Monday, January 19, 2004
"We operate at the mercy of the worst decisions of our dumbest competitors."
This fantastic quote from Jerry Reinsdorf was surfaced again in a New York Daily News article which looks at the growing trend on shorter, incentive-laden contracts in baseball. It focuses on the play the Mets made for Vlad which was practically stolen from the Mariner Management Guide to Long Term Contracts. The deal they offered was 3yr/$30M guaranteed and 400 plate appearances each year would have upped it to 5yr/$71M. Instead he signed for 5yr/$70M with the Angels, with the Angels holding an option to make it 6yr/$82M.
In an era where insurance will no longer cover ridiculous contracts, this is the way to go, and I am very happy that M's management is leading the way as shown by their recent negotiating stances. The article details further Arte Moreno's extravagances for the Angels, spending $145.75 million on four free agents - Vlad, Kelvim Escobar, Jose Guillen, and Bartolo Colon. The Colon deal is met with the most raised eyebrows. "Arte bid against himself on that one," said one high-ranking major league exec. "Nobody was going four years with Colon." Time will tell how much this "Splash" will help or hurt the Angels, but I remain optimistic that the M's are on the right path and that the Angels have done more harm than good to their franchise.
In an era where insurance will no longer cover ridiculous contracts, this is the way to go, and I am very happy that M's management is leading the way as shown by their recent negotiating stances. The article details further Arte Moreno's extravagances for the Angels, spending $145.75 million on four free agents - Vlad, Kelvim Escobar, Jose Guillen, and Bartolo Colon. The Colon deal is met with the most raised eyebrows. "Arte bid against himself on that one," said one high-ranking major league exec. "Nobody was going four years with Colon." Time will tell how much this "Splash" will help or hurt the Angels, but I remain optimistic that the M's are on the right path and that the Angels have done more harm than good to their franchise.
