Links for Monday, as we digest Ryan Howard's $125MM extension…
- Since the Dodgers called Xavier Paul up from the minors, he should be getting regular playing time with Manny Ramirez out, reasons Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times.
- Alan Embree told Dan Barbarisi of The Providence Journal that he won't be extending his contract deadline again. He hopes to be called up by the Red Sox by April 30th.
- The AP has details on Ben Zobrist's $18MM extension with the Rays.
- Though the knuckleballer doesn't say it, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe says "it's obvious [Tim Wakefield] isn't keen on his new [bullpen] assignment."
- Jim Callis of Baseball America explores what might happen if MLB allows trading draft picks.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post wonders how long Javier Vazquez will be given to get on track.
- With tongue firmly in cheek, Grant of the McCovey Chronicles predicts free agent-to-be Jayson Werth will sign with the Giants next winter.
- ESPN's Keith Law shares his rankings of the top 100 prospects for the June amateur draft. (ESPN Insider subscription required.)
- Speaking of young players, MLB.com's Jane Lee talks to Athletics director of player personnel Keith Leippman about some of the top prospects in Oakland's farm system.
- ESPN.com's Eric Karabell says that if Matt Capps can keep up his strong start, the right-hander will be a good trade chip for Washington over the summer. Karabell also notes that if Capps is dealt, it will likely be to a team looking for set-up help, not a closer.
- Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times says it's a close call between Derek Jeter or Manny Ramirez for the title of "best big contract in baseball history."
Haven’t the Giants learned their lesson about signing Phillies outfielders to big contracts just as their prime is ending, when their track records only include a couple of star-caliber years?
Oh wait, Brian Sabean doesn’t learn lessons.
shush, he’s werth it.
” best big contract in baseball history down to jeter and ramirez”
does pujols’ 7/100+16 deal not count?? i think he out performed that deal in the first 3 years.
Absolutely. A-Rod’s Texas deal was better than Jeter’s, too, but you’re not allowed to say that.
Not really. A-rod’s contract tied up that organization to the point they couldn’t spend money to put anything around him.
That’s a myth. Paying guys like Chan Ho Park, Juan Gonzalez, and Carl Everett was the problem. During the A-Rod Texas era, if you had simply added his contract to the A’s, their payroll still would have been lower than Texas’. A-Rod didn’t hamstring them enough to stop them from giving the withering remains of Doug Glanville a million bucks. Or two to Dave Burba. Or two and a half to Ismael Valdez. Or paying Rusty Greer well after his body was falling apart. Or Todd Van Poppel. Or signing the end of Ken Caminiti.
Alex Rodriguez was paid more money in baseball than anyone while playing shortstop and averaging over a 1.000 OPS for Texas. A bunch of formerly famous people racked up tens of millions of dollars to, for the most part, be terrible. The former is not what dragged those teams down.
How is Helton’s deal a bad one? Yeah he lost his power a bit but all he did was hit. Outside his hurt ’08 campaign he had an average over .300, OBP over .400, always had good RBI numbers, hit a lot of doubles, ect. I don’t see how that contract was a flop.
he was good, but not as good as he should have been for that contract…
Obviously he wasn’t worth the full 162 mil but it isn’t like a Soriano thing or bad. He played very well and trended the way you would expect based on the age he would be when his contract expired.
I think it is called a bad one because there are questions. For example, how much did Coors help him? He came up into a very favorable home park and the question will always be just how good would he have been if he wasnt in Coors 82 times a year.
I agree it wasnt a horrible contract, but it isnt on the level of Albert’s, Manny’s, etc
What does ballpark have to do with it? Yes Coors helped him obviously but he played in Coors because he played in Coors for the duration of the contract. Example: Rockies sign a guy for a 5 yr 100mil contract. He hits .300+ with 200hrs. Does the fact he plays in a favorable ballpark have anything to do with whether that is a good contract? This would be a legitimate argument if he signed with a team outside of Coors. You are knocking more his HoF credentials more than his numbers.
Im saying his numbers are undoubtedly skewed from Coors. No one knows how much. When taking into account that he played in Coors, he will get less credit for his work than a guy who plays in a neutral or pitchers park.
Given that he played in a very hitter friendly park, some will expect more from him in order to justify his contract…
So a guy who signs a big contract in a hitter’s friendly park is expected to do more? I get what you are saying now but I don’t think that has much to do with it.
I personally dont agree with it… having watched Helton destroy the Dodgers, he is one hell of a hitter. But I guarantee when he does hang them up, people will debate about his place in history because of the Coors effect. A big question will be if he deserved the contract he got.. like I said, IMO, he did, but some ‘analysts’ expected more from him because they felt he should have been better than other 1B who played in neutral or pitchers parks..
Grant from MCC is a very good writer.
A dearth of Javy Vazquez supporters. Where have they all gone?
The Manny Ramirez the red sox signed might have been a good deal, but the Manny Ramirez the Dodgers signed is a terrible contract. Without roids the guy is washed up and injury prone. About what you would expect from a 38 year old player without steroids.Contracts are not always about what you can do on the field but how much money the team can make off of you. Like any business you pay a guy like Ryan Howard the money because he can make you money. The dodgers did the same thing with Manny then it turned out he was a steroid user which fans would easily would have forgiven if he hit 40 home runs this year. Manny will spend most of the season on the DL and laughing all the way to the bank.