Originally posted by edougZito is good but not that good.
No kiddin'. Sure, he's probably one of the more (if not the) more reliable pitchers in baseball in terms of health and starts, but $18 million a year for seven seasons (possibly 8)? And looking at his career numbers, he doesn't seem the type of guy who gets better with age and experience.
Is this ridiculous or is the pitching pool for MLB really that shallow?
It is absurd to sign any pitcher to a seven year deal. Have any of those long term deals worked out? Mike Hampton anyone? This will tie the hands of whoever gets the GM job in SF after Sabean is canned.
Originally posted by piemanIt is absurd to sign any pitcher to a seven year deal. Have any of those long term deals worked out? Mike Hampton anyone? This will tie the hands of whoever gets the GM job in SF after Sabean is canned.
Mussina's the only one I can think of that turned out just fine ...
Hampton, Dreifort, Neagle, Park, and Kevin Brown all signed ginormous long-term contracts in recent years and not a one has panned out.
The Braves were given heat in 1993 when they signed Maddux to what was a 5 year deal methinks, but if there's ANYONE you give that type of deal to, it's an injury-free, low WHIP, ground ball pitcher.
Barry Zito is CLOSE to all of those things, but Greg Maddux he's not. The lack of ground-balls is particularly frightening. Get the kayaks out, Bay area!
I can't think of a single MLB pitcher right now I'd give a long-term deal to ... The obvious best (Santana, Oswalt, Carpenter, Halladay, Peavy, etc.) have all faced at least one injury in recent history.
If Chris Young and Aaron Harang post another couple solid seasons though, sans injury, they'll break the bank very soon.
I wouldn't give a pitcher a 7 year deal with an 8th year option. However, $18 million isn't ridiculous when you consider he is left handed, in his late 20's, and going from the AL to the NL West, which is probably the worst hitting division in baseball. $18 million for 5 years might have made more sense, but, the way salaries are going recently, years 6 and 7 might look like bargains if he is healthy, in his mid 30's, and left handed.
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I was flipping through my copy of "the Big Show Book" a couple of weeks ago and saw that you and your paper from BGSU were mentioned in it. I exclaimed "I *know* this guy!" and my wife said "What guy?