Hot Stove Chatter
Gary Matthews Jr, a 32-year old journeyman outfielder, just got a 5-year contract from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim worth a guaranteed $50 Million.
I’m sorry; I must have missed the memo. When we set the clocks back for Daylight Savings, apparently the GMs in the Major Leagues set theirs waaaaaay back, like, 2000 waaaaaay back.
How else do you explain someone like Matthews, who has had exactly one quality offensive season, and has all of 78 career homeruns in over 850 games, garnering a $10M/year contract?
How else do you explain Alfonso Soriano, admittedly the best free agent in a relatively thin crop, earning a $136 Million guaranteed contract at the age of 30? 8 years, $136 Million?
How else do you explain the Boston Red Sox, my Boston Red Sox, offering a Japanese team $51.1 Million (or 6 Billion Yen, however you want to look at it) just for the right to talk to a pitcher that has thrown exactly zero pitches in Major League Baseball?
This is bordering on ludicrous. Six years ago, Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez were signed to contracts that were big enough to cause a complete shift in the way baseball did business. We as fans were told that the small market teams would be given every chance to compete under the new system, and that the big markets would no longer be allowed to simply buy a title.
Of course, since that offseason, only two teams – the 2002 Angels and 2003 Marlins – have won a World Series with an Opening Day payroll of under $85M.
Just as a point of reference on the explosion in baseball salaries since that offseason, the 2000 Yankees (who else?) led the Majors in Opening Day payroll… at just under $93 Million. In 2006, that would have ranked seventh, meaning that 23% of the teams in baseball now spend more than any team did just six years ago. Ludicrous.
Back to Gary Matthews, whose mind-boggling contract numbers nearly caused me to drive off the road this afternoon. His signing now eliminates the main trading partner for the Red Sox in their attempts to move Manny Ramirez this offseason (nice symmetry with 2000, don’t you think?). One of the biggest rumors I had heard whispered around this offseason had the Red Sox, Angels and Orioles involved in a three way trade that would land Manny in Anaheim, Ervin Santana and prospects from Boston and Anaheim joining the Orioles, and Scot Shields and Miguel Tejada moving to Boston, filling their needs at both shortstop and closer, while coming about as close as possible to replacing Manny’s numbers as protection for David Ortiz.
Of course, with the Angels deciding instead to invest $50 Million in Gary Matthews Jr, the Angels look as though they are just about done making big moves. They missed out on Soriano, they overspent for Matthews to fill the void, and now they probably can’t afford Manny or Carlos Lee. Seems like some shrewd GM work by Bill Stoneman.
Here’s my new big idea. I’m going to bring a couple of friends with video cameras and microphones, travel to the GM meetings, and try to sell myself as an unknown baseball player recovering from an injury, just trying to earn a shot. I can do the editing and make a nice little “mockumentary” out of it, then post it in pars on YouTube. I think I can pull it off – I’ve still got a strong arm, I can hit (occasionally), and I play pretty good defense.
That oughtta be worth at least 3 years and $12M guaranteed.
I’ll be back later tonight with the weekly ranks, as well as picks for the Thursday games. I’ll have my Sunday picks posted Friday afternoon, assuming I don’t break anything during the yearly tackle football game.
Lata.
posted by Big D @ 3:11 PM
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