Here’s the latest out of the National League Central:
- Cardinals lefty Marco Gonzales is being assessed for a left elbow injury, MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch reports. The 24-year-old is slated to visit orthopedic surgeon Neal ElAttrache — one of the foremost experts on pitching elbows — for a second opinion. Per GM John Mozeliak, Gonzales did not report discomfort until after he had been moved to minor league camp this spring, which might suggest that the club will be able to avoid allowing Gonzales to accrue service time during any DL stint. The young southpaw has previously battled through shoulder issues, but this appears to be a new problem. Though he’s only managed a 4.82 ERA with 7.7 K/9 against 5.3 BB/9 over his 37 1/3 MLB innings, Gonzales had been expected to factor into the club’s major league rotation depth in 2016 and beyond.
- In other Cardinals injury news, reserve backstop Brayan Pena is expected to miss a month after undergoing knee surgery, Langosch reports. While there was some positive news, in that no additional problems were discovered beyond the loose piece of cartilage that had been identified, the absence is somewhat longer than had been hoped. Eric Fryer will hold down the fort in Pena’s stead, but certainly the Cards will look forward to Pena’s return, having signed him to a two-year, $5MM deal before the season.
- The Pirates’ extension of Gregory Polanco represents the club’s latest long-term deal with a key outfielder. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports questions whether the youngster gave up too much — namely, three years of potential free agency, the latter two via option — in taking a $35MM guarantee. On the one hand, Polanco is regarded as a quality defender and an excellent baserunner, giving him a solid floor even if he’s only an average hitter, and there’s certainly upside in the bat. Of course, for a player who has yet to finish a season with an above-average batting line, and didn’t land a big bonus when he signed initially, it’s hard to turn down that kind of commitment even if it mans sacrificing some future earning power. Indeed, there are plenty of players who earned quite a bit more than they would have without the benefit of an early-career extension, with former Bucs outfielder Jose Tabata being a prime example.
- Meanwhile, John Perrotto of TodaysKnuckleball.com chronicles some of the background considerations and back-and-forth over the years between Polanco and the Pirates. The youngster took his time before finally signing on the dotted line, of course, as there had been reports of negotiations stretching back for over two years. But with the ink now dry, both sides expressed excitement at the arrangement in their press conference announcing the deal.
“there are plenty of players who earned quite a bit more than they would have without the benefit of an early-career extension,”
Conversely, teams wasted quite a bit more money on unproductive players with some of these early-career extensions., with Jose Tabata being a prime example. Early career extensions are a huge gamble by the teams, sometimes they payoff big like Salvador Perez or Evan Longoria, but sometimes they don’t like with Jon Singleton.
You named 2, but what about the numerous 1st time free agent horrendous contracts that NEVER pan out. Early extensions are far better
Exactly. The other risk with early extensions is that the team forfeits its ability to simply non-tender an unproductive player. Obviously it’s a risk worth taking in many instances, but it’s hardly a universal no brainer.
Am i the only one who thinks tabata earned his 6 year/15m extension? Thats just over 2m a year and his numbers indicate he was easily worth that.
Yes, it is just you. Since sighning the extension, he has been worth 0.3 WAR. Absolutely horrible. They couldn’t even keep him on the MLB roster because he was a bad influence on Marte.
Tabata’s numbers at first glance look good to many, but they are very, very deceiving. His power disappeared after his first Pirate season. He became a singles hitter with average speed, poor base running instincts, not a great eye at the plate, and just an OK glove. Worst of all, he is attitude stuck out like a sore thumb in an otherwise cohesive clubhouse. He wasn’t worth 2.5 million a year, and he DEFINITELY wasn’t worth a 6 year commitment.
Of course ANYONE could say that in hindsight. But when they gave him the deal they thought he was worth it. They signed him off of the “First” glance numbers