6:39pm: Red Sox righty Collin McHugh is also excluded from the agreement, Martino tweets. McHugh, who’s still working back from the nonsurgical procedure he underwent on his pitching elbow over the winter, signed an incentive-laden deal with Boston in March. Back when McHugh inked the contract, it included $3.625MM in available incentives based on between 30 and 115 innings pitched; it also featured roster bonuses for 15 to 90 days on the team’s active roster.
1:02pm: It emerged yesterday that the league and union had agreed upon how to handle vesting clauses and certain bonuses in a highly modified 2020 season. But it seems the general agreement includes carve-outs for certain players.
Among those known to be excluded are Yankees lefty J.A. Happ and Twins southpaw Rich Hill, according to reports from Joel Sherman of the New York Post and Andy Martino of SNY.tv. In those cases — and, it seems, a few unidentified others — the team and player will have to reach modified agreements or submit cases to an arbitrator to decide how their contracts should be treated.
In Happ’s case, his original contract included a $17MM vesting/club option for the 2021 season. It would become guaranteed if he made 27 starts and/or threw 165 innings this year. As for Hill, there aren’t any options. But his deal included generous incentive pay for accumulating relatively small numbers of games started and/or innings pitched (maxing out at $9.5MM with 15 starts and/or 75 innings).
It’s still not fully clear just why certain players were excluded from the broader deal. A source tells Martino it relates to health situations at the start of the season, though as he notes that doesn’t quite align with Happ’s case.
The inherent issue here is that a vesting option like Happ’s was, in theory, contingent on him showing he could remain healthy and effective over the course of far more than 60 games. A prorated version of the option nullifies the entire point of the option itself. Of course, it’s impossible, and unjust, to simply negate the option entirely. My guess is the yankees will attempt to rework the language and terms of Happ’s contract, but I don’t see how, exactly, both parties can win here. Fascinated at how this will play out.
you’re fascinated by obscure contract clauses?
I’d say I’m more fascinated as to how this unprecedented situation will affect the contract side of the game as a whole. This is merely one aspect of the larger picture. Regardless, I don’t think vesting options are a super obscure concept…
I agree and I wouldn’t be shocked to see some kind of provision included in contract options for shortened seasons. This pandemic is going to change a lot of things in our daily lives, including baseball.
Actually, to more directly answer your question, yes. Yes I am.
Seconded. Put simply, sports economics is fascinating. If you are interested in it don’t let some internet troll look down on you for it.
you might want to research acquiring a life, sir.
I’d recommend the same, bud; my comments are about the topic, yours aren’t.
Cheers!
You ever heard of a transactional attorney? Diving into the nuances of contractual clauses is their life.
Anyway, I don’t see anything wrong with expressing an interest in how sports contracts work. They play a pretty big role in the operation of sports. And in the offseason, there’s not a whole lot more to talk about other than transactional news.
I agree completely… what I love the most about baseball is all the nitty-gritty statistics and then the business side of things as well and how they All work together and what not… definitely don’t back down to some troll who’s just trying to make you feel bad about saying you’re fascinated by how this will all unravel… as I am right there with you! As I’m sure many other die hard fans are as well!!
I’d say that’s probably something you ought to look into more than them… they’re actually discussing baseball whereas you’re using you’re time simply to troll them…
WOW Short Richard was it? Or Short Richard Cranium not sure but you went hot right away. Someone is interested in something you are not so they need to get a life?
We all have varying interests that is what makes us unique. I can tell a lot from your post but won’t get into politics.
You Sir need to pipe down and let people enjoy what they want as long as it is legal.
D’accord.
No clue about the politics. Don’t really give af, either.
My guess is that anyone who loads and fires the “get a life” gun may want to say that to a mirror.
Uh?
Now when I really think about someone who seems to make a pastime out of being “insulating” to total strangers on the internet if I try *really* hard I’ll probably discover a shred of pity.
Truthfully, I just don’t have time for all that.
So…yeah… think I’ll go along with the Richard cranium thing.
😉
Half a season , half a vesting option.
Lot less than half
The problem Pasha is that the merit portion was based on a whole year. By simply apportioning things, it heavily aids or hurts a player who historically gets injured. In such a short “season” there’s a lot at risk with these players. Would hope those involved work it out before games start.
So he just puts in half the effort and voila: problems solved. See with one eye, hear with one ear, employ just one hand, walk with one leg. Toss half as many pitches as usual and care half as much. Why make things more complicated than that?
I don’t get why they didn’t just pro-rate all the vesting options and the criteria that makes them vest.
That’s what they did, but apparently some players are excluded to which reasons we do not know.
Well for one no one else is having their 2021 contracts pro rated from Covid.
That’s what your implying they should do, no?
You can see Happ’s problem by looking at his numbers from last season. He averaged barely over 5 IP per start last year. If he does the same this year, he would be highly unlikely to make a 60/162 threshold (about 61 IP). 60 game season, probably 10 or 11 starts max, the Yankee have a stacked bullpen, and the early starts are going to be short.
I call BS on excluding Happ from the vesting option. No reason at all to do this other than Manfried doing the Yankees a solid. Now they can pitch him all they want with no repercussions. I really hope a plausible explanation comes out on why NY was given this pass while other team options were pro-rated like they all should have been.
Yes, we can just ignore that the Twins also have a player excluded and that every team likely had the option to negotiate an updated clause like Happ and the Yankees are doing.
Absolutely, @mantooth.
This is – without a doubt – a major conspiracy involving not only Manfred but Joe Torre, Derek Jeter, J-Lo, Joe West, artificial intelligence, & the football ghost from Scooby-Doo.
Excellent work sniffing this out, Ace!
Looks like we’ve wrapped up another mystery just in time to make it to our soap box Derby race. Mom’ll make our favorite boisenberry licorice pie if we win this year again.
Gee whiz what a day!
It will be interesting to see if Manfred came to the Yankees rescue regarding Happ. We already know that 7 of 10 Yankees-Red Sox games are in New York. Also, the Yankees have 7 days off in their schedule while the Red Sox have 5.
Correction: Yankees have 7 days off in their schedule while the Red Sox have 6.
Happ is very unlikely to make the pro-rated innings threshold. If he misses even one start, he won’t make the starts threshold. The rework is for Happ’s benefit. Personally, I think a better outcome for Happ at this point would be to to get rid of the vesting and replace the 2021 vesting with a 2022 club option with a buyout guarantee.
I’m glad to hear this. JA Happ hasn’t been good and to give him an easier vesting option to meet is NOT how this should work. He was suppose to prove he has the ability to go a full season, not a 2 months.
Saw on Soxprospects yesterday McHugh and Boston had already agreed to a schedule for his revised bonuses:
$92,593 each for 11, 13, 15, 19, 20, 26, 30, 33, 37, 41, 43 innings pitched
roster bonuses: $37,037 each for 6, 11, 17, 22 days on active Major League roster. $92,593 for 33 days
That makes perfect sense as McHugh’s incentives were for this season and it would not really be possible to pro-rate some of those incentives fairly for the player.
I’m still confused why the Yankees got a pass with Happ though. Many other pitchers have similar option clauses for 2021 and they were all pro-rated. Why would they have them go to arbitration over this for Happ? Makes no sense to me.
I couldn’t believe it when you pulled off the football ghost’s mask and it was…Rob Manfred!…then pulled off the Manfred mask and it was…. JOHN HENRY!!!
Alright. I’ll be serious. I wonder if this might have been done at the MLBPA’s request. Given the circumstances of this season it would have been really easy for the Yankees to manipulate his starts and innings via openers and piggy back starts. The cover would have been perfect.
I’m only half heartedly defending the Yanks here*. All of these situations bear similarities. Wonder if this is the lot of them or if more will occur. Be interesting to see if any position players wind up on this list.
*as a contractor I’m never a fan of anyone not honoring signed deals. I guess that’s what lawyers are for.
Uh?
Thanks for the info! Seems like a good compromise for both sides! Now the hope is that he can actually get healthy and contribute to the team sooner, rather than later.
So what does it actually mean that they’re excluded? Like I read everything that’s been written above but I’m not entirely sure what that means for the players. Like McHugh for example — like does that mean he automatically gets the bonuses? Or He automatically doesn’t get them…? Or that they’re going to be prorated? I just don’t really understand what being excluded means…
No other player is having their 2021 salary directly determined by this shutdown, except for vesting options
There’s a very valid point re: 60 game season not proving the same as staying healthy in a full year. And by same notion they may not get near the same single year AAV next year than the option, and the player feels he should have a chance to reach it. After all, he did negotiate it into his deal before covid was ever a thing.
It’s a small pool of players. But I am also interested how this works out for them. Does someone just get kinda SOL’d? Feels like a strong possibility lol
The incentives for recovering players are fairly absolute in nature and don’t really make sense prorated.