Taking on a contract?

smootness said:
We'll see on this. They certainly will get that if they want it, but I could see both taking a shorter-term deal so they can still hit FA again while putting up prime numbers.

We've seen massive deals for guys at 29 or 30, and for good reason; those guys were as good as they were going to be, and they get to be paid through their 30's. But we haven't seen many guys like Heyward and Upton recently, where they'll hit FA either on the front-end or even before they've really hit their prime.

I could see Upton even taking a really short deal and betting on himself to be better over the next couple years so he can get a bigger deal. He may see something like 8/$150 and think he's too talented to take that deal.

And for Heyward, he has a couple options; he could take an 8-10 year deal and hit FA again in his mid-30s. Or he could take a 5-6 year deal and hit FA again around 30-31. He could potentially even get more per year by taking the shorter deal as well and bet on himself staying healthy and at least as productive as he is now. If he continues with similar numbers, then he'll get a slightly better contract over 7-8 years, and if he improves, he'll blow it out on his next contract. On the other hand, if he takes the longer deal now, he gets more guarantees, but he also runs the risk of tailing off around 33 and getting significantly less at that point.

I think it's possible we could sign Heyward to a 5-6 year deal. I don't know that it's likely, but I certainly think there's going to be a decision for him to make.

Also, teams seemed less willing to give huge contracts out last year in FA. Scherzer got 7 and Lester got 6, but nobody else got more than 5, and most were no longer than 4. I think teams realize that when giving out a huge long-term deal, even to the best players in the league, they end up being bad deals pretty quickly and are anchors by the end of the contract. I think you'll see fewer and fewer. A guy like Heyward could get it, and Trout/Harper could as well, but the older guys are probably looking at around 7 as the absolute max and most will probably fall in more of a 5-year window.
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This is why I think Braun is such a perfect fit - right handed is the main concern to me, but he's also much more consistent than J-Up or Cespedes, a more well-rounded player, and will be even cheaper than they will IF they'd take such a deal.
 
clvclv said:
This is why I think Braun is such a perfect fit - right handed is the main concern to me, but he's also much more consistent than J-Up or Cespedes, a more well-rounded player, and will be even cheaper than they will IF they'd take such a deal.
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I don't want to pay that guy $20 million for 5 years. He'll be 33, he's already started sliding, and I just don't like him and don't want to have to root for him.
 
smootness said:
I don't want to pay that guy $20 million for 5 years. He'll be 33, he's already started sliding, and I just don't like him and don't want to have to root for him.
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I get what you are saying here, but I think the point these guys are making is that $20 Mil for five years is both cheap and short in today's market. Braun is no longer a superstar for sure, but provides some thing the Braves really need, provides it well, and in this market, does so fairly inexpensively. A good fit and good value in this market.
 
mfree80 said:
I get what you are saying here, but I think the point these guys are making is that $20 Mil for five years is both cheap and short in today's market. Braun is no longer a superstar for sure, but provides some thing the Braves really need, provides it well, and in this market, does so fairly inexpensively. A good fit and good value in this market.
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It's $20 million per year for 5 years. Braun is not cheap at all. If it was $4 million per year, of course I'd take him.

But I'd much rather to pay Heyward a few more million per year or Cespedes less.
 
smootness said:
It's $20 million per year for 5 years. Braun is not cheap at all. If it was $4 million per year, of course I'd take him.

But I'd much rather to pay Heyward a few more million per year or Cespedes less.
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What about say... $14-15 for five. I think that's more likely where Braun ends up with someone. I love Heyward, but he could cost close to double that. Is he worth twice as much? What does that do to the ability to fill other needs as well. Braun would be a big improvement without breaking the bank, leaving room for additional moves. That's part of his value. (Same as with Olivera in fact).
 
mfree80 said:
What about say... $14-15 for five. I think that's more likely where Braun ends up with someone. I love Heyward, but he could cost close to double that. Is he worth twice as much? What does that do to the ability to fill other needs as well. Braun would be a big improvement without breaking the bank, leaving room for additional moves. That's part of his value. (Same as with Olivera in fact).
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At 15M a year he looks way more enticing, or extended the deal and taking back Lucroy, or getting back one of their OF prospects. There is a possible deal here with Milwaukee depending on all the other factors.
 
The Red Sox have placed Mike Napoli, Rusney Castillo, Jackie Bradley Jr., Brock Holt, Hanley Ramirez, Craig Breslow and Justin Masterson on waivers. Of that group, I’d imagine that Napoli (earning $16MM in 2015), Castillo (owed $56.5MM from 2016-20), Ramirez ($66MM from 2016-18) and Masterson (earning $9.5MM in 2015) would each clear just based on salary alone.

If Castillo clears waivers, and the Sox are open to trading him...Would you be interested? 5 years/56.5M is a contract we could afford to take on, and might could buy low.
 
Chico said:
It doesn't look very good, but it also looks like Hart is willing to take chances on upside.
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Yeah, and it's still too early. He just started playing, really, and looked good last year. I'd prob take a chance.
 
smootness said:
I don't want to pay that guy $20 million for 5 years. He'll be 33, he's already started sliding, and I just don't like him and don't want to have to root for him.
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J- Up will be 35 at the end of a much more expensive 8 year deal.

Cespedes will be 35 IF he'd take 6/$150 million

I personally have absolutely no interest in Heyward as a middle of the order bat until the point he proves he IS one, and he'll be much more expensive as well.
 
clvclv said:
J- Up will be 35 at the end of a much more expensive 8 year deal.

Cespedes will be 35 IF he'd take 6/$150 million

I personally have absolutely no interest in Heyward as a middle of the order bat until the point he proves he IS one, and he'll be much more expensive as well.
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I think any team would be insane not to have interest in Jason, but you're completely right for a middle of the order bat.

Though he has looked great this year, he still has shown very little power.
 
Braun's deal is interesting in that he actually gets cheaper towards the end of it:

2016 32 $20,000,000

2017 33 $20,000,000

2018 34 $20,000,000

2019 35 $19,000,000

2020 36 $17,000,000

2021 37 $15,000,000 or $4M Buyout

The Brewers got a top 50 guy, another top 100 guy, and two lower tier arms for Gomez and Fiers, so I would think Braun would cost about the same.
 
Enscheff said:
Braun's deal is interesting in that he actually gets cheaper towards the end of it:

2016 32 $20,000,000
2017 33 $20,000,000
2018 34 $20,000,000
2019 35 $19,000,000
2020 36 $17,000,000
2021 37 $15,000,000 or $4M Buyout

The Brewers got a top 50 guy, another top 100 guy, and two lower tier arms for Gomez and Fiers, so I would think Braun would cost about the same.
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A huge reason I'm a fan of his deal - much like the Grilli deal, he becomes less expensive as his expected performance declines as opposed to paying premium dollars to players like J-Up or Cespedes as they begin to.
 
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