Post by MetDaMeats on Jul 11, 2023 20:02:59 GMT -5
Hello everyone! Again, I got super busy and took a few seasons off of my Albatross lists. To those who haven’t experienced one yet, this is a list of the longest and most expensive contracts on each team. Some important points: First, no matter how huge, I never include any contracts that only have one guaranteed year left. Second, the Albatross list is just for fun and no one’s skill as a GM is being assessed or mocked here. We all sign a contracts we wish we could take back at one time or another. So, please consider these lighthearted assessments in the spirit which they are intended. Enjoy!
LEGEND:
* A great contract. No need to worry.
** Has some downside, but could make you look pretty smart.
*** A few red flags that could go either way.
**** This contract may be having a negative impact on the team.
***** Severe Albatross potential on every level.
Baltimore Orioles
*** (New) Nathan Carter (3B)
** (New) Armando Martinez (2B)
* (New) Curt Powell (C)
Boston Red Sox
**** (New) Mauro Huerta (SP)
** (New) Jose Garcia (3B)
** (New) Robert Wilcox (SP)
Chicago White Sox
The Jesse Vega contract might be one of the steepest pay drops I’ve ever seen in an extension. So, I’m going to rule that it doesn’t count as an Albatross because all the money is bundled up in 2068.
Cleveland Indians
Nope. Nothing here counts as an Albatross. Seems like the AL Central is allergic to spending those dollar bills!
Colorado Rockies
*** (New) Ismael Garcia (SP)
*** (New) Manny Lopez (SP)
** (New) Clyde Walmsley (1B)
Detroit Tigers
*** (+2 Stars) Pete Powell (3B)
** (No change) Luis Martinez (1B)
* (New) Frederik Lambert (SP)
Houston Astros
** (New) Sukenobu Taneda (SS)
* (New) Jin Daikawa (1B)
Kansas City Royals
** (New) Bert Acheson (CF)
** (New) Howard Brock (SP)
Los Angeles Angels
**** (+2 stars) Kenzaburo Sato (CF)
*** (New) Duncan Phillips (SS)
*** (New) Wayne Dorsett (RF)
Minnesota Twins
** (New) Raul Rodriguez (LF)
* (New) Jake Meacha (SP)
* (New) Ramon Encarnacion (SP)
New York Yankees
**** (New) Ricardo Ramallo (SP)
** (New) Jose Guillen (1B)
Oakland Athletics
* (New) Guillermo Hernandez (SP)
Seattle Mariners
If I’m honest, the biggest expenditure on the team is the 40% of Hidetsugu Fujii’s contract that they’re still paying off while he plays in Cincinnati. Technically, it doesn’t count as an Albatross.
Tampa Bay Rays
*** (New) Jorge Baca (1B)
** (New) Dan Heller (2B)
Texas Rangers
*** (+2 stars) Makalani Korra (CF)
* (New) Arturo Guerrero (SP)
* (New) Francisco Martinez (SP)
Toronto Blue Jays
**** (+1 star) Brian McSimon (1B)
LEGEND:
* A great contract. No need to worry.
** Has some downside, but could make you look pretty smart.
*** A few red flags that could go either way.
**** This contract may be having a negative impact on the team.
***** Severe Albatross potential on every level.
Baltimore Orioles
*** (New) Nathan Carter (3B)
- $43.5 Mill through 2069.
- $21.2 Mill player option in 2070.
- Promised role: Starting lineup.
- Carter earns his money by a) batting over .300, b) playing a tough position competently and c) snagging 25-35 stolen bases a year. Of those, I’d say the batting average is most likely to start depreciating first. If it does, this could be a rough contract to hold onto.
** (New) Armando Martinez (2B)
- $60 Mill through 2070.
- $22 Mill player option in 2071.
- Promised role: Starting lineup.
- When you can hire a power-hitting middle infielder and not have it do damage defensively, that’s a pretty solid hire. I can’t fault either the trade that brought him to Baltimore or the extension that followed.
* (New) Curt Powell (C)
- $42 Mill through 2070.
- $14 Mill player option in 2071.
- Promised role: Starting lineup.
- Without question, the best slugging catcher around. I’ve seen a couple rookie catchers with comparable potential drop in the past couple of drafts, but while they develop he’s in a class of his own.
Boston Red Sox
**** (New) Mauro Huerta (SP)
- $50.4 Mill through 2069.
- Player opt out after 2069.
- $22.4 Mill player option in 2070.
- $22.4 Mill player option in 2071.
- Promised role: Starting pitcher.
- This one hurts. I hate to see a guy with this much talent hung up with a wrecked injury history. On the bright side, it doesn’t seem like he’s reached the point in his career where he takes 4 or 5 DL trips per year. But some of the ones he has taken have been doozies.
** (New) Jose Garcia (3B)
- $56 Mill through 2069.
- Promised role: Starting lineup.
- Last year he spent a little more than a month on the DL and racked up 5.2 WAR. The year before that he spent 3 months on the DL and still accumulated 5.9 WAR. That indicates both how valuable he is, and how much more valuable he would be if he avoid injury. So, then the question arises… Is it worth more to cash in on his defensive value at the risk of his health, or keep him healthier at DH? It’s a tricky question.
** (New) Robert Wilcox (SP)
- $57 Mill through 2070.
- $19 Mill vesting option in 2071 after 160 IPs.
- $19 Mill vesting option in 2072 after 160 IPs.
- This whole contract is pretty much unimpeachable if he’s 5 years younger. Fortunately, he hasn’t shown any signs of degeneration in the past few seasons. I am comforted a little that the last few years of the deal are vesting options.
Chicago White Sox
The Jesse Vega contract might be one of the steepest pay drops I’ve ever seen in an extension. So, I’m going to rule that it doesn’t count as an Albatross because all the money is bundled up in 2068.
Cleveland Indians
Nope. Nothing here counts as an Albatross. Seems like the AL Central is allergic to spending those dollar bills!
Colorado Rockies
*** (New) Ismael Garcia (SP)
- $60 Mill through 2070.
- $20 Mill team option in 2071 with a $6 Mill buyout.
- $20 Mill team option in 2072 with a $6 Mill buyout.
- Promised role: Starting pitcher.
- $1 Mill bonus after 180 IP.
- $1 Mill Cy Young award bonus.
- Why did I, manager of a third-place team in the AL West, sign one of the biggest contracts of the off season? Let’s skip the part where I delusionally think I can win and just say this: If you don’t spend money while you rebuild, your owner will stop giving you money to spend. Sometimes the most damaging thing a team can do is let their budget nosedive. It’s incredibly hard to build back up again.
*** (New) Manny Lopez (SP)
- $42 Mill through 2070.
- $14 Mill team option in 2071 with a $4 Mill buyout.
- $14 Mill team option in 2072 with a $4Mill buyout.
- Promised role: Starting pitcher.
- NO TRADE CLAUSE.
- And while I’m explaining myself I’ll let you all in on another secret. If I’m going to spend, I prefer to spend big, and spend short. I’ll bump up the contract size if it means I can make those last two years team options instead of player options. Any day of the week.
** (New) Clyde Walmsley (1B)
- $33 Mill through 2070.
- $11 Mill team option in 2071 with a $4 Mill buyout.
- $11 Mill team option in 2072 with a $4Mill buyout.
- $1 Mill bonus after 550 PAs.
- Promised role: Starting lineup.
- Also, while I’m complaining, I had a guy I wanted to sign as a backup catcher completely refuse to hear an offer from my organization. It really shook my confidence, man! Am I sharing all this because I fear I broke my budget on free agents to deeply diminishing returns? I’ll let history be the judge.
Detroit Tigers
*** (+2 Stars) Pete Powell (3B)
- $69.6 Mill through 2070.
- $24 Mill team option in 2071 with a $6 Mill buyout.
- $22 Mill team option in 2072 with a $6 Mill buyout.
- Promised role: Starting lineup.
- Powell’s a remarkably consistent guy. I won’t worry much about this contract until I see a year where he hits under .250 with fewer than 25 homers. And that, my friends, is how you perform a classic reverse jinx.
** (No change) Luis Martinez (1B)
- $42.4 Mill through 2069.
- $21 Mill player option in 2070.
- $21.2 Mill team option in 2071 with a $7 Mill buyout.
- Promised role: Starting lineup.
- When he gets on a hot streak, he can lead the league in runs and slugging, like he did last year. And even his off years are actually pretty impressive. His batting profile still strikes me as one dimensional. But as it happens, that dimension points directly over the outfield fence.
* (New) Frederik Lambert (SP)
- $57.26 Mill through 2071.
- $19 Mill team option in 2072 with a $4.8 Mill buyout.
- $19 Mill team option in 2073 with a $4.8 Mill buyout.
- Promised role: Starting pitcher.
- If his changeup and his cutter weren’t just shy of perfect, I might say it’s a shame that his curveball never fully developed. As it stands, he’s doing so well for Detroit right now that he doesn’t need my pity or anyone else’s. Side note: The name Frederik seems really weird without a c in it.
Houston Astros
** (New) Sukenobu Taneda (SS)
- $66 Mill through 2070.
- Player opt out after 2070.
- $40 Mill through 2072.
- $18 Mill player option in 2073.
- Promised role: Starting lineup.
- He’s had a couple nagging injuries each of the past three seasons that have kept him from reaching his full potential. I’m not super freaked out, but there are two nasty possibilities to watch out for: 1) His bat starts to decline even when he’s healthy all season, or 2) he proves he can’t stat healthy for a full season anymore.
* (New) Jin Daikawa (1B)
- $20.7 Mill through 2068.
- $24.8 Mill player option in 2069.
- Promised role: Starting lineup.
- It takes a massive amount of self-esteem to of a $25 million dollar contract at age 33. But Daikawa may just have the steely nerve to stare down the Astros come next offseason.
Kansas City Royals
** (New) Bert Acheson (CF)
- $65.6 Mill through 2070.
- $22 Mill player option in 2071.
- Promised role: Starting lineup.
- Now, I don’t remember the 2067 off season too well but I get the feeling that Acheson was “THE BEST CENTERFIELDER IN FREE AGENCY.” But the problem with buying “THE BEST CENTERFIELDER IN FREE AGENCY” is that, much like a sports car, the second you buy him he starts to depreciate. And sometimes the payments on “THE BEST CENTERFIELDER IN FREE AGENCY” can really start to wear on you after a while.
** (New) Howard Brock (SP)
- $74 Mill through 2071.
- $17 Mill player option in 2072.
- Promised role: Starting pitcher.
- NO TRADE CLAUSE
- Honestly, the contract seems reasonable. He’d be one star if we wasn’t signed until age 39. I’ve just grown paranoid. I’ve seen the pattern over and over with these star pitchers. When they break down, they don’t do it slowly. They just implode.
Los Angeles Angels
**** (+2 stars) Kenzaburo Sato (CF)
- $122.6 Mill through 2070.
- $41.2 Mill player option in 2071.
- Promised role: Starting pitcher.
- NO TRADE CLAUSE
- Slowly, but surely, the mythical Kenzaburo Sato has begun to look human. Batting decline is to be expected, and really, he never was one of the most fearsome batters out there. But his Zone Rating at center has dropped from the astronomical, to the (merely) very good. That’s a big dip when a guy is making the kind of cash he is.
*** (New) Duncan Phillips (SS)
- $36.8 Mill through 2069.
- Player opt out after 2069.
- $35.2 Mill through 2071.
- Promised role: Starting pitcher.
- In many ways, being the home of Kenzaburo Sato has made LAA the team that defense built. But despite some impressive ratings, Duncan Phillips has never quite reached the defensive potential his outfield counterpart has. It’s not heartening that last year was his first year with a negative ZR at shortstop. He doesn’t have much else to fall back on.
*** (New) Wayne Dorsett (RF)
- $24 Mill through 2068.
- Player opt out after 2068.
- $25.2 Mill through 2069.
- $25.2 Mill player option in 2070.
- $25.2 Mill player option in 2071.
- It’s rough to see Wayne start the season with a monthlong injury. But unless the Angels want to DH him and have him cut down on the steals, he’s going to spend time on the DL at his age. Part of me thinks it might benefit the team if he opted out of his contract, but then I can’t help but notice that he had a career year in 2067. It’s tricky to predict which way the remainder of this contract will go.
Minnesota Twins
** (New) Raul Rodriguez (LF)
- $80 Mill through 2071.
- Promised role: Starting lineup.
- The man is a bad outfielder. But DH Barry Huffman is even worse. So, off to left field Raul goes!
* (New) Jake Meacha (SP)
- $48 Mill through 2069.
- Promised role: Starting pitcher.
- Did you know that Meacha was drafted in the 9th round? At 42.8 career WAR you’d think that’d be a record for a guy taken in the 9th round, right? Well you’d be wrong. It puts him fourth behind Dave Peterson (58.2 WAR), Herb Griffith (64.9 WAR) and the indomitable Sotan Kono (with a whopping 118.0 WAR).
* (New) Ramon Encarnacion (SP)
- $91.6 Mill through 2071.
- $22.2 Mill player option in 2072.
- Promised role: Starting pitcher.
- Sometimes you pony up the big money in free agency and it’s worth every penny. This could be one of those times.
New York Yankees
**** (New) Ricardo Ramallo (SP)
- $20 Mill through 2068.
- $20 Mill vesting option after 150 IP in 2069.
- Promised role: Starting pitcher.
- On another team, having a $20 million dollar start who can’t find the plate against lefties would be a back-breaking contract. On the Yanks, it’s a rounding error. I mean, it’s not so insubstantial that they’re going to let that final year vest. But still. It’s a different life in the Bronx.
** (New) Jose Guillen (1B)
- $63 Mill through 2070.
- Good news! I took so many years off from writing this article that Fernando Cruz is technically no longer an Albatross! This has nothing at all to do with Jose Guillen’s contract, but I figured I’d better mention it wherever I could.
Oakland Athletics
* (New) Guillermo Hernandez (SP)
- $61 Mill through 2070.
- Promised role: Starting pitcher.
- NO TRADE CLAUSE.
- He’s led the league in walks two years running. But I think a lot of that is based on the fact that he’s been a league leader in innings pitched for the past decade. It also barely makes a dent in his stats because he pitches twice as many strikeouts as walks every year as well.
Seattle Mariners
If I’m honest, the biggest expenditure on the team is the 40% of Hidetsugu Fujii’s contract that they’re still paying off while he plays in Cincinnati. Technically, it doesn’t count as an Albatross.
Tampa Bay Rays
*** (New) Jorge Baca (1B)
- $109.975 Mill through 2075.
- $10 Mill team option in 2076 with a $4.75 Mill buyout.
- $10 Mill team option in 2077 with a $4.75 Mill buyout.
- Promised role: Starting lineup.
- $2 MVP Award bonus.
- It is a bold choice to shell out an extension with 7 guaranteed years to a player who just put up replacement level stats in a healthy batting year. However, if you read his 2067 performance as an aberration (and I see no reason not to) this is the kind of front loaded contract that makes the later years of the deal feel much safer.
** (New) Dan Heller (2B)
- $35 Mill through 2069.
- $19 Mill team option in 2070 with a $5 Mill buyout.
- Heller doesn’t shame himself at second base, snags a stolen base here and there, and routinely hits .300. That’s a volatile combo for longevity, but while it lasts, this is market price.
Texas Rangers
*** (+2 stars) Makalani Korra (CF)
- $126 Mill through 2072.
- $20 Mill team option in 2073 with a $9 Mill buyout.
- $20 Mill team option in 2074 with a $9 Mill buyout.
- In his prime, there were few players I fears more than Korra. However, the 2060s have seem his slide easily into his role as a power hitting right fielder who averages between .260 and .280. That’s still impressive, but not quite as remarkable as when he was a power hitting centerfielder who averaged between .280 and .330.
* (New) Arturo Guerrero (SP)
- $59 Mill through 2070.
- $20 Mill team option in 2071 with a $6 Mill buyout.
- $20 Mill team option in 2072 with a $6 Mill buyout.
- Promised role: Starting pitcher.
- Hey, has anyone else noticed that pretty much every single big contract these days has to come with a promised role or place in the lineup? It’s such a weird thing to include in a contract. Hey. You better keep me as a starter or else I will be quite angry. Wasn’t the anger going to happen anyway? But hey. If they want me to put it on paper, I’ll put it on paper.
* (New) Francisco Martinez (SP)
- $24.4 Mill through 2068.
- Player opt out after 2068.
- $22.4 Mill through 2069.
- $22.4 Mill player option in 2070.
- $22.4 Mill player option in 2071.
- Promised role: Starting pitcher.
- Has led the league in lowest BB/9 for 5 of the last 7 seasons. He’s got superhuman control in a league where that skill is increasingly rare.
Toronto Blue Jays
**** (+1 star) Brian McSimon (1B)
- $14.6 Mill through 2068.
- $14.6 Mill player option in 2069.
- $14.6 Mill player option in 2070.
- Promised role: Starting lineup.
- He’s had a few seasons in his career where he went on a tear, hit .270, and really seemed like he was worthy of being picked in the top 15 of the first round. Then others he scrapes by hitting .230 and relies on his power for his value. I think the latter result is more in line with what to expect going forward.