When Cliff Lee shut down the Rays in Game One of the ALDS, SI.com's Jon Heyman tweeted that the Rangers' ace may have earned himself an extra $10-20MM in free agency. While one game shouldn't sway a player's value quite that much, the difference between a successful postseason run and an unsuccessful one can certainly be significant for free-agents-to-be.
With many of this winter's most intriguing potential free agents still in action, it will be interesting to see which of them come up big for their respective teams over the next few weeks. Lee got off to an excellent start, while players like Carl Crawford and Rafael Soriano are already just one game from elimination. There's still a lot of baseball left to play, however, and if the Rays can stage a comeback against Texas, Crawford and Soriano should play a major role.
These guys are going to be paid handsomely no matter where they sign or how they perform in October, but this is tonight's poll question:
Which potential free agent will improve his stock the most in the 2010 postseason?
None of the “impending” big free agents have done a whole lot. Cliff Lee pitched a hell of a game, but his stock was already sky high. Granderson has probably silenced any trade rumors, Vladdy has probably secured his option getting picked up. CJ Wilson is never going back to the bullpen. Crawford is playing like garbage and he is still going to get 9 digits,
Damn right about Grandy. I don’t care if A-Jax is in Detroit hitting .300 with around 4 HR’s a year, when we have Granderson who’s capable of hitting .300 and 20+ HR. Very optimistic about Granderson next year.
Not sure a sub-.250 hitter in back-to-back years is capable of .300 again.
high .260s is a possibility…
never put grandy and .300 batting average together
Jackson > Granderson
I think Jackson will turn out to be better than Granderson. As of now they both provide great defense and a little speed on the base paths. Granderson has more pop in his bat but I think Jackson will develop more power when he gets older.
The biggest difference between the two players is that Granderson cannot hit left handed pitching to save his life. For his career Granderson is a .215 batter (.621 OPS) against lefties. I always hoped he would have a Grady Sizemore like revelation and magically start hitting them better but that never happened.
Incidentally, Austin Jackson is also terrible against lefties but I feel better about the odds of him figuring that out than I do with Granderson.
p.s. Jackson is also 6 years younger
Heyman’s stupidity has no bounds.
I think it would be Jeter.
He already has a blank check, but that would turn into one of those novelty checks if he has a good postseason.
Doubtful. Derek Jeter is going to be paid cash for being Derek Jeter, not for being a shortstop in decline, good postseason or not. Sad (if you’re a Yankees fan), but true.
Mariano certainly isn’t hurting his case.
His stock needs to be high because the Marlins are signing him and the Orioles are signing Jeter.
The general thinking is that Jeter and Rivera are each going to get huge long term contracts. I don’t see that happening. I can see Rivera getting a modest raise and two years, because even while getting older, there isn’t much drop off. Jeter is a special case, but not in terms of additional years. I predict two years at the same salary, even though that is excessive, because of what he means to the Yankees organization for the future. This Yankees hiarchy are more businessmen than Steinbrenner, and while they have the money, they won’t just spend it just because they have it.
I see Mo getting about $2/$25 which is down from his annual $15 mil. Maybe like you said, 2/$30 since he hasn’t done anything to deserve a pay cut. Jeter however, is going to have to trade off years for annual dollars. He’s not aging as graciously. Instead an avg salary of $20 mil, I can see the Yanks offering 4/$70 ($17.5) or 5/$85 ($17mil). The fact is that he has had a bad year and SS don’t age gracefully and there isn’t anywhere else to hide him since Arod is at 3rd. He can’t compare himself to Arod either. Arod is a prolific power hitter who even in his decline should be able to hit 25 hrs a year. If Jeter continues to be a .290/.350 10 hr guy, which is ok for a SS, he would still be overpaid at about $10 more per year than what the market would normally offer if he wasn’t who he is for the Yanks.
essentially the yankees are paying for the cost of NOT seeing Jeter or Mariano retire in anything but a Yankee uniform.
Yankees are paying Rivera to SAVE games,aside from a couple of hiccups in September, Rivera is still worth the money he’ll receive from NY. They’re not doing him any favors.
I mean the next contract. I do agree that Mariano is STILL a beast and worth every penny of that contract.
I mean the next contract. I do agree that Mariano is STILL a beast and worth every penny of that contract.
Yankees are paying Rivera to SAVE games,aside from a couple of hiccups in September, Rivera is still worth the money he’ll receive from NY. They’re not doing him any favors.
I love Jeter for all the things he’s done through the years, but I’m hoping he calls it quits in the next two years. Next year should give us a clue as to how the career will finish.
“When Cliff Lee shut down the Rays in Game One of the ALDS, SI.com’s Jon Heyman tweeted that the Rangers’ ace may have earned himself an extra $10-20MM in free agency.”
Thems Boras’ style numbers right there.
That was a very ridiculous thing for him to say. How can this guy have a job in sports journalism sounding like a jag? I read that and thought, I’d like to see this guy have a line drive hit him in the face.
Heyman’s still not as annoying as Verducci in my book…
I would certainly agree with the general sentiment that the more strong starts that Lee makes, the more money he’ll rake in in free agency (the positive financial effect of strong performances will greatly exceed the negative financial effect of any poor performances).
It seems much harder for a position player to increase his value in the postseason, given the limited involvement of a position player in a game (relative to a starting pitcher). The last position player that I can remember really cashing in on an extremely strong postseason was Carlos Beltran after 2004.
Cliff Lee, Crawford, Werth, et al. don’t have anything to prove. Seems to be a lot of doubt surrounding Lance Berkman though. A nice post season could do him a lot of good.
(assuming he gets more playing time)
I think the obvious answer has to be “someone else.” Someone during this post season will hit a clutch home run or get a big strikeout and secure a $2M – $4M per year contract when he was supposed to be signing for a league minimum contract.
One post season game makes legends out of the little guys.
-wtk
I think lance berkman & kerry wood would increase their stock exponentially with a good post-season
I agree that Berkman can up his stock, not to point where his $15 million option will be picked up, but he could dampen the trade market for Fielder if teams start looking at him as a cheaper option that won’t cost a good player either.
I’m pretty sure Lee, Crawford, and Soriano all were regarded pretty highly going into the post season. But I could see someone like Pat Burrell or Derek Lee (along with the already mentioned Berkman and Wood) significantly increasing their stock with strong showings.