[lex24]

Castellanos - a nice add, yes; but not for five years.  I don’t think he will age well. And, yes, count me among those who are happy to see the Giants not throwing around silly money just to acquire a “name”.  I do believe they need a right-handed power bat.  However, with the Rangers in the mix for Story (along with SF, Boston and the Yankees), I don’t see him coming to the Giants.  Therefore, no big contracts are in the offing.  

Heck, maybe Ramos will be the guy we are looking for…….

Silly money?  Seeger? Semien, Marte, Castellanos, Suzuki, Schwarber, Correa. Freeman. Olson? All dumb?  (I’ll give you Bryant as from what I read Rockies were way beyond what anyone else offered. Kind o& like when Giants signed Zito). 

Sorry, but I don’t buy the “all long term contracts are bad” argument.  Nor do I think that the Giants are just smarter than everyone else.

Whoa.  Hang on a second.  NO ONE ever said that “all long term contracts are bad”.  

Instead, a more measured analysis is in order….

First, I would define a six+ year contract for nine figures as silly money.  I would suggest that more often than not, those contracts do not age well.  YES, there are definitely exceptions to the rule.

Here are the contracts signed this off-season that fall in the silly money category:

Seager - $325M for 10 years
Bryant - $182M for 7 years
Semien - $175M for 7 years
Olson - $168M for 8 years
Freemen - $162 for 6 years
Baez - $140M for 6 years

Of those, I like the Olson deal.  The others?  Not so much.

Note:  I get the notion that LA is willing to throw money away long term in order to wave the “World Series or bust” flag this year.  

Of the other guys you mentioned (Marte, Castellanos, Suzuki, Schwarber, Correa), here are my thoughts:

Marte - 4 years/$78 million.  Reasonable.  
Castellanos - 5 years/$100 million.  Term is problematic - bad signing
Suzuki - 5 years/$99.625M (incl. payment to Hiroshima).  Reasonable.
Schwarber - 4 years/$79M.  Term is problematic - bad signing 
Correa - 3 years/105M.  Given the opt outs, a great decision by both parties. 

By the way, the other three nine figure contracts were signed by Gausman, Ray and Scherzer for five, five and three years respectively.  Of those, the Scherzer deal was a good move.  The other two represent problematic terms.

The Dodgers are willing to spend what it takes.  Freeman was a great pickup.  Nothing silly about Olson Semien or Seager.

Since we disagree about Semien and Seager, I guess we will need to revisit this conversation in 2030……

Why 2030?  You sign these guys long term knowing that you are not going to get the value on the back end. But they are key to winning now.  And,, btw, they also can help with revenue.  More interest. More butts in seats.  More merchandise sales.  

Hunter Pence. Signed  contract in ‘13, I believe.  Horrible last couple years. Bad contract, right?   They don’t  win WS in ‘14 without Pence.  So, worth every penny.

[lex24]

Castellanos - a nice add, yes; but not for five years.  I don’t think he will age well. And, yes, count me among those who are happy to see the Giants not throwing around silly money just to acquire a “name”.  I do believe they need a right-handed power bat.  However, with the Rangers in the mix for Story (along with SF, Boston and the Yankees), I don’t see him coming to the Giants.  Therefore, no big contracts are in the offing.  

Heck, maybe Ramos will be the guy we are looking for…….

Silly money?  Seeger? Semien, Marte, Castellanos, Suzuki, Schwarber, Correa. Freeman. Olson? All dumb?  (I’ll give you Bryant as from what I read Rockies were way beyond what anyone else offered. Kind o& like when Giants signed Zito). 

Sorry, but I don’t buy the “all long term contracts are bad” argument.  Nor do I think that the Giants are just smarter than everyone else.

Whoa.  Hang on a second.  NO ONE ever said that “all long term contracts are bad”.  

Instead, a more measured analysis is in order….

First, I would define a six+ year contract for nine figures as silly money.  I would suggest that more often than not, those contracts do not age well.  YES, there are definitely exceptions to the rule.

Here are the contracts signed this off-season that fall in the silly money category:

Seager - $325M for 10 years
Bryant - $182M for 7 years
Semien - $175M for 7 years
Olson - $168M for 8 years
Freemen - $162 for 6 years
Baez - $140M for 6 years

Of those, I like the Olson deal.  The others?  Not so much.

Note:  I get the notion that LA is willing to throw money away long term in order to wave the “World Series or bust” flag this year.  

Of the other guys you mentioned (Marte, Castellanos, Suzuki, Schwarber, Correa), here are my thoughts:

Marte - 4 years/$78 million.  Reasonable.  
Castellanos - 5 years/$100 million.  Term is problematic - bad signing
Suzuki - 5 years/$99.625M (incl. payment to Hiroshima).  Reasonable.
Schwarber - 4 years/$79M.  Term is problematic - bad signing 
Correa - 3 years/105M.  Given the opt outs, a great decision by both parties. 

By the way, the other three nine figure contracts were signed by Gausman, Ray and Scherzer for five, five and three years respectively.  Of those, the Scherzer deal was a good move.  The other two represent problematic terms.

The Dodgers are willing to spend what it takes.  Freeman was a great pickup.  Nothing silly about Olson Semien or Seager.

Since we disagree about Semien and Seager, I guess we will need to revisit this conversation in 2030……

Why 2030?  You sign these guys long term knowing that you are not going to get the value on the back end. But they are key to winning now.  And,, btw, they also can help with revenue.  More interest. More butts in seats.  More merchandise sales.  

Hunter Pence. Signed  contract in ‘13, I believe.  Horrible last couple years. Bad contract, right?   They don’t  win WS in ‘14 without Pence.  So, worth every penny.