made $100M+ on the open market after the 2007 season.

Yeah, he took the conservative route, and it's hard to argue with it given that he'll be rich either way then.

But this was an elite pitcher and while his numbers were partially down, his velocity was up on his entire arsenal, and there was reason to believe that he would improve, and clearly the Red Sox recognized that.

It was just a really, really smart signing, FanGraphs has the guy valued at $72M over the past three seasons, and that doesn't include his postseason contributions, and the Sox only paid him $28M for that period.

"do you have any facts to support your arguments or do you just make stuff up as you go and hope that nobody will call you on it?"

I stated my facts and you agreed.
- Johan WAS under team control when he signed his extension.
- Whether it was 10 or 20m that comes out to outbidding Sox 1-2m more per year for Tex

-Derek Lowe wasnt overpaid? Oliver Perez wasnt overpaid? Raul Ibanez wasnt overpaid?
-Sorry no teams wanted to pay a 35 year old RF, who sucks in RF, OBP dropping, power disappearing for a RF, and horrible CS% last year. But that must mean that the Yankees offered Abreu 5 years 100m last offseason right?

Being under team control for 1 year is still being under team control. Guys are going to get more on the free market than they will under contract still.

Zag, just a few clarifications.

1. Boras, in his typically overstated style, organized all the hooplah about the Daisuke signing. The bids were blind. The NYY have a long & consistent history of blowing everyone out of the water to get what they want (which is why most fans outside of NYC hate the Yankees). To block NYY from getting Daisuke and a premier position in Japan, the Sox had to go as high as they dared. They did, getting Daisuke, Oki, the 2007WS.

2. Compared to the large markets of NYC, Chicago, L.A., DFW, Boston is NOT a large market team. It merely acts like one because of its huge fan base living in N.E., and around the world (who buy merchandise and NESN)like much of my family. The population of Boston is 589,000, a fraction of NYC. The population of all New England is less than half of the greater NYC. And about a half milion of those are NYC commuters/Yankee fans from Ct. IMO, and that of most baseball fans, the Yankees are the typical schoolyard bully. Boston (Tampa, Cleveland, Toronto are the tough little kids that stand up to him.

Finally, without the Yankees, Boras would wither. Shame on Cash.

Johan WAS under team control when he signed his extension.

Posted by: Deanezag

You are right he was under control for one more year, but I believe if there was no extension in place he would have envoked his no trade clause (though I maybe misremembering like Any Pettitte did). So with that said, the Mets didn't really have the leverage Santana did, so it was like dealing with a free agent

JayL78 -Yes, but at the time Yankees already pulled their offer from the table and Boston wasnt backing up the dumptruck either.
Plus Johan told the Twins to make a deicsion, and the Twins set a deadline for offers. And Johan previously said he doesnt want to be traded mid-season. So Johan didnt have all the power.
Plus it was the 3rd straight season in which his BAA, WHIP, FIP, BB9, HR/FB all went up. Plus I believe there are graphs showing his velocity was decreasing as well.

What am I wrong about?
Johan WAS under contract
There was no BIDDING war for DiceK
Red Sox isnt some 70m payroll team

"everyone of those players you listed in an attempt to prove your point signed their contracts, like Silva, when free agency was at its peak."

Gerald troy posted "Finally, without the Yankees, Boras would wither."
Those contracts show that statement isnt true. Yankees had no interest in Carlos Silva and he still 48m.

Which facts am I ignoring?

"Gerald troy posted "Finally, without the Yankees, Boras would wither."
Those contracts show that statement isnt true. Yankees had no interest in Carlos Silva and he still 48m."

The facts that you are ignoring is that the free agent market is different as of last year for every team, except the Yankees. They still went out and overpaid the top three free agents on the market. Other teams didn't have to and the Yankees wouldn't have had to either except that they always outbid themselves. Look at A-Rod's contract if you want evidence. But please... keep kidding yourself.

Blackcourt- DId Derek Lowe, Oliver Perez, Raul Ibanez not get overpaid this offseason?
I never said the Yankees dont have an advantage in FA, but are also not breaking any rules. Yankees overpay for FA, so do many other teams.
Yankees outbid themselves on Texeira? So Theo wasnt in negotiations with him? John Henry didnt fly down to Texas? Oh thats right, 160m is a reasonable offer, but 180m is bidding against yourself.
-Now who is ignoring the facts?

"How does Johan not have essentially all of the leverage?"
-Because it's fair to say that any SP about to hit his 30s wants a long term contract as soon as possible. I've already mentioned the decline in his numbers for the last 3 seasons, going back to the Twins for 1 more season- and walking away from 130 because he wants 140 or 150, because every year we see pitchers go down with major injury, playing the odds walking away from that money is not a good decision.

zsberenyi- good point, Theo was calling Seattle and Felix this July. If he can land Felix, put him and Lester at the top of the rotation- let Beckett walk and take the draft picks. Of course Felix would also cost Buchholz (funny, because hes older than Felix) Bard and other prospects

It's amazing ZAg that you don't understand the impact of population and other demographics on size of markets. That you firmly believe the Yankees and Steinbrenners haven't messed up baseball for everyone outside NYC. You are the prototypical Yankee fan. INtelligent, but blind to reason.