Click here to read a transcript of Tuesday’s chat with MLBTR’s Steve Adams.
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Regarding opt-outs, you mentioned JD Martinez. Wouldn’t his contract be better from the Red Sox’s point of view without the opt out? Cuz if he didn’t have the opt out and continued to mash the Red Sox would be able to trade him and the remaining money owed to him for prospects rather than lose him for nothing.
And obviously if he doesn’t continue to mash he’s not opting out in the first place.
Yeah every opt-out is worse for the team than not having one. I think Steve’s point was that, in retrospect, they can sometimes work out well. Like the Dodgers got 3 great years from Greinke on the cheap before he left, which would’ve been better than guaranteeing him 6 or something, but you can’t know which ones work until the contract’s basically over, so they’re definitely player-friendly
But the Dodgers would have gotten 3 more cheap years of Greinke if he didn’t have an opt out. Or if they were worried about him declining they could have traded him for a haul of prospects. Instead they lose him for nothing. Greinke opting out was a disaster for LAD.
Note that Greinke’s original contract with LAD would have expired last offseason if he hadn’t opted out. Not after 2021 like his current contract with AZ. At that point they could try to re-sign him if they wanted to. Or if they thought he was about to decline, they could QO him then show him the door.
In what world is Greinke opting out a disaster? Three straight NLCS, two straight world series appearances and Greinke opting out is a disaster. Greinke has clearly been on the decline the last three seasons. They got three elite ace-level years at a relatively lower price and the DBacks are getting three pedestrian years for one of the highest AAV in baseball. If they would have kept him and tried to trade him, what team is going to give up major-league caliber prospects for a mid-30s guy that gets shelled every other start? And they didn´t get “nothing.” With Greinke’s comp pick, the Dodgers drafted Will Smith, a highly regarded catching prospect. Not the biggest name but not nothing either. Trust me, I am a die hard Dodger fan and I think most Dodger fans would agree with me that Greinke leaving was a blessing.
Greinke opting out was a disaster because his production just had to be replaced. They weren’t going to get 569 innings of 3.53 ERA ball over the past 3 seasons for less than the $72m he left on the table elsewhere (and that ERA would have probably been even lower if he was pitching his home games in the much more pitcher-friendly Dodger Stadium). They still would have made all those little NLCS appearances and World Series appearances if he hadn’t opted out. Maybe even won a World Series. Again, if Greinke hadn’t opted out the Dodgers would not have been paying him according to the terms of his current contract. They would have been paying him according to the terms of his original contract that he signed with LA. You know. The one that was for only 66% as much money on an AAV basis as his current contract and that ended three years sooner? Yeah, that one. Then last offseason when his contract expired, if they thought him declining was as sure a thing as you seem to think it is, they could have stuck him with the QO and waved buh-bye and gotten that draft pick you were referring to. And absolutely the Dodgers would have been able to trade Greinke if he hadn’t opted out. Completely ridiculous that you would say otherwise. He was coming off a season where he pitched 223 innings of 1.66 ERA ball and probably should have won the Cy Young and was only owed 3/$75m. Several teams, including the Dodgers, offered him WAY more money than he opted out of in free agency that offseason. If the Dodgers just wanted to get out from under the remaining money owed to him they could have traded him to one of those teams. If you pull your head out of your as for like two seconds you would realize that Greinke opting out was TERRIBLE for LAD.
“The article you referenced is a load of hot garbage,” Was it from mlbtr?
I know that was meant as silly dig at MLBTR, but if you want an answer, it was MLB.com, by Morosi.
Oh and “I think they should’ve been at least quasi-fair about it.”
Why? If you can get a player to agree to some fantastic lowball extension, why offer him more?
To be a decent human being and pay your employees fair wages for their services.
If that’s it why don’t Chris Davis and Albert Pujols retire?