When MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith mentioned Clay Buchholz as an extension candidate last September, Ben noted that Buchholz's rotation mate Jon Lester was a close comparable. Buchholz himself apparently agrees with the comparison, as he told WEEI.com's Alex Speier that he would appreciate a multiyear deal akin to the five-year, $30MM pact that Lester signed with the Red Sox before the 2009 season, or the similar extensions signed by Ricky Romero in Toronto and Yovani Gallardo in Milwaukee.
“I think that would definitely be a base model for it — numbers-wise, security reasons, I think every player with less than three years of service time, that’s what they strive for,” said Buchholz. “I’m not saying I’m as good as Lester or I deserve what he got, but just from the other guys who signed their deal in the past year or so with the same service, I think that’s definitely a good starting point if there ever was one.”
The Sox haven't approached Buchholz about an extension this winter, and if the team waits until sometime during or after the 2011 season to explore a long-term deal, another strong season from Buchholz could make his extension more expensive than the deals signed by Lester, Gallardo or Romero. There's no question Boston can afford to extend the right-hander, but doing so sooner rather than later might save the team an extra $5-10MM on a contract. Buchholz will be arbitration-eligible for the first time after this season.
Why stop there? Ask for Pujols money.
Because pujols hasn’t even gotten pujols money… yet
Lock him up
i agree with hte redsox stance here, lets wait it out, see what happens this year. maybe his peripherals stay great and his metrics improve, maybe not, but lets not go crazy over 1 pretty solid year. another season like 2010 and lets wrap him up!
Exactly. I highly doubt the Sox are in any kind of rush.
I agree. It’ll surely cost a little more, but it’ll be worth not taking the risk. Buchholz knows he still has to prove that he can be consistent and really earn the John Lester money.
if he has another solid year it may cost an extra million or so per year, so over a 5 years extension 5 million bucks, if he has a down year he goes to arbitration, its a win-win for the sox, but id really like to see clay on the team for years to come.
Clay Buckholz isn’t even good.
interesting post. well planned and thought out. plus tons of factual evidence backing up your position on his talents.
Sarcasm really doesn’t translate well on here.
you seemed to understand.
I think he meant his original comment was sarcasm
Which is why Clay Buckholz isn’t in the major leagues.
OHHH because you spelled his name wrong you think you are clever in this argument? Using spelling errors to win an argument. Well played…only..not.
Using “not” jokes is definitely a step up.
Buchholz’s year last year was a fluke, I see him having an ERA in the mid 3’s this upcoming season
a mid 3 era is definitely grounds for a demotion to single a ball
Isn’t that what Lester’s was this year and he’s a top 10 pitcher??? I’d be pretty happy with a guy putting up a 3.5 era in the AL East.
Find me a team that wouldn’t pay $30 million over five years for that and you’ll have found the Rays.
I have nothing wrong with them locking him up for Lester like money.
He did stop throwing the ball to 1st base every other pitch when there was a runner on base last season… Seriously.. Might be better to wait still, he does seem to be in love with his curveball still instead of his fastball when it seems he should be pounding the zone and attacking hitters. he has a very, very good one and can move it when he wants to instead of nit picking with his pretty good curve, but still has that tendency to try and finesse batters some games instead and either get behind batters, or out right walk them.
Let him get through half this season, or finish it and see if Young can get it through his head that his FB is what he needs to stick with the majority of the time and lay off that curve and splitter much more than he did before and THEN maybe approach him about a lester type deal.
Do what you did last year and then we’ll talk Buchholz.
Lester signed right before he truly broke out so I think its a fair statement. If he has another good season he will be extended either way.
Dear Francisco Liriano, 3 years 39 million? HA
Sold. Absolutely sold. Even considering he outperformed his peripherals last year, he’s worth that.
What people saying “wait” don’t seem to get is that Lester is worth a lot more than he’s making. Even if Buchholz were to regress to his peripherals (Which he most certainly will), he’d still be worth $30 million over five. Let’s look at it this way:
If he puts up the same flukish numbers next year, his price goes up by at least $10 million over the life of the contract, or worse yet, he may get a high arbitration reward and decide to just ride that out (And let’s not kid ourselves, if he comes close to last year’s numbers, he’ll easily top $6MM AAV in arbitration (Unlikely to top that his first year, but he’ll likely average more than 6 per by the end of arbitration) and potentially just walks for a long term deal afterward.
As I stated above, even if he pitches to MOR numbers and a 3.5ish ERA, he’ll be worth the cost of Lester’s deal. If he’ll sign now for that kind of money, it is absolutely worth the risk with the potential reward involved.
Man, I was all affronted by Lester ranking so low in the CYA award standings last year until I ran across this clause in his contract:
“2014 30 Boston Red Sox *$13,000,000 $13M Team Option, $250k Buyout May void option if player is 1st or 2nd in Cy Young for any season, 2009-2013 ”
Let’s hear it for another three years of #3/4 in CY voting! Go go King Felix and David Price!
I wouldn’t even put it past the Sox to try and work something out mid-season if he has a strong start and makes an All-Star push..waiting a full year might not even be necessary and could potentially drive up the price a decent amount if he puts up another 2010-like season when it’s all done.