Robinson Cano's Contract

[DrWood]

4 years at 30 million, team options in years 5 and 6 for 14 and 15 million, respectively.

If that's what it takes to buy out a guy's arbitration years, brewers will need to be making some hard decisions about our boys.

[TooLiveBrew]

Weeks could well prove the most expensive to re-sign, given his position. That said, Fielder's probably going to get play-money digits.

[bigredrobbo]

Weeks could well prove the most expensive to re-sign, given his position. That said, Fielder's probably going to get play-money digits.

yup, but from someone else, I fear...

[JohnBriggs12]

4 years at 30 million, team options in years 5 and 6 for 14 and 15 million, respectively.

If that's what it takes to buy out a guy's arbitration years, brewers will need to be making some hard decisions about our boys.

 

I would expect that by 2011, at best only 2 among Hardy, Weeks, Hart, and Fielder will still be Brewers and one of that quartet will be gone by 2010. That's why this year's draft is so important.

[Tbadder]

To me this is a disturbing contract. And it portends disaster for small market teams. How many of these contracts can a small market team dole out before it pushes them to the brink of financial ruin?

 

Don't get me wrong. It's a brilliant strategy for the big market teams. Revenue sharing has hurt big market teams and their competitiveness, so how do big teams punish little teams for developing young talent? By making them pay higher wages sooner obviously.

 

By developing a mentality that abandons the 6 year wait to free agency that enables small teams to threaten the big boys every few years or so, the big markets can assure that small market teams can't use resources for farm development, stadium upgrades and rennovations, etc.

 

Now, this trend might take years to really take hold, but the Tulo and Cano contracts have changed the atmosphere of business.

 

I mean right now--could the Brewers afford 30 million each for Rickie, JJ, Corey, Fielder, Braun? And that's not even taking into account the new contracts for veterans like Sheets or the signing of more mediocre pitchers like Suppan.

[TooLiveBrew]

Now, this trend might take years to really take hold, but the Tulo and Cano contracts have changed the atmosphere of business.

 

The contract the Rockies gave out to Tulowitzki was just downright foolish. They're putting an awful lot of stock in the hopes that he'll give them a gigantic hometown discount when he hits FA. Plus, it's not like Colorado is working with one of the bigger MLB markets.

 

I don't think these contracts have changed the business, more that the business has changed, and these deals reflect that.

[samwise]

In terms of Tulo I think the Rockies felt they had to capitalize on the success they had last year. Also this is the Yanks, they are going to overbid everything, because they can.

 

The draft becomes more important with each one of these signings. Good young players do not reach free agency anymore, you have to raise them yourself.

[DrWood]

what I don't get about Cano's contract is why do the Yankees do it? If they want him when he becomes a free agent, they can afford to pay him, and they could have saved some money up to that point by just going to arbitration each year.

[TooLiveBrew]

In terms of Tulo I think the Rockies felt they had to capitalize on the success they had last year.

But signing him to an incredibly risky contract in order to buy one year of FA (& like I mentioned, a stab at a HT-discount)... does that capitalize upon anything? I sincerely want to know what you meant here, Sam-o.

 

In both cases (Cano & Tulo), the contracts seem completely unnecessary - for slightly different reasons in each case.