First of all, as someone from outside St. Louis, YIKES that is quite the link! Advertising...Survey...before even seeing the actual article.
So, from MLBTR (the bold stuff)...
Guaranteed $51MM with the new contract.
$4.5MM (which apparently was his estimated ARB)
in the upcoming season.
$11.5MM (yes, buying out two more arb years
along with the $4.5 above)
in each of the four subsequent seasons.
Club options are said to be valued at $17MM and $18MM, and each comes with a $500K buyout.
** And there's some other stuff like a small initial bonus and trade bonus provisions should be be moved, paying more money
I like it!
$4.5M is basically his arb for the first year
$11.5M for second arb
$11.5M for last arb
$11.5M
$11.5M
$17M "Team Option" (to use OOTP terminology)
$18M (team option)
The deal is not front-loaded - BIG fan of that, as you know, Sean.
You could say that the first arb year buyout is much like in PBL waiting for the player to pass through their first arb year (or sign a one-year contract to prevent arb). Fine with that too.
That would technically raise the value of his next arb, as clearly both parties understood.
In PBL he couldn't be immediately extend because he must do two arbs and 4 service years. So we do protect the player a bit in that sense, granted.
Assuming he waited until the first $11.5 year, the team options after the four years are, give or take, 50% higher. That was deemed somewhat outrageous in PBL, but I guess could be the trade off here for the arb years bought out. We lowered it to 25%.
Frankly
not a fan of the very team-oriented buyout in both of the option years. We mandate 25% of course. But again, probably the negotiated trade-off for the big increases in the option years.
He will be 29 by that point and provided he produces it could be a payoff, but even if his options are voided, he is negotiating next from $11.5 because of the flat (after first year) deal OR he will be negotiating from $18M if he completes this contract.
I like it!I really wish OOTP could totally do this.
Too often I have still see cheap, ten year deals signed BEFORE that first arb year (probably not even at the $4.5M level throughout) and certainly without team options needed at the end. OR the front-loaded, long term "
well, he is getting the bulk of his money up-front, so he should be grateful" deal where he could still be in his prime but negotiating from about $2M or $3M (or less) for his next contract. Hence the need for the odd "house rule"!
IF this was possible in OOTP, OR, even better, if this was one of many creative and rare exceptions and others just said, nope, we'll walk through three years of arb and then I'll be even richer!
Thanks Sean. I assume you're in St. Louis (can't remember if you posted that before, just going by the article URL) and a fan, so you must be happy?