Not every good young player is salivating at the thought of inking a team-friendly multiyear contract. Prince Fielder, Russell Martin, and Casey Kotchman are three who seem fine going year-to-year and maximizing earnings. According to Rob Bradford of the Boston Herald, Dustin Pedroia and Jonathan Papelbon are two more players "intent on bucking what has become a disturbing trend."
It’s mainly the idea of tossing in multiple team options that bristles the players and their agents. Bradford reports that more experienced agents have voiced their concern about the trend to the Players Association.
Papelbon, for one, knows he’s an elite closer and is prepared to set the bar for stoppers with his service time. You may recall that the Red Sox gave him $775K this year to top Mariano Rivera’s two-year closer service time record. Though they play different positions, Papelbon’s agent will probably at least reference Ryan Howard’s landmark $10MM first-year arbitration reward when Papelbon’s time comes before the ’09 season.
