TUESDAY, 1:21pm: Tulowitzki will be guaranteed $157.75MM from 2011-20, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney. Here's the salary breakdown.
MONDAY, 9:22pm: The Rockies and Troy Tulowitzki are nearing a six-year extension that will keep the shortstop in Denver through 2020 and pay him $119MM. Tulowitzki will be approaching his 36th birthday by the time the extension expires.
Tulowitzki is midway through the six-year, $31MM extension he signed before the 2008 season. He'll earn $38.75MM through 2014 on that deal once the Rockies exercise his 2014 option for $15MM. He'll also earn $119MM for the 2015-2020 seasons.
Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd and Tulowitzki's representatives at TWC Sports are also nearing a multideal for another Rockie, Jorge de la Rosa.
Tulowitzki won a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger in 2010, finishing fifth in MVP voting for the second consecutive season. The 26-year-old also made his first All-Star team and, even though he missed a month with a left wrist fracture, finished the season with fantastic numbers. He posted a .315/.381/.568 line and hit 27 homers in 529 plate appearances.
Tulo's deal will become one of the most lucrative contracts in Rockies franchise history. Todd Helton ($141.5MM over nine years, 2001) and Mike Hampton ($121MM over eight years, 2000) also signed nine-figure deals with the Rockies. Back in March, O'Dowd compared Tulowitzki to Derek Jeter in a conversation with Tyler Kepner of the New York Times. Interestingly, the Rockies are locking up Tulo at the same time the Yankees' negotiations with Jeter have become surprisingly contentious.
ESPN.com's Keith Law first reported that the sides were nearing a deal, ESPN.com's Buster Olney confirmed that the sides were closing in on one and Jon Heyman of SI.com, Thomas Harding of MLB.com, Troy Renck of the Denver Post and Tracy Ringolsby of FOX Sports also reported on the story via Twitter.
Tim Dierkes contributed to this post.
Wow.
Eric Cartman voice: “…the fu*k????”
damn…. Tulo about to get paid
Forreals?
I don’t think my entire family tree will be paid that much in a lifespan! The life of a pro player…
he is under contract till 2015, why the need to reup him now unless col is getting a serious discount
Exactly my thinking? Why not wait him out another season or two before doing this? An injury and position change in the next couple of years could make this thing really ugly.
I don’t understand this at all either. Especially considering Tulo has shown signs of being injury prone. It’s not like they’re getting a bargain for locking him up early either. They’re basically paying him market value 4 years before they even need to.
I bet it’s way undermarket. 120-160 million.
160 million over 10 years is UNDERmarket?
For a guy like Tulo? Yes.
Outside of an injury riddled 2008, Tulowitzki’s put up a value of at least $22 million every other season. Guy is an elite defender at shortstop who hits for a very high OPS as far as shortstops go. The dude is essentially the best shortstop in the MLB (Accounting for the fact that Hanley really shouldn’t be a SS).
Nice. Though it sort of surprises me given he’s never really had a fully healthy season. (That I know of)
2008 was his only truly injury riddled season. I don’t call getting hit on the wrist by a pitch as injury prone at all.
So playing 155 games and having 609 AB’s doesn’t count as a full healthy season? I would recommend you do your homework next time before you post. He played the entire year in 07. Get your facts straight…..
10 years? It better be a good per year value otherwise this could blow up in their faces. Perhaps a good idea to have big money up front while he is still young and productive, then less money in the future where there is more risk of him breaking down.
Wow. 10 years is a long time. Lol
Hope this wasn’t like when it was reported that Joe Mauer had signed a ten year extension.
Risky Risky Risky!!!!!!!!!!!
I love this! I am a Yankee fan, but I have a huge place in my heart for the Rockies despite them breaking my heart and kicking it with steel-toed boots for what they did to me in 07.
I am a Yankee fan, and I have a huge place in my heart for ridiculous contracts.
fixed*
I am a yankee fan and I support this message.
On a serious note, a lot of people talked about the yankees going after Tulowitzki in 2014 to replace Jeter. Now Jeter won’t be as expendable so maybe this contract can finally get finished (sorry for making this about Jeter again) I’m happy for the rockies to keep their talent, but is this the best move for a franchise with a limited budget to pay someone for so much money for so long? Hopefully it doesn’t blow up in their face
Yankees will probably end up signing Jeter to the end of 2020 and get Tulo after that.
I’ll pass on that 36 year old mullet
So this sets the market for Derek Jeter then? Cuz he is the best SS in baseball PLUS he won a gold glove. And don’t forget his leadership qualities.In all seriousness, great deal for a great player before I even know monetary value of it. Not to mention he’s the first player in MLB to be under contract for 2020, thats pretty cool, no?
Jeter also plays the game the right way.
If by “right way” you mean with declining offense, below average defense and outrageous contractual demands, then yes, I agree. Sorry, it’s too easy and I couldn’t help myself.
I was being ironic, but yes, that was the gist 🙂
You post comments the “right way”.
But Adam Dunn plays it the wrong way… just strikes out to much. Thus, Jeter deserves more than Dunn. Especially when Jeter is BARELY EVEN A BETTER FIELDER THAN DUNN (slight exaggeration but hes still really bad)As you point out, the justifications for Jeter getting any more than Uribe got toady are just completely unreasonable.
Jeter probably now wants a Millenium contract
Send in the clones.
I hope that you are not referring to Jeter as the best ss in baseball, because he had a bad year and is just beginning his decline…his defense is bad too, have no idea how he won a gold glove(oh ya, he’s on the Yankees!). Tulo is so much better than Jeter, so this contract should not affect their negotiations at all.
I was being sarcastic. Of course I don’t think he’s the best SS in baseball, not by a long shot. I’d rather have:
Tulo, Hanley, Starlin Castro, Alexei, Andrus, Rollins, Reyes, Stephen Drew, Yunel Escobar and Marco Scutaro at SS just to name a few on the top of my head. He’s a mid-level SS at best.
I’ll give you most of those guys because they are either better than Jeter at this point or still have significant development left, but Marco Scutaro? I know this is cliche as sh*t, but Jeter is a winner – despite the poor range, the declining offense and the GIDP/game. As much as I love Jeter, I’ll still have to take most of those guys on the 2011 Yanks over him. But Marco Scutaro? C’mon man!
Scutaro’s probably a stretch, as even numbers will back that up. However, I think the “winner” aspect is not a good reason. I believe if you teach guys how to win, it should cost a team extra money unless your a coach. What effect does a winning attitude have on a team? Its impossible to quantify, and for that, I will not mark a player more valuable for it.
Of course you can mark a player more valuable for being a “winner”. It’s why you would prefer to have Andy Pettitte on the mound for game 7 vs a lot of other comparable pitchers.
I can say this w/o any bias at all. Even though Jeter is a below avg SS w/ respect to his range you can count on him to turn the plays of balls he gets to and to make smart, intelligent plays that can get a pitcher out of jam. Look no further than the 2009 playoffs. That has value. Certainly not more than $15 mil but I think ppl seem to equate good defense at SS simply as range. Jeter does “boot” the balls he gets to, can still turn the DP, has a good arm, knows how to position himself according to the hitter and how he’s being pitched and seems to make the right split second decisions on the field.
So I guess we’ll completely forget about 2009 right? What if….he puts up another decent yearlike .285/.370 w/ 15 hrs and 20 SB. How fast will ppl jump back on the bandwagon then? Oh he’ll still have limited range and will never be worthy of a GG but ppl are acting as if he’s Wayne Tolleson or something. Certainly not worth more than 3/$45 but how about we see what he does in 2011?
I was being sarcastic. Of course I don’t think he’s the best SS in baseball, not by a long shot. I’d rather have:
Tulo, Hanley, Starlin Castro, Alexei, Andrus, Rollins, Reyes, Stephen Drew, Yunel Escobar and Marco Scutaro at SS just to name a few on the top of my head. He’s a mid-level SS at best.
Jeter needs to get paid because he’s the best actor in baseball…. duh!
10 years really? Wow.
atleast this will end the tulo to yankees, tulo to red sox rumors. . .
that alone makes it worth it
10 years huh…Derek Jeter’s last contract was 10/189. just sayin, seems like a comparison.
wow, so what kind of money are we looking at here? 180M?
Probably a good idea to lock up the 1st/2nd best SS in the game.
Woah, the Rockies signed Hanley Ramirez too?!
A “/” means or, not and.
A “/” means or, not and.
I’m thinking it will be in the lower $100s… maybe 10/$120M? Can’t see the Rockies committing to $18M per year.
and cant see Tulo agreeing to only 12M a year for his prime years…
No way he settle for $12 mil when he’s going to earn $15 mil in 2015.
I’m not a fan or Tulo or K Law
good for you
I don’t think this is a bad deal. If Tulo loses his range going into thirties he can definitely hit and field enough to play third, and it would cover ages 26-35, so it would end when his real decline starts kicking in at around 32-33. For reference, Helton signed his after his age 29 season. This locks up the most significant player in Colorado history and its leader since Helton and Walker, and he’s yet to reach his peak years. Go Dan O’Dowd.
The Rockies are going to get a discount for buying out three years of his current deal (which had previously bought out his arbitration years). I’m guessing it’s between 130 and 150 million. The two sides obviously have a process established.
As for the injuries? They’ve both been accidents — being hit by a fastball and breaking his wrist, and a bat shattering in his hand — not injuries as the result of wearing body parts.
Tulo has always been one of my favorite players, good for him and the rox, tulo deserves it. He’s been in the top 3 best SS in baseball for sometime now. The Jeter contract is probably the most comparable deal for him.
I’m sorry, but as good as Tulowitzki is, does signing a guy that’s missed 111 games over the past three seasons to a ten-year deal sound semi-insane to anyone else? Twenty-five years old and he’s already got that kind of injury history… shouldn’t Helton’s imploded deal make them wary?
I don’t get the move. Good for the Rockies for locking up the next face of their franchise I guess, but maybe wait till he’s had more healthy seasons than injured ones.
Sure some of his injuries have been freak accidents, but he’s also had nagging groin and quadriceps injuries throughout his career as well as a torn quad in 2008.
How much longer to wait is my question?? Wait till he is 29 like they did with helton???
I can see your cause for concern though. Thats a whole lot of commitment to one player. However this is still very exciting for all Rox fans and the organization.
I’d like to see the fine print before I get excited. Deals of this length rarely work out for the organizations that commit to them.
Large contracts are insured by MLB teams, as a worst case scenario, as long as he’s on the DL they can receive up to 80% of his salary back . So if injuries are the biggest concern, then atleast there won’t be a situation where they are crippled by this…
If he gets lazy and complacent with a 10 year deal thats a different story…. but we don’t know tulo to make an informed guess on his character.. but I’m sure the rockies brass has done their due diligence
I would never worry about him getting lazy or complacent. The guy is an absolute competitor, and he plays every day on a mission to make a play on every ball he could even conceivably touch.
Say its a 7 year, $17M per year extension = $119M + $25.75M = $144.75M
I’m guessing 10 years/$145M.
Just idiotic. Who’s idea was this, Reuben Amaro Jr.’s?
Yikes, dude!
Philly fan?
Negative.
Rube requires that long term extensions are only offered to players beyond the age of 30.
Ruben Amaro Jr also traded for Roy Halladay and signed him to an awesome extension, and traded for Roy Oswalt for scraps. I don’t mind the comparison.
Wow. Great news for baseball! It is so rare for players to stay long term in a place anymore, so hopefully this is a long term, team-friendly contract!!!
Now all Colorado has to do is lock up Carlos Gonzalez, and unless either gets injured they have a pretty nice 3-4 combo for a LONGGGGGGG time.
Not gonna happen. At least not to cover any FA years. Remember. Boras is CarGo’s agent.
It can happen, but the Rockies are going to have to pay a steeper price.
It can happen, but the Rockies are going to have to pay a steeper price.
They’ll also have Jimenez coming up as a free agent at the same time. 🙁
Tony Renck says the extension is 7 years/$150M or so, which sounds crazy. If the deal in total was for $150M it would make more sense.
Breaking News! Dodgers bringing back Nomar on 10 year deal! What could go wrong?!!
Ummm Nomar is 37 and Tulo is 26….
Your sarcasm meter is broken.
I was clearly being sarcastic as well my friend.
ah, then it’s your sarcasm generator … because your comment seems to be fact based and quite serious.
Maybe he was being sarcastic when he said “I was clearly being sarcastic as well my friend.”
I don’t see how a 10 year deal could possibly benefit the Rockies at this point. The general consensus on this discussion seems to be between $120m and $180m. Let’s assume it’s $160m for 10. They already have him for the next three years at $25m, so really they are committing (hypothetically) $135m for his age 29-36 seasons. That’s over $19m annually for what is generally considered the end of the a players peak years and the beginning of the decline years.
With a deal this long, you’d have to consider inflation rates of players contracts by the time it is ending, but there is also risk that he’s not even baseball relevant by the end of the deal. There’s been only 22 $100m+ deals in MLB history. From a personal perspective I’d say the verdict is still out on 7 deals, so we have 15 contracts we can definitively view as good or bad deals. I’d say 11 of them have been bad deals, three have at least met expectations (Jeter, Manny, and Arod’s first deal when viewed as a 7 year deal) and one has exceeded expectations (Pujols.)
Anyway, I love Tulo and think he is a phenomenal and I’m glad to see the Rockies interested in keeping him around longterm, but I just don’t understand why they would be looking for him to sign a 10 year deal, unless they were getting him at like $120m or less.
Busy night for the Rockies. Rosenthal says they’re about to re-sign De La Rosa.
LOVE this deal for both sides… the 4 year beginning is great for the Rox, and the way salaries tend to become higher, 20 million a year in 2014 should be below market value for a projected version of Tulo then. Hope he continues at this pace, and doesn’t continue to get hurt, as that would be AWFUL for Rox. That’s a given risk in any 10 year deal, obviously.
Which begs the question… why even offer a ten-year deal? Especially when he’s already shown injury signs. And when he’s already controlled at 3/25?
And how can you love the deal when you don’t even know the dollar value?
It says in the post:
“Tulowitzki’s representatives at TWC Sports have no doubt secured their client a nine-figure deal. He’ll earn $38.75MM through 2014; a $20MM salary for the remaining six years would put the contract’s value in the $160MM range.”
But yes, their is an inherit risk in signing someone to that long of a deal, but Tulo is a type of player who can last forever (as in skill set not injury) and I assume the Rockies are expecting his injuries to calm down (his torn quadriceps was a freak thing, and wrists are usually stronger after being repaired). That being said, I love the deal, though you can definitely argue the flaws in it.
Anyone else see that in 2020, their will be mid 30s franchise SS coming off a monster deal? Just pointing that out.
about 1/2 the comments above you
Ok so essentially 10 years $159M. Not terrible, but not a huge discount either. I’m curious as to why they did this now…
Considering the Yankees would be looking for a shortstop in 2014, he could have gotten much more money per year.
They still probably could have waited a year or two, but I see your point.
They still probably could have waited a year or two, but I see your point.
Not everyone cares about money and would go to the Yankees. Believe me, my uncle passed up 15 million extra just so he didn’t have to play for the Yankees. It happens. The world we live in, it’s assumed that every single person is greedy.
Getting you’re marlet value isn’t being greedy. Holding out for $24 mil at age 36 when you’re in decline might be though.
Why in the world would you sign someone for 20mil per season starting in 2014? I’m not even sure he’s worth 20mil now. This is beyond suprising, Tulo is a great player and I understand locking him up early but they’re not even getting a discount for doing so, which is the reason you do these things. They could still retain him for 6/120 in the open marketThis has to be wrong especially w/ their history of these things and the way they handled Holliday
I think you have to take inflation into account. Its very possible that teams get more revenue by 2014 and 20 million will be way more reasonable. Plus, according to Fangraphs, he was worth 25 million in each of the last two years despite missing time to injuries.
The FanGraphs value meter is a joke, look what they value Nick Punto at, then get back to me.
If memory serves correctly, Holliday was offered like $20MM a year over four years and he declined. I’m curious to know what you mean by “the way they handled Holliday.”
Exactly so they went from not budging on 4 years for a franchise player w/o an injury history to going 10 years w/ an injury history when he’s already under control for the next 4 years. What is so hard to get about that? And ya Holliday has declined soooo much 28 hr’s and a .312 average is horrid
He clearly meant that Holliday declined the contract offer. Read more slowly.
Holliday plays left field, thus one could argue he wouldn’t have been worth $20MM/year even in 2008 when the Rockies offered the contract. I wouldn’t have budged either.
Why in the world would you sign someone for 20mil per season starting in 2014? I’m not even sure he’s worth 20mil now. This is beyond suprising, Tulo is a great player and I understand locking him up early but they’re not even getting a discount for doing so, which is the reason you do these things. They could still retain him for 6/120 in the open marketThis has to be wrong especially w/ their history of these things and the way they handled Holliday
Looks like the Sox didn’t make an offer to VMart afterall.
scottmerkin. mlblogs. com/archives/2010/11/white_sox_never_made_offer_to.html
Looks like the Sox didn’t make an offer to VMart afterall.
scottmerkin. mlblogs. com/archives/2010/11/white_sox_never_made_offer_to.html
What a terrible GM. How do you give this type of money to a 26 year old shortstop with zero bargaining leverage??
Tulo has leverage: Career .290/.362/.495 slash line and rising. Plus strong defense at a prime position.
Summary of leverage: He’s pretty damn good.
Even so, he still has 4 years left on his current deal. They should be able to get a better discount than a contract that starts at $18-20M/yr for 6 years following the 2014 option for his current contract.
Tulo has leverage: Career .290/.362/.495 slash line and rising. Plus strong defense at a prime position.
Summary of leverage: He’s pretty damn good.
ALBERT PUJOLS TAKE NOTE!!!
Great players don’t always have to sign $200+ million contracts… Although certainly Tulo is not you.
If Tulo had a dream where he thought he was as good as Tulo he should immediately wake up and reach to Albert’s agent so that he could apologize to him. Tulo is great. Albert is that talented 1%. AP is in a class along with Ruth, Gehrig, Aaron, Mays and Jete……just kidding.
I think you messed this up 78
Yeah you’re right. You got my point though.
ALBERT PUJOLS TAKE NOTE!!!
Great players don’t always have to sign $200+ million contracts… Although certainly Tulo is not you.
Food for thought: How does this contract compare with Holliday’s? They look pretty similar no? Tulo is younger and plays a prime position, but he’s got a injury history which Holliday doesn’t have. Hmm…
Food for thought: How does this contract compare with Holliday’s? They look pretty similar no? Tulo is younger and plays a prime position, but he’s got a injury history which Holliday doesn’t have. Hmm…
You know how when celebs get old and sick newspapers go ahead and write their obituaries in advance, just to be prepared? Do you think Ken Rosenthal and the like are already prepping stories about how the 2015 Rockies are hamstrung by this contract and would love to unload it but can’t fin any takers?
(Tulo’s great… this is just my way of expressing my disdain for ten year deals.)
Especially when the contract doesn’t even start until 2015, let me say that again the contract doesn’t start until 2015! WOW he had an option for ’14. You’d think signing a contract 4 years early would have given them a huge discount but 20mil per doesn’t seem like a discount to me much less a huge one, that’s pretty much what he’d get on open market
Clearly, Colorado wants to keep their franchise players around. Why the hate? In 2020, the economy could be completely different. This guy is a stud, I can’t say how anyone can be mad at an extension.
In 2020, Tulo could also be completely different too. He’s missed significant time in two of his last 3 seasons and he’s locked up for the next 4 seasons. This seems like a very irresponsible leap to take when they don’t need to take it for a while.
As mentioned, his injuries aren’t entirely his fault. Its not like the guy is made out of paper. Its true that it could’ve waited but what if he wins the MVP before his current contract ends? The Rockies would be kicking themselves.
Tulo is the type of player you don’t let get away. An extension at this length surely assures them that Tulo will be a Rox for life(a la Jeter)
He got hit by a pitch and broke a bat in his hand. It’s not like he is pulling groins or having elbow problems.
He missed 51 days in 2008 with a torn quadriceps and has been listed as day-to-day and missed a handful of games three times since with the same quad.
He’s had some freak injuries, but it’s not like he hasn’t shown signs of one that could potentially linger in a 10-year deal. And it’s not like the broken wrist this season can’t have long-lasting effects either (though obviously they didn’t show this season).
The fact is, it’s an unnecessary risk right now. In another season or two, they could’ve had similar talks and he’d probably have listened. Why not wait to see if he can put up a 160 game season or two and shake the injury-prone label?
They’re hardly saving any money on the deal, and their last two mega-contracts have exploded in their face. Why not learn from the mistakes instead of repeat them?
He came back from the wrist injury this year and hit 385 homers in the final month of the season. He clearly had a superhuman android wrist surgically implanted after that injury.
Can you name any player who you would *rather* have this kind of deal with? It looks alot smarter than the Mauer deal (in terms of injury history), and certainly ARod (in terms of dollars). Colorado has a kid who they’re sold is going to be the next Cal Ripken. Banking on Tulo to be the next legendary SS is as safe a bet as anyone.
I’m not quite sure why Tulo gets labeled as “injury prone”. He’s had two full, healthy seasons out of four in the majors: 2007 and 2009. 2008 was an aberration, performance wise, anyway, and two of the months that he missed was due to a freak accident involving a bat smashed in frustration cutting his hand. This year, if I’m remembering correctly, he missed his biggest chunk of time as a result of getting smashed in the wrist by a pitch…another freak accident, really.
It’s not like he’s been pulling up lame rounding the bases and had to go on the DL for hammy problems every few months or anything like that.
edit: haha mkorpal we put up posts with the same idea within a couple minutes of each other…
While the three of you make very good points, I’m just saying things happen. The fact that he’s missed significant time recently shows that. There is no need to take this risk in my opinion. There are kids who are in middle school at this very moment getting drafted when this extension starts. I’m not talking about not locking Tulo up, I’m talking about the fact that he’s already locked up.
BTW, in 2008 he didn’t miss a lot of time because of a broken bat, that was two weeks. He missed nearly two months because of a quadriceps tendon tear.While it hasn’t put him back on the DL, it has caused him to be day-to-day a few times since. And mention pulling groins, he went day-to-day twice this year because of groin strains.
Once again, I’m not saying that they shouldn’t lock him up, I’m a Marlins fan and was all for Hanley getting locked up despite his left shoulder problems, but Tulo is already locked up for the foreseeable future.
I was hoping I’d get to be the first person to make a Derek Jeter joke. 🙁
rockies busy today. Signed Matt Pagnozzi to a minor league deal, about to sign Jorge De La Rosa, and now an extension with Tulo.
Tulo actually had comparable numbers to Pujols last year if you factor in the injury time missed BUT Pujols is still far superior based on overall track record including both stats and injuries.
SO if Colorado is willing to shell out the rumored $120M over 6 years (20/yr) for Tulo’s 30’s, than St. Louis better be ready to shell out $216M over 8 years (27/yr) for the best bat in baseball.
Will Pujols get an extension or go to free agency to get St. Louis to pay big? Don’t see him leaving the Cards in any case.
I speculate that the Rockies may have been afraid that the Yankees were going to cave and pay Jeter 20+MM a season afterall. Then Tulo would have all the bargaining power whenever they were to discuss an extension. He would be like Jeter, the franchise player, but still have the argument that he’s young and capable of producing much more than Jeter can at age 36. Imagine how much money they’d have to shell out then to keep him around. Now they have basically screwed Jeters chances (if he had any) of getting more than 20MM. The Yankees can argue that Colorado’s franchise SS is getting paid less than he is, and their player will be younger and more capable of producing more.
The actual annual salary is below market which, purely from a economic stand point, makes this a good deal. Effectively, he’s signed for just under 10/$160 mil w/ him avg $20 mil per at ages 31-36.
I just think it’s a bad idea for a small market team to sign a player like Tulo this far away from FA. I could understand them making this deal in 2012 or 2013. I love to see smaller market teams lock up their stars but they need to make moves at the right time to limit their risks. In theory, if he stays healthy and plays at his current level then he will be signed to a below market value for a SS with good defense and 30 hr power, great contact and OBP numbers. If he get’s hurt and incurs any type of fall off due to the injury before 2015 then it can be a bad situation.
Let’s see, the Rockies gave a huge dollar, long term contract to Todd Helton when he was in his prime and was one of the best offensive players in the game and how has THAT turned out? Oh yeah, he has been injured, his offense has gone down and the Rockies would have LIKED to have dumped Helton on some other team but NOBODY wanted that contract and the Rockies didn’t want to EAT most of that contract.
The Rockies gave a HUGE dollar, long term contract to Mike Hampton and how did THAT turn out?
Given that Tulo is 26, has already had problems with injuries and is ALREADY LOCKED UP FOR THE NEXT THREE SEASONS this move, if made, is TOTALLY STUPID!!
2 bad deals don’t mean you can never make a good one. Should the Rockies just forever avoid $100M contracts because of Hampton & Helton?
Tulo’s injuries are nothing. First, he’s not a pitcher, so even a wrist fracture isn’t going to mess with his mechanics. Second, every position player undergoes these kinds of injuries at some point, and very few are sidelined. Third, it’s not like he’s Joe Crede and has had multiple spinal operations.
The benefit of this deal is it makes it abundantly clear that he’s the face of the franchise, with all the marketing benefits that go along with that.
I love how everybody says that the Helton extension was terrible. People clearly don’t know what they’re talking about. Helton hit above .300 every year except for this year and an injury shortened 08 season. Also, he had the best eyes in the game, because every year he was near the top of the league in walks. AND, he put up 80 plus RBIs every year except for this year and 08. Add that with Gold Glove defense year after year, and Helton was a solid player after the extension. He wasn’t worth what he was getting at the end, but it was by no means a terrible extension….
You all know what this means don’t you? Unless Tulo cuts his hair, soon the entire Coors Field is going to start selling mullet-do’s.
…Yup, dudn’t get any better than this. 😉
As a Rockies fan, I must confess that I don’t get this move. The timing of it is off (he was already under contract thru the end of 2014) and deals of this length rarely pay off for the signing organization.
I’d like to see ALL the details, like how many options (and what type) are included.
Speaking of details, does this mean that the Rockies have now vested the 2014 option? If not and they don’t exercise in 2014, does that cancel the extension?
As I understand it, part of this extension included the team going ahead and exercising the $15 million club option for 2014.
The timing of this whole thing is just baffling to me. I understand that the guy is and will be the face of the franchise, but is there any way to reasonably argue that a 30 year old SS would be in line for a 6-year deal at $20 million per? I don’t see it.
I love Tulo but I have to say this might be the most head scratching move I have ever seen before.
Everyone who keeps using the “already had injuries” as justification for not liking this deal should do their homework.. Most large deals (club descretion) are insured. If a player hits the DL they recover up to 80% of the salary for that year…
The only risk in this move is if he stops progressing as an mlb player or stops being a star. While that is a good chance with any player in the league, you would have to think at this point, he’s a top 2 SS in the entire league, if anyone is more likely to continue to be a super star it would be tulo.
It isn’t that this is a bad deal at all, Tulo is possibly the best SS in the game, it’s just the timing of the deal that makes no sense. Tulo is already under contract til 2014, and it’s not like they locked him up before he gets too expensive, because look at the amount they are paying him. It’s a fair price don’t get me wrong, but it’s the same price they could have held him for if they waited a few years. Why take the risk when you have the luxury to wait?
That’s exactly the point. Why do it now as opposed to addressing another extension winter of 2012 or 2013?
He has the same agents as JDR
Chances are they got that wrapped and said hey, since we’re here lets talk tulo
Clearly Dowd’s expecting that the Federal Reserves Quantitative Easing is going to accelerate inflation, and $20M in 2015 dollars is going to be like $10M in today’s dollars. And alot of experts think that’s a pretty safe bet.
Or is it too early in the morning to discuss inflation?
No, Dowd obviously believes the world is going to end on December 21, 2012 so giving Tulo this contract extension NOW seems like a good idea (what with everybody being dead in a little ove two years).
Of course, on December 22, 2012, when the apocolypse (sp?) hasn’t occured and the human race is still living and breathing, Dowd is going to have an “OH S*IT” revelation and some ‘splainin to do.
To all the people questioning the timing of the deal: as a Denver resident, I think it’s possible that O’Dowd and the Rockies’ ownership group saw how pissed off the city is at the Broncos and decided now was a good time to make some headlines and try to steal some market share. The Broncos have been the city’s favorite team for decades- the Rockies should do anything they can to make waves and try to make some diehard Broncos fans decide their money and attention would be better spent elsewhere.
I was thinking along these same lines. I think part of this was O’Dowd wearing down from the “Rockies never spend money to keep players” talk and massively overreacting.
As a Giants fan, I have great respect for Tulo. He’s the main man, the face of the franchise. The upside: stability and players are ALWAYS cheaper when signed up front. The downside: injury, less financial flexibility.
So what is Carlos going to get? 20 years?
Damn… the crazy thing is this could actually be a bargain for the Rockies.
LOL no.
Wow. I am astounded. This came out of nowhere. I get Tulo had a lot of upside and potential but I didn’t realize he was proven to the point of a long-term mega deal. And even if he was I never imagined this. I won’t say this deal is stupid, but damn are the Rockies hedging their bets. If this thing doesn’t work out at least 8 out of 10 years they are gonna have mondo mud on their faces. But hey, good for Tulo. He was already comfortable for life, now he’s insanely wealthy for life, along with anybody with his DNA.
You should look up the term “hedging bets,” because it doesn’t mean what you think it means.
Hedging a bet would be like signing Duchsherer (or however that god-awful name is spelled) and picking up a perennial spot-starter/long reliever to back him up in case of injury.
-C
Haha, the only reason they’re doing this is to piss Jeter off.
Haha, the only reason they’re doing this is to piss Jeter off.
jeter should be paid under 15 million then, this sets the bar. hes a better shortsstop and younger…. why would jeter get more? well maybe cuz of merchandise and who he is and hes a hall of famer, but almost double? for a man nearing the gate to eternal retirement/hall of fame/nursing home/near future?
jeter should be paid under 15 million then, this sets the bar. hes a better shortsstop and younger…. why would jeter get more? well maybe cuz of merchandise and who he is and hes a hall of famer, but almost double? for a man nearing the gate to eternal retirement/hall of fame/nursing home/near future?
Rockies really like Tulo 119MM$ is a lot of money
Too much for de la Rosa. The dude struggles to keep his era under 4.50
so he had three years left on his contract, then they add six more years? holy crap.
Dude better not get a career ender or they are pretty much screwed.