Angels southpaw Andrew Heaney signed a precedent-setting contract with Fantex in September 2015, and discussed the unique arrangement with Pedro Moura of the L.A. Times. “You can look it at as marketing your brand. You can look at it as an insurance policy,” Heaney said. “Obviously, money to one person is totally different than money to another person. I live in Oklahoma. It’s not expensive to live there. I don’t live an extremely lavish lifestyle. I just viewed it as, I want to be comfortable, and I want my family to be taken care of, and I’m OK with that.” Heaney agreed to take $3.34MM from Fantex investors in exchange for 10 percent of any future brand-related earnings (i.e. future salaries, appearances, endorsements), a deal that drew some skepticism from teammate Huston Street after crunching the numbers. “I told him, ‘If you make more than $80MM, then you made a bad deal.’ But if you make less than $80MM, you made a pretty good deal,” Street said. While there is risk involved for Heaney given his high talent ceiling, it could also be argued that he was wise to lock in an early fortune — Heaney made just one start in 2016 and is expected to miss all of the 2017 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery last summer.
Here’s more from around the American League…
- The Rays have interest in Rob Refsnyder, George A. King III of the New York Post reports. Tampa is known to be looking for a right-handed hitting outfielder with options remaining, though Refsnyder doesn’t quite check every box for the Rays since he doesn’t play center field (and thus can’t serve as a backup for Kevin Kiermaier). Once one of the Yankees’ more notable prospects, Refsnyder has fallen back on the depth chart as both an outfielder and an infielder. The Yankees are open to hearing offers for Refsnyder, so there’s a chance a deal could be reached, even though the two AL East rivals are very infrequent trade partners.
- Todd Frazier tells MLB.com’s Scott Merkin that he hasn’t had any talks with the White Sox about an extension as he heads into the last year of his contract. Despite the lack of negotiations and the trade buzz that has circled around Frazier as a veteran player on a rebuilding team, Frazier says he hopes to remain with the Sox over the long term.
- Winning a job with the Orioles would complete a remarkable turn-around for Craig Gentry, as the outfielder tells Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun that just months ago, he felt his career coming to an end. Gentry suffered a concussion (the sixth of his career) in September 2014 and was bothered by symptoms for almost two years; combined with a lumbar injury last year, Gentry was limited to just 40 total plate appearances over the last two seasons. These issues caused Gentry to question his passion to keep playing, though after his health finally began to improve this offseason, a session with Orioles hitting coach Scot Coolbaugh paved the way for Gentry to sign a minor league deal with the O’s. That contract doesn’t give Gentry an opt-out until the middle of June, though it could be a moot point if Gentry breaks camp with the team.
Good for Gentry, he’s a good dude.
He’s a good dude for sure, but anyone who has had 6 concussions should seriously consider the risks in playing
Should say 40 games in two years not years
No, playing in Oakland actually feels like that.
Hahahahaha
it was a rough 2 years, he aged A LOT
I honestly wonder what return Refsnyder could get.
He’s kind of a guy without a position, right? Doesn’t hit enough to play the outfield, the glove doesn’t really play at second. Maybe he has an Adam Rosales sort of career as a utility guy.
Can’t really expect much.
Amen Brother cause he’s a horrible outfielder
And infielder.
Where is Huston Street getting his math from?
Was wondering the same thing
Strong rec for all to read the full article. Both Heaney and Street are intelligent men, with Heaney approaching this business opportunity as a hedge against injury or professional adversity.
Street first thought it was leaving too much money on the table, but then he ran his own calc. Street looked at opportunity cost as part of the total picture and figured his own break-even point, higher than Heaney’s.
All players are looking for ways to lock in financial stability at a young age, and Fantex is offering one pathway.
I’d also be shocked if Heaney’s representation did not fully vet all of the possible financial implications of the deal. Seems to me he understood that if he was smart he could live a very comfortable life in Oklahoma with that $3.3mil without earning another dime from baseball. Security has a cost.
10% of 80 million is 8 million.
10% of 80 mill would be 10 mill
10% of 70 mill would be 7 mill
Street might be looking at the idea of if you are giving up 3x back to what they gave you, 10 mill, its a bad deal, but if youre giving back 2x what they gave you, 7 mill, it was a decent business strategy.
Anything 3x or more hes giving up itll hurt.
It’s a lot more complex than just multiplying his earnings by 10%. He gets the $3.34mil today, tax free (it’s not income, it’s a contract where he’s selling a future interest). If he invests wisely, say 5% after tax over 10 years, he’s now got $5.44mil. Another factor, he’s not FA elig until 2022 and any big dollars he gets then will be worth less than dollars he gets today (basic time value of money). And the 10% he pays to investors will be tax deductible, meaning if he continues to work in CA it really only costs him roughly 50 cents on the dollar.
Excellent response. It’ll be interesting to see going forward if the Fantex model gains more steam. Given the rise in $’s from TV deals and the pre-existing lean of the union to protect FA earning potential, there is likely a portion of pre-arb and some arb MLB talent that would be tempted to get guaranteed $.
I think part of the reason Refsnyder has fallen off is because they don’t play him enough. Not saying he deserved it, but some need to be in there everyday to show what they can do.
Agreed. Really don’t understand the thought behind this since his numbers aren’t that good to get anything that useful in return. I would imagine constantly switching a kid’s fielding position would mess with his hitting. But who knows. I hope he does well wherever he ends up.
I check this site and River Ave every day to see if Ref had the opportunity to play, and if he was traded. I really believe that he could be a .300 hitter, with around 10-15 hr a year if he had regular playing time. His level, inside out swing really could have done a number at Yankee stadium. Still think about how he went up to Fenway and hit a monster hr in a high pressure game. Oh well, best of luck Ref. Hopefully you get playing time somewhere.
I think the bat isn’t the problem, he just has no position. Bad infielder, and the bat doesn’t play in an outfield corner. He’s a tweener. There’s lots of guys like this in baseball, we hear about him because he’s a Yankee. But he’s probably a utility guy at the end of the day.
Great points made, but Ref could replace the aging Gardner in the OF, which is his natural position. I have no idea as to why everyone thinks they need a power bat in the OF, when we have had Gardner out there with his .264 BA and 10HRs on average a year. Not bad, but Refsnyder could easily reach that BA, and HR total. This was not a quick fill in player for one year. Gardner has been around for quite a few seasons now, and the Yankees also added Ellsbury.
Abreu signed for just under $11M & Frazier for $12M. Abreu had 25HR on 183H & Fraizer 40HR on 133H. It was pretty obvious he tried to do to much early on so I think he’s good for at least 35HR on 150H. Both players are on the trade block & extending them now would enhance that. If they are willing to extend just 3 years, CHW should do $40M/3 for Abreu & $43M/3 for Frazier.