Hypothetical Prince Scenario

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

This has no chance in happening, but if you were GM, would you consider it?

 

Prince signs a 3 year $90 million dollar deal (2012-2014), with $45 million deferred to be paid out (2015-2023) ($5M per)

Prince gets $30M per, topping Pujols, the Brewers increase payroll, but not to a fatal level ($15M/year), and the team isn't stuck with an albotross of a contract

 

Prince gets another shot at a "MEGA DEAL" in 3 years, in a year when the Red Sox and Yankees might be much more interested in his services

[DHonks]

I wouldn't do it. I absolutely despise backloaded and deferred contracts. Why should we hurt our payroll in 2015-2023? I hate the notion of paying someone not to play for us

[RightFieldCoder]

That payout wouldn't work. The agent would negotiate a larger per year payout or more years based on interest rates. That is how Bobby Bonilla will get paid close to $30M in deferred money over 25 years as apposed to the $6M he was supposed to be paid in 2000. Using my rough math, you would probably need to pay Prince almost $9M per year from 2015-2023 or pay him $5M per year from 2015 to 2031. That's a lot of money to be paying someone on another team right when Braun is making a good chunk of change. It could work out for the team. It would have worked for the Mets if they had been making 8.2% interest on their money. They had an investment guy guarantee double digit returns. If the economy hadn't caused interest rates to crash and the investment guy wasn't running the biggest Ponsi scheme outside the government they would have actually made money in the deal. But it is a huge risk for the Brewers. What if they have a string of bad luck and are not competitive for a bit? What if 2020 attendance numbers look like 2004 attendance numbers?

[NievesNoNO]

I think it's a creative thought but for me personally if I was a GM I couldn't bring myself to ever defer money. It seems like rear kissing to me. You're all ready paying the guy for the time he's here but you're telling him he's soooo great that you'll pay him for 8 more years whether he's here or not? I like Fielder, he'll make some team better but imo it's just time to move on from him. The Brewers need to move on with the rest of their off-season. There's plenty of options to make the team better but they need to (if they haven't all ready) focus their resources on other opportunities.

[GoudaBrew]

A deal has to be right for the player too. Prince has already gambled once - playing out his contract with the Brewers hoping to avoid injury to hit the free agent market in his prime. $90 million is a nice chunk of change, but no one can expect him to leave $60-100 million on the table to try and time the market just right three years from now.

[Team Canada]

I think it's a creative thought but for me personally if I was a GM I couldn't bring myself to ever defer money. It seems like rear kissing to me. You're all ready paying the guy for the time he's here but you're telling him he's soooo great that you'll pay him for 8 more years whether he's here or not?

That's not what deferment is about at all. For good or bad, it's a simple decision to postpone paying more up front. It's not like they're paying him the same and then adding extra on the back end just because they like the guy.

[NievesNoNO]

I think it's a creative thought but for me personally if I was a GM I couldn't bring myself to ever defer money. It seems like rear kissing to me. You're all ready paying the guy for the time he's here but you're telling him he's soooo great that you'll pay him for 8 more years whether he's here or not?

That's not what deferment is about at all. For good or bad, it's a simple decision to postpone paying more up front. It's not like they're paying him the same and then adding extra on the back end just because they like the guy.

I undstand what it is but it doesn't sit well with me to be paying somebody who's not on your team for an extended period of time. I do think I misundestood the deferred money part. I thought he was saying pay the guy 30 mill per plus the deferred portion. As I read it again I believe what he's saying is play him 15 per season and defer the rest. I think I might have a different feeling if Prince was retiring a Brewer after the contract but to pay somebody while he's playing for another team doesn't seem right. Like I said, it's a creative thought, just not something I would pursue.