Dooley
Done with U-con athletics
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2012
- Messages
- 9,961
- Reaction Score
- 32,818
Look, the guy is 30 years old. Paying for players' decline years is exaclty how the Yankees got into the position they're in now. Paying David Price at age 30 for 7 years and $180 Million is absolutely ludicrous.
Would I like to see Price in pinstripes next year ? Definitely. Would I still want to see him in 2020 clogging the roster the way Sabathia is now ? Hell no.
Besides, Price is more likely to get in the $190 to $195 M range, not $180M. If you want to spend that much, Jason Heyward at age 25 is an infinitely better option for them to break their recent stance against big name free agents. While many of their starters have lingering question marks, they have more starters than starting slots. Price would certainly be better than all of them, but they don't necessarily NEED pitching as much as offense anyhow. Evoldi, Pineda, Tanaka, and Severino is a pretty formidable 1-4 with Nova, Warren, and Sabathia looking to fill the last slot.
All of this makes sense except for one thing - if the Yanks threw in an attractive opt-out clause or front load the deal, they can protect themselves from the back end. You offer a 7 year deal and front load it. After year 3 or 4, you offer an opt out. Because the money was front loaded, Price might opt out to try to secure more money in the back end of his career. The Yanks could have walked away from CC when he opted out and should have. Ditto for ARod. Here's an example of something the Yanks (or anyone) should offer:
Total deal - 7 years/$190M
Years 1-3 - $100M (annual average over $30M/yr)
Years 4-7 - $90M (annual average around $22.5M/yr)
The back-end isn't terrible so if Price stays in, you still get value in years 4 and maybe 5. Year 6 and 7 have the potential of being bad. You're paying top dollar for prime years and less for aged years.
In no world am I giving Jason Heyward a $300M deal, or anywhere near that, like the one he is rumored to be seeking just because he's "young". I would sign Cespedes or Upton for half of that, thank you very much. Heyward is a premier defender but he's a 6 hole hitter, at best, and prone to nagging injuries. For me, he's a complete PASS.