MLBTR's Mike Axisa looked at the largest contracts by service time a year ago; it's time for an update.
Less Than One Year
Position Player: Ryan Braun. Eight years, $45MM.
Pitcher: C.C. Sabathia. Four years, $9.5MM.
One To Two Years
Position Player: Chris Young. Five years, $28MM.
Pitcher: Fausto Carmona. Four years, $15MM.
Two To Three Years
Position Player: Carlos Gonzalez. Seven years, $80MM.
Pitcher: Trevor Cahill. Five years, $30.5MM.
Three To Four Years
Position Player: Albert Pujols. Seven years, $100MM.
Pitcher: Scott Kazmir. Three years, $28.5MM.
Four To Five Years
Position Player: Troy Tulowitzki. Ten years, $157.75MM.
Pitcher: Justin Verlander. Five years, $80MM.
Five To Six Years
Position Player: Derek Jeter. Ten years, $189MM.
Pitcher: Roy Oswalt. Five years, $73MM.
Six-plus Years
Position Player: Alex Rodriguez. Ten years, $275MM.
Pitcher: C.C. Sabathia. Seven years, $161MM.
Commentary…
- In the year since Mike's post, our Transaction Tracker shows 39 extensions for arbitration eligible players. Three of those were record-breakers: Trevor Cahill jumped ahead of Yovani Gallardo and Ricky Romero, Carlos Gonzalez topped Hanley Ramirez, and Troy Tulowitzki replaced Miguel Cabrera.
- No new zero-to-one players signed multiyear deals. If players such as Starlin Castro or Carlos Santana were to sign right now it'd still be tough to top Braun.
- Brett Anderson and Wade Davis signed similar contracts in the one-to-two class, but neither beat Carmona.
- Kazmir's contract seems like an anomaly leading the three-to-four pitchers, with several two-to-three pitchers getting larger guarantees. Kazmir's record was threatened this winter by Johnny Cueto's $27MM deal, though the two contracts cover different slices of the pitchers' careers. Perhaps three-to-four is a no man's land for multiyear pitcher deals, as the pitcher is at that point willing to see what he'll get his first time through the arbitration process.
- The free agent records set by Alex Rodriguez and C.C. Sabathia could be threatened this offseason by Albert Pujols and Sabathia again.
