Braves sign Freeman to 8 year 135M deal! *Updated to 135m*

[AUTiger7222]

Indeed, as MLBTR's Steve Adams notes on Twitter, the Braves seem to have paid a major price for the five free agent years covered by the new contract. Even making the aggressive assumption that Freeman would earn $30MM over his arbitration period -- quite unlikely, since he stood to make less than $6MM this year already -- then the contract pays him a $21MM AAV for his free agent years. That seems like a steep price given that the cash will be promised three years before Freeman could have hit the open market.

As I stated, I'm happy that Freddie will be a Brave for a long time, but my enthusiasm is somewhat diminished by how much we had to pay to do it. We are essentially paying a premium, best case scenario price to Freeman for 8 years. We have now assumed all the risk, and a huge risk at that. We can only hope he continues to be a force like he was last year for several years to come. One thing is for sure, the Braves have made a huge, franchise altering decision here that will greatly affect this team for many years.

The main reason the Braves had to keep Freeman was because of marketing. The Braves had to have an established MLB, MVP caliber player to market in the coming years, especially in advance of the new stadium in 2017.

Well Howard's extension was signed inwhat was the equivalent of his last season of arb.

But he had the ROY and MVP. Which Freddie doesn't.

I'm not complaining about the Freddie deal, I love it. But it's not a bargain deal, it's a great signing because of his youth, but it's not like we Evan Longoria'd him.

Well the Rays locked up Longoria 5 games into his career. Freeman has 3 full MLB seasons under his belt and just finished 5th in the MVP voting. Huge, huge difference in the two signings.

 

[zitothebrave]

I'm talking about the whole scope of Longo's.

Not only was his first contract of 6/17.5 insanely beneficial (9/47.5 with the options) he also signed a 6/100 well before FA making his overall contract 15/147.5. Both of his contracts are super deals. He's signed until he's 36, as an athlete odds are he won't have a terrible aging curve and he's not a large fellow either at 6'2 210. He's not a giant like Freddie or Jason.

 

[AUTiger7222]

I'm talking about the whole scope of Longo's.

Not only was his first contract of 6/17.5 insanely beneficial (9/47.5 with the options) he also signed a 6/100 well before FA making his overall contract 15/147.5. Both of his contracts are super deals. He's signed until he's 36, as an athlete odds are he won't have a terrible aging curve and he's not a large fellow either at 6'2 210. He's not a giant like Freddie or Jason.

What year did Longo sign the 2nd deal? I mean the market has changed so much in the last 2 years. What has Shin-Soo Choo and Jacoby Ellsbury done to deserve the deals they've gotten? Heyward has a great case already to demand at least $150M because of those two deals. That's how stupid the FA market is now.

 

[Knucksie]

First, there was all this doom & gloom about not extending any of the young stars. Now, there's bitching about the terms of this contract. Can't ever win with some people.

 

[zitothebrave]

What year did Longo sign the 2nd deal? I mean the market has changed so much in the last 2 years. What has Shin-Soo Choo and Jacoby Ellsbury done to deserve the deals they've gotten? Heyward has a great case already to demand at least $150M because of those two deals. That's how stupid the FA market is now.

He signed his last extension last offseason.

Ellsbury's contract is similar to Crawford's his career numbers .297/.350/.439 when Crawford hit FA he was at .296/.337/.444

Ellsbury gold glove CF, Crawford gold glove LF.

 

[zitothebrave]

And Choo's 7/130 is barely more than Werth's 8/126

 

[weso1]

First, there was all this doom & gloom about not extending any of the young stars. Now, there's bitching about the terms of this contract. Can't ever win with some people.

Yeah really. So maybe we overpaid by a couple million a year at most? Is it really that big of a deal? The most important thing is that we've got one of our young studs signed through his prime.

 

[AUTiger7222]

He signed his last extension last offseason.

Ellsbury's contract is similar to Crawford's his career numbers .297/.350/.439 when Crawford hit FA he was at .296/.337/.444

Ellsbury gold glove CF, Crawford gold glove LF.

The difference between Crawford and Ellsbury is that Ellsbury has had major issues staying on the field in his career. He's really only had 2 years that he has been that kind of player that the Yankees payed for. Crawford on the other hand was as durable as anyone in the game when he signed his deal. I'm not sure about ages but I also think Ellsbury is a year or two older than Crawford was too.

 

[AUTiger7222]

And Choo's 7/130 is barely more than Werth's 8/126

Neither one of them deserved those deals either. But were over 30 when they got those deals. If Heyward hits the market after 2015 he'll be just 26 years old. Major difference. Heyward will get $150M plus from somebody. Mark it down because it's all but a guarantee.

 

[nsacpi]

Jon Heyman provides the contract details: Freeman received a $2.875MM signing bonus. He will be paid $5.125MM in 2014, $8.5MM in 2015 and $12MM in 2016. His free agent years are valued at $20.5MM (2017), $21MM (2018-19) and $22MM (2020-21).

Both Heyward and Freeman received a bonus. I'm not sure if for accounting purposes they get counted all in the 2014 budget or not. It would be a good thing if it did because we seem to have a bit more budget flexibility this year than in 2015. The free agency years are slightly backloaded. I like that since it aligns with some likely revenue growth. AAV for the free agency years is slightly under 21.5M/yr.

Imo it is a good contract from the club's perspective. Not great (like Sale or McCutchen or Goldschmidt, which were all signed a bit earlier in the player's career) but good.

 

[zitothebrave]

I think the bonus is because of Kimbrel's arb. They can put whatever part towards either 2014 or 2015 budget.

 

[zitothebrave]

The difference between Crawford and Ellsbury is that Ellsbury has had major issues staying on the field in his career. He's really only had 2 years that he has been that kind of player that the Yankees payed for. Crawford on the other hand was as durable as anyone in the game when he signed his deal. I'm not sure about ages but I also think Ellsbury is a year or two older than Crawford was too.

Crawford's season age was one year younger. And injury is part of it but you're generally gonna sign a player on upside. Ellsbury's upside is MVP level. Crawfords isn't.

 

[thewupk]

What year did Longo sign the 2nd deal? I mean the market has changed so much in the last 2 years. What has Shin-Soo Choo and Jacoby Ellsbury done to deserve the deals they've gotten? Heyward has a great case already to demand at least $150M because of those two deals. That's how stupid the FA market is now.

Not to mention Pence making 18 million a year for 5 years for his age 31-35 seasons. Heyward will get 20+ easily even without taking the next step.

 

[zitothebrave]

Heyward will get paid, and judging by the Freeman deal the braves may not be opposed to it. Honestly even with the injury questions they should lock him up. He is a top 20 player when healthy and when he's not he's still above average. The downside is low and the upsdie is very high. I think Heyward is poised to have a monster year as long as he's healthy, his K and BB numbers from last year were what we expected when he came up.

 

[AUTiger7222]

Crawford's season age was one year younger. And injury is part of it but you're generally gonna sign a player on upside. Ellsbury's upside is MVP level. Crawfords isn't.

Agreed.

 

[AUTiger7222]

Not to mention Pence making 18 million a year for 5 years for his age 31-35 seasons. Heyward will get 20+ easily even without taking the next step.

Totally forgot about the crazy deal Pence got.

 

[AUTiger7222]

Heyward will get paid, and judging by the Freeman deal the braves may not be opposed to it. Honestly even with the injury questions they should lock him up. He is a top 20 player when healthy and when he's not he's still above average. The downside is low and the upsdie is very high. I think Heyward is poised to have a monster year as long as he's healthy, his K and BB numbers from last year were what we expected when he came up.

Agreed

 

[nsacpi]

Totally forgot about the crazy deal Pence got.

The Giants went nuts on the Pence and Lincecum deals. Those two deals in turn set the tone for the early free agent deals this off-season. Now things are coming back to earth. The teams that waited will turn out to be the winners this off-season. There are going to be some club-friendly signings with the remaining group of free agents.

 

[Russ2dollas]

Klaw on chat said it was great for FF and good for ATL.

I think it would have been nice to be at 125 instead of 135. But it's not a big deal. It's important for long term planning to have some guys locked down.

I also assume the Braves are thinking that inflation is their friend. Looks like a lot now, but revenues keep going up as do salaries. 22 million could look like a bargain in 5+ years and inflation helps them out some.

 

[Heyward]

Klaw on chat said it was great for FF and good for ATL.

I think it would have been nice to be at 125 instead of 135. But it's not a big deal. It's important for long term planning to have some guys locked down.

I also assume the Braves are thinking that inflation is their friend. Looks like a lot now, but revenues keep going up as do salaries. 22 million could look like a bargain in 5+ years and inflation helps them out some.

Wouldnt say a bargain but if they waited another year, it would of cost more.

It's about market value these days.