Who’s the highest paid in the BBA this season? Did they cripple their team?

[niles08]

I was going to try to get this in time to get into the media guide but I missed it. Oh well.

Certain signings have got me paying attention to look around the league and see who has the highest paid players for this season. While nobody on a BBA roster is setting records for a single season salary, as I like to think GM’s have gotten smarter and maybe even stingier, there all several who are taking up a large chunk of their respected teams salary caps. We’ll look at the top 5 guys and give a verdict on how crippling that salary is to their team this season.

1.) Ken Walter, Seattle.

Ken Walter is the highest paid player in the BBA this season, making $30,910,000 as he makes his way through the 6 year $155,550,000 contract he signed with Seattle back in November of 2042. Walter has spent his entire career with Seattle and was dominate in the mid to late 2030’s. He won the Nebraska in 2036. He has struggled as of late and last season lost a BBA high 19 games in route to a 6.37 ERA. Walter had a front loaded deal, and will begin to see his salary drop for the remaining 5 years of his contract, reaching all the way down to $18,910,000 in 2048 at age 35.

Verdict: While Seattle did add Pedro Diaz this year, it’s still probably a pretty big deal that they are right up against the salary cap this season and close next year. The biggest concern is maybe that Seattle lost $11,000,000 last season during its 63 win campaign. Can Seattle make Walter a suitable back end expensive piece while building a team around him?

T2.) Dan Cannon, Rockville.

Dan Cannon is tied for the second highest contract in the BBA this season making an even $30,000,000 with Rockville. Everyone knows the success Cannon has had with Rockville since he was acquired via trade in 2035 from Atlantic City. Cannon had a 2.34 ERA last season, his second lowest of his 17 year career, with his WHIP being the absolute lowest he has ever had at 0.97. Cannon holds a player option for next season as well, where he will make another $30,000,000 if he opts in.

Verdict: Rockville has shown their ability to work around these big deals and with Rockville having the team they currently do it would be tough to say Cannon has done anything but prove his worth and earn the money he is being paid.

T3.) Aki Kondo, Omaha

I won’t spend much time on this because it’s such a question mark. He is making $30,000,000 as well this season and Omaha is up against the cap to begin the year for the first time in quite a few seasons. There are many questions over whether this is a crippling move, not only for this year but for future seasons if Omaha must deal it’s core as they come up for arbitration and renewal.

Verdict: I think it’s a question mark right now. I obviously have to analyze every move going forward to try to keep what I can together.

4.) Angel Zalapa, Valencia

Zalapa was in the group of hitting and great shortstops that hit the league a few seasons back, he wasted no time capturing the Sawyer Silk in 2038 with a 7.4 WAR. He has added 6 all star appearances, and 5 golden puckett’s since debuting in 2036. You can pretty much mark him down for 4-5 WAR a season and forget it. This team did lose $16,000,000 last year with an $82 million payroll.

Verdict: This is not a crippling move at all. Valencia is in a wide open pacific and with just $65 million of their salary cap spent, Zalapa is accounting for over 40% of that. The team has Aaron Haney as a pending free agent in 2046 so expect them to be able to retain both very easily while continuing to build their farm system up, a farm system currently ranked toward the bottom of the league. However, this isn’t about that. This is whether or not these contracts have caused teams to change course or prevented them from doing something.

5.) Hsin Mei, Jacksonville.

Just like Kondo, we won’t spend much time on this since it is a new contract. Jacksonville isn’t going to win their division this year and if we know that, you’d think many of the fans also know that. So…why go to their games? Well, insert Hsin Mei here. Mei is an extremely popular player who at age 33 is still very useful. He can play behind the plate, and can still produce at the plate with a bat in his hand, having turned in his 11th straight season with an OPS+ over 100. His 3.0 WAR seems to be something that can be replicated as well.

Verdict: With Jacksonville’s current situation, one would think that Mei can put butts in the seats for the first 100 games, and then help a playoff contender near the trade deadline, netting Jacksonville a few prospects along the way. Jacksonville has no reason to not offer to retain Mei’s full salary to get a better return. The only thing I could honestly say I disliked here was that Jacksonville has several BBA ready catchers and this is just blocking their spot on the roster and future development.

[CTBrewCrew]

Do these contracts also include and incentive bonus? AGS, Nebraska, IP, AB, etc?

[niles08]

Do these contracts also include and incentive bonus? AGS, Nebraska, IP, AB, etc?

Good question. I honestly didn't look.

[CTBrewCrew]

The poison pill of waivers!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAH

[HerbD]

Good stuff

[bigmike13]

I really tried to keep Kondo, but with Rivera and Stinson coming up for contract extensions soon I just couldn't afford him.

[RonCo]

The thing that makes a contract problematic is rarely the dollars. It's the years. So Mei's contract is almost meaningless to Jacksonville unless Gregg had something else he wanted to do with the cash.

[Ted]

Nice piece. Not as bad as I expected (surprise surprise), but I bet the Rockville situation looks a bit different next year. Aaron would still probably tell you it's been worth it, and you'd be hard pressed to disagree.

The other thing you have to look at is the players lost to maintain these deals. Aaron mentioned in another thread that he's already Rockville 2.0 and trying to get past these two deals to 3.0. Would he have been forced to jettison all that 1.0 talent without these deals. He did a terrific job and it didn't cripple him, but there are a LOT of quality former Pikemen around the league.

The last bit about Rockville and good news for Omaha is that it appears pitching is the way to go with these big deals. Makes since, as bats are way more replaceable right now.

[FuzzyRawley]

Whoa, there's nobody from Des Moines on this list. Progress!

[aaronweiner]

Nice piece. Not as bad as I expected (surprise surprise), but I bet the Rockville situation looks a bit different next year. Aaron would still probably tell you it's been worth it, and you'd be hard pressed to disagree.

The other thing you have to look at is the players lost to maintain these deals. Aaron mentioned in another thread that he's already Rockville 2.0 and trying to get past these two deals to 3.0. Would he have been forced to jettison all that 1.0 talent without these deals. He did a terrific job and it didn't cripple him, but there are a LOT of quality former Pikemen around the league.

The last bit about Rockville and good news for Omaha is that it appears pitching is the way to go with these big deals. Makes since, as bats are way more replaceable right now.

Quality former Pikemen, yes, but the starting rotation has remained stable for a decade, and any casual observer would notice that the Big Three is one of the most dominant forces in BBA history.

I did try to keep Francisco Flores.

[RonCo]

It's probably worth noting that Rockville's big cash dumps were on pitchers who were both excellent and Durable.