Arreola made $10m last season, then accepted a $7.5m option before then turning around and retiring. At the end of the day, it’s hard to say that a guy who retires and then goes straight to the Hall of Fame made a bad decision, but he did leave $7.5m on the table.
Unless, of course, OOTP pays him that anyway.
I don’t think it does, but what do I know. Maybe Joe can figure out if he got charged for it in any way, and either confirm or deny my expectations. Regardless, I guess it makes a difference in how the algorithm works. I mean, a real player wouldn’t do it this way. He’d just retire.
So, yeah, I admit I find the cycle annoying. Consider my angst over this to be nothing but wonky OOTP-neep.
One assumes the CCJ front office was resigned to the idea that they were going to have to make a decision on Cuervo’s two $12m seasons they have remaining. At 27, Cuervo didn’t turn in the kind of year that makes you get all giddy about writing a $12m check, after all, and we’re figuring that the next time he manages that feat will be in a dream state somewhere.
So, yeah, Cuervo opted in, which is only the smart decision.
At the end of the day, though, it’s probably a wash because one suspects that Brandon Slouck will spare no expense to make sure he hits the “decline” button properly when the time comes. I fully expect Esteban Cuervo to be available come Free Agent time, and I’ll be astounded if he gets anything close to the $12m/2 kind of deal.
I have, however, been shocked before. So we’ll see what happens.
At age 35, Colbert took $16m paid out over two years, which also includes an option after next. I dunno. He went 2-10 last year, throwing 65 innings in eight starts and some relief appearances. Did I mention he’s 35? So, yeah, that seems like a good idea.
On the other hand, his ratings still look passable, and a 13 knuckleball is fun to think about. If the knuckler keeps knuckling, maybe he can make it up to the 40s. And pitching, if you haven’t heard, is a premium.
Still, you tell me, would he have made more than $16m over two years in free agent market? My guess is a solid “no,” but now we’ll never know. Still I’ll call it a good decision, because if something does happen and he returns to that 3.00-3.50 ERA he was the two years prior, he’s still got that option he could exercise if he wants to try the 2042-2043 market.
Garza posted .1 WAR In more than 300 plate appearances two years ago, then followed it up with -.2 WAR last year. He had an option to accept a pay cut from $4.2m in 2041 to $3.4m in 2042, which, yeah, he lapped up like a dog on banana bread.
I mean. Seriously. Can you blame him?
At issue, though, is that 2039 season that saw him deliver 3.2 WAR to the Bears. Yes, it’s looking more and more like a fluke. But he’s capable. And if he does drop one of those, then the $3.4m he’ll be making is just so much chickenfeed. Don’t expect it, though. Though I wish the Garza’s well, I expect he’ll be a one and done for the River Monsters at this point.
Lothbrok made $3.5m last year, and is set to make $3.5m again this coming year. On top of that, the team has a $3m option for 2043, and then he’s got a $3m option for 2044. I’m thinking this was a mistake of a deal. I mean, at 29, Lothbrok is nowhere near the guy he was in Des Moines, but he can still throw the ball up there and make a few things happen. He just happened to get skewered this year.
The structure of this deal alone makes it a bad choice. I mean, there’s almost no doubt that he would get at least $3m for a 1-season deal in the market, so what he’s done here is give up that chance to make more in return for allowing the River Monsters to decide to keep him the following year at $3m. If Lothbrok sucks, the River Monsters dump him and he gets nothing. If he out-performs expectation, he gets a pay cut and doesn’t retain control of himself until 2044, when he’s 32.
Ragnar Lothbrok should have bet on himself.
Ray Cooper is 32 years old. He’s arguably a face of the franchise. He’s had some pretty good years in Twin Cities, after all. 2041, however, was not one of them. Unfortunately, he made $12.5m in 2041, and even more unfortunately (if you’re a member of the River Monster front office, anyway) he’ll make another $12.5m in 2042 since he accepted his option to stay with the team.
This is what happens sometimes when you sing a solid player to a six year deal when they are 26 or so. It’s hard to say that deal was bad, after all. He had just dropped a 3.1 WAR season, and looked to be all that. And to be clear, he’s been a solid 2 WAR guy ever since, which isn’t dogmeat. But still, TWC folks probably wanted more, and now they are left holding the last $12.5m bag in the deal.
With luck, Cooper will bounce back to that 2 WAR kind of guy. He’d still be overpaid, but at least it would be a nice story. As it is, though, Cooper made the only wise decision he could.
Chang made $12.5m last year, and will make $12.5/$13.5 the next two seasons. His ERA has been north of 6.00 for each of his past two BBA seasons. So. Um. Yeah. If you’re Mrs. (or Mr.?) Chang, you’re happy to be locked into cashing $26m worth of Nashville buttercorn over the foreseeable future.
To test this, I’ve tried to look to Chang and imagine a team that would agree to giving him that kind of change in a free agent market. Is it possible? Pitching is at a pinch point, after all. And he does throw four different pitches. His raw TTO numbers aren’t horrible. And if you believe BABIP is totally about luck (of which Chang’s has been .328 and above for three years), you think maybe he’s due for a bounceback.
But, no. I just can’t see it. Chang will be stealing Nashville grub for two years.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Even at 30 years old, Ramirez can really play defense. He can also steal bases (23 of 27 last year). What he can’t really do much at all is get on those bases to begin with. Offensively, the next year he posts a OPS+ north of average will be his first.
This is why I’ll say that I think Ramirez opting into $10.5m each of the next two years (before entering a possible third and fourth at the same number) was a great decision for him. Yes, he would have been employed no matter what, but I can’t see him getting that $21m over four seasons, better yet over two.