Here's the latest from Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci….
- Though the Angels won their arbitration hearing with Jered Weaver, Verducci thinks the fact that the case went all the way to a hearing is "a bad sign" for Weaver's future with the Halos. It certainly doesn't help refute the purported hard feelings between the Angels and Weaver's agent Scott Boras.
- Verducci compares the contracts and basic performance stats of Weaver, Chad Billingsley, Jon Lester and Cole Hamels. Verducci guesses Boston saved at least $15MM by signing Lester to a multiyear deal before the 2009 season.
- Just three players (Todd Helton, Raul Ibanez, and Ichiro) aged 36 years old or older managed to play 100 games in the field last season and reach the league average OPS of .728, Verducci writes. This pronounced decline rate for older players is the reason the Cardinals are hesitant to pay Albert Pujols a $30MM annual salary into his late thirties.
- The Rangers are still "the best fit" for Michael Young. Verducci points out that Young should still be able to find lots of playing time with Texas, if not necessarily an everyday spot in the lineup. Given how thin the trade market for Young appears to be, Young also may not have a choice but to remain in Texas.
Lesters deal was great for the sox, but i have doubts they will be able to get that kind of steal with Buchholz.
Lester’s deal is one of the most team friendly deals in baseball…a top notch ace for $5M. Hopefully they can do the same with Buchholz, although Buchholz still needs to prove that last year wasn’t a fluke.
I doubt Buchholz will put up those numbers again next year, but he won’t just fall of a cliff and have a 5 era
I would rather pay Pujols more like 36 per to cut years put than let him walk. Although. Seeing him walk would make me happy as a non-Cardinal fan.
careful what you wish for he could end up dodger
Boras has hard feelings? What a shame. His commission on Weaver’s contract is still more than I’ll make this whole year, I’d wager.
You’re point? That people around MLB make a lot of money? That is so childish to complain about.
Not to mention Boras earns his money doing a job that takes a ton of intelligence and school- so its even worse criticizing him, as a guy who worked hard to get where he is, than a guy who makes a ton of money off his God-given talents.
My point was that it’s silly to be bickering over the difference between 7.3 million and 8.8 millions. I’m not complaining about how much they make so much as how they can get all huffy about making a slightly smaller absurd amount of money.
So it’s OK for the owner’s to get huffy over the difference between 7.3M and 8.8M? Look, you need to come to terms with the fact that MLB players AND owners make millions of dollars. It just so happens that the owners make FAR MORE than the players.
The “they” in my last reply was intended to be all-inclusive (players, owners, agents, whatever). Boras always just seems to be the loudest about it, and is therefore the most fun to make fun of.
Someone should tell Boras to dust off his skirt and get back in the game. There’s no crying in baseball.
Elite people, doing elite jobs make elite money. Your point?
Neither the article nor anyone has suggested Boras has hard feelings about it. I would bet my life he doesn’t care that much personally. He doesn’t hate the Angels, in fact they are basically the team he supports, the Angels absolutely hate Boras.
Weaver isn’t going to leave the Angels because of Boras, he is going to leave the Angels because he wants top dollar, the angels won’t pay top dollar. Because he wants top dollar is the reason he hired Boras. Boras didn’t force him into anything. The money hungry players hire Boras. He doesn’t turn any player into seeking every last dollar. And when one of his clients wanted to sign a extension against he wishes, he advised against it, and then talked with the Rockies and got the best deal he could and CarGo a long term deal.
I don’t like Boras, I hate his public comments and the infamous mystsery team upon mystery team, but he isn’t evil nor is he the one complaining about deals in public most often (see: team owners)
Following Verducci’s logic, the Card’s shouldn’t resign AP because there is only one active player that has performed as well as AP has at this point in his career.
When you have a guy as singularly talented as Pujols, I don’t think you can compare him to everyone else in the league at all.
Pujols like A-Rod has become too big for the sport. The money that it will take to sign him will be more than what he will be worth. The Cards are paying for more than performance with Albert, they are paying for one of the best players of all time. With Pujols the Cards have been in the playoffs 6 out of 10 years, and won the world series. That’s about all you can ask for!
And he shows no signs of slowing down
Bills should be getting locked up by the Dodgers asap
Agreed. I vehemently disagree with Colletti/McCourt’s philosophy around no long-term deals.
Ethier, Billingsley, et. al. need to be extended.
I like everything about weaver. hes the complete opposite of his brother…in attitude and talent…
im not saying jeff was a chump, but jered has what it takes to be a great player for many years..
AND to add as an angels fan, I am really worried to see whats going to happen with weaver in the near future….I hope we can keep the guy, but its most definitely up in the air as far as im concerned..
Interesting statistic about position players at advanced age. Werth will be making huge amounts of money at that age, and his contract is now a comparable precedent for other outfielders. Its crazy that such longgggg contracts are being handed out. I would think they could pay him for his prime years (NOW) and forget about the last 2-3 years tacked on the end. Its not good for the game for guys to be completely ripping off their teams, and their fanbase, as they age and decline. (side note: everyone rips chipper, but he wasnt making as much for the best years, and took a pay cut for the home team)
I wonder why Jered sticks with Boras given that Boras is now 0 for 3 with the Weavers.
First he tells Jeff to walk away from a 3yr/$24M deal with the Dodgers. He’ll never get that back.
Then Boras holds Jered out for an entire year when he was drafted, even though he was offered the top dollar contract in the draft, only to sign on the last day of eligibility for the original amount offered.
Now Boras uses bad comparables and loses in arbitration. Its not like the Angels tried to low-ball Jered, they offered the same as what other pitchers with his numbers got in their Arb2 years. Boras just got greedy, simple as that.
I don’t agree with Verducci on this one, too small of a sample one year. Plus alot of the older players have made alot of money and don’t need to play anymore, if they’re not starting they pack it in. I do agree that almost all of the big salaries after 36 are not worth it, but the good players in baseball have that leverage. On the other side players like Longoria, Pedroia, Lester, and others are under paid. That’s why players have agents like Boras, to get them the most money!
Tom Verducci is a biased “reporter” who should not be taken seriously.
Pujols has problems with his shoulder. It is too big a gamble to give a player more than 7 years. You lose far more times than you win. He can see what he can get on the free agent market and the Cards can sign him when he is a free agent. It has happened before. It remains to be seen if he can get an ARod contract on the free agent market.
Albert Pujols WILL get an A-Rod type contract in the free agent market. No doubt about it. I HIGHLY doubt Pujols signs ANY contract under 7yr/$200M.