Some notes from the NL East as MLBPA leader Michael Weiner meets with the Mets in Florida…
- Jayson Werth told Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer that he accepted the Nationals' seven-year, $126MM offer partly because he wanted to help his fellow players. "I think once you get to free agency, you're in a big pool of players and we all really play in one organization and that's MLB," Werth said. "I guess that's how you look at it, so in that respect I was trying to maximize things and also trying to get into a situation I wanted to be in and I think Philly was going in a different direction."
- Weiner told ESPNNewYork.com's Adam Rubin that he expects the Mets to honor Francisco Rodriguez's contract, which vests at $17.5MM for 2012 if he finishes 55 games in 2011.
- Bobby Bonilla, who is still on the Mets' payroll is meeting with the team today as an MLBPA representative, according to Newsday's David Lennon (on Twitter).
- Mike Puma of the New York Post explains that new manager Terry Collins is fiery and ready to get mad. "I give a [expletive] about how this team plays," Collins said.
- Cliff Lee tells David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News that his side feels fine, though he felt some minor pain earlier.
- Brookover points out that "guaranteed money does not mean guaranteed success or perfect health," though the Phillies' investment in Lee was understandable.
- Nationals GM Mike Rizzo told Ben Goessling of MASNSports.com that he hopes first overall draft pick Bryce Harper finds out how Spring Training works and learns "what it takes to be a big leaguer" in Nationals camp this year.
Bob Brookover also points out that not all smokers get cancer, not all eBay auctions sell, and just because the Pirates sign free agents doesn’t make them winners.
-wtk
Besides that MLBPA guy being named Weiner, this whole post looks kinda pointless
if the mets are still paying bobby bo then they have bigger problems than we thought
They actually have to pay him a little over $1 million a year starting this year and every year through 2035. They owed him $6 million in guaranteed money in 2000, but instead of paying him they worked out a deal where he receives $1 million + a year from 2011 through 2035. Financial people have made the point that it actually isn’t a bad deal for the team when you factor in inflation, but it’s still funny….
2011-2035 is 24 years. Instead of paying him $6 at once, they decided to pay him $24 between those years?
Yeah, I must be missing something here, haha.
the miracle of compound interest.
Where can I find THAT kind of job??
Haha, right?
It’s not crazy at all. If you actually do the financial math, it assumes a 7% interest rate. While we may not earn that much on a savings account right now, it’s not a particularly crazy rate of return over a 35 year span.
It seems crazy to pay him $1MM a year for 25 years instead of $6MM up front, but that last $1MM payment in 2035 will only be worth $78,900 in 2000 dollars (assuming this 7% rate of return is what they agreed upon).
So the deal wasn’t a flat million per year; the deal was what a million dollars calculates to with inflation in between years 2011-2035?
no, he gets 1mill each year. It’s just that 1mill in 2035 will only buy as much as 80K did in 2000 (based on 7% inflation)
did madoff make those terms?
This is probably a non issue. They more than likely purchased a deferred annuity from an insurance company back in 2000 when interest rates were much higher, and it probably costs LESS than the $6M they owed him. Otherwise there would have been no reason to agree to this type of arraingement. As things turned out for Bobby, given today’s low rate invironment, and the “lost” decade in the stock market after the tech bubble, agreeing to this deal looks very smart now.
Agreed. Considering the number of athletes who end up bankrupt a few years after retiring, Bobby made a wise choice, locking in a 7% rate of return for 35 years that will guarantee him a good income for a long, long time.
He gets a good return on a $6MM investment, and the Mets probably came close to breaking even on the transaction by buying an annuity or some other financial arragnement as you said.
Boy oh boy do I hope K-Rod’s option does not vest. Not that he isn’t an effective pitcher(but boy were there stretches where he wasn’t, a few of them) just that no reliever should be getting 17.5 million a year and he’s a joke off the field and in New York that’s just trouble.
Why would you put that stipulation in the contract anyway? As I recall, K-Rod was not getting the top dollar offers he and his agent thought he would in that off season. I really don’t see any logical reasoning behind that 17.5m option. He would have been happy to sign even if that vesting option was not in the contract, given the scarcity of other offers on the table.
The thought behind K-Rod’s contract was that it was an inducement for him to sign, and a situation that would not take place. Keep in mind that the option is for games finished. The Mets, at the time thought that they had the team that would not need him making that many appearences in the season.
This seems to have really backfired on them, especially when you consider that
K-Rod had 46 games finished last year before the incident with his girlfriends father. The Mets have no intention of letting him get to the vesting trigger, especially with their current money concerns. It could get real ugly if Rodriguez feels that he’s being held out of games in order not to pay him.
This should be real interesting!
Agreed, and the outfit most interested may well be MLBPA. About the 2nd time the Mets make a move where others think they SHOULD have had KRod in the game to finish it, look for a grievance.
Well, you wouldn’t want to wish injury on anyone, but…
Instead of that, I cordially invite the Mets to score so many runs that a closer becomes completely unnecessary (as opposed to the alternative…getting bombed so bad there is nothing to close…).
And hey, wasn’t Frankie the one who said he is much more comfortable entering a game when it’s a “closer” type situation?
Voilà!
considering that k-rod was coming off an absolutely insane year with the angels…and he was initially looking for 17 mil a year…he basically gave the mets a discounted rate. In return the mets gave him an option year at the rate he was looking for initially PER YEAR.
“Bob Brookover of the Inquirer points out that “guaranteed money does not mean guaranteed success or perfect health”
We have a new Captain Obvious now don’t we?
“Jayson Werth told Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer that he accepted the Nationals’ seven-year, $126MM offer partly because he wanted to help his fellow players.”
That’s a pretty nice way of saying you’re only in it for the money.
With Scott Boras holding the cue cards that he wrote.
werthless
Sounds like an A student from the Boras school of thought.
Wow what a generous, selfless action by Werth (sarcasm alert). What a load of bull.
What I read from Werth was blah blah blah, he was just trying to sugar coat the fact he took the biggest offer he had on the table. Phillies just didn’t nor could afford his asking price.
One of these days a player will have the balls to say “It IS about he money!!
Did the deal benefit the players association? Absolutely. Did Werth think for one second about the players association when making his decision. Absolutely not.
I think Werth would have been better off not trying to disguise his real intentions. At least Burnett admitted that money was an ‘obvious’ factor in him coming to NY. Sounding genuine has its positives.
I always said that Jayson Werth was the type of player to talk his way out of being a fan-favorite in Philadelphia. This is step one.