I forgot that the 95 season was only 144 games. I remember being pumped to watch a World Series again that year after not having one in 1994.
I thought that was less they let him go and more he wanted to pitch closer to home? He out pitched the contract he signed when leaving and the Astros could have paid him. He seems like a nice guy too, so it did suck. I know he didn’t want to be in Houston and it was a massive contract (so it hurts less), but with the pitching issues last year, Gerrit Cole would have been nice to have had. He’s been a top 10 CYA candidate every year and averaged more than 5 WAR per full season since he left.
Morton would have been happy to sign on with us again but we didn’t make an aggressive (any?) offer at all so he picked Tampa as the best available other option. He loved being here and would have been happy to be back at the right offer/years. Yeah- Cole was always going to be about money so I don’t know that he wouldn’t have come back/ I don’t think he even considered it for 2 seconds because the offer wasn’t ever likely to be there. I was fine with 10/300M offer but sort of surprised at 9/325. He probably going to surpass that in value I think as he’s 4 years in (one of which was the Covid year where his contract was prorated) and at 19 war. He needs 10 WAR in the next 5 years to hit that value coming off a cy young season- would be extremely unlikely for the Yanks not to see positive value.
Cole has really proven to be cast iron. He is one of the few in that stratosphere that might outperform his contract. It certainly helps that he landed on the Yankees who can always afford the gamble even if it doesn’t work out. Same with Dodgers.
Any team that signs a $300 mil player and DOESN'T win a ring f'd themselves (unless they figured out how to recoup that money back in other ways anyway)
Morton was injured for most of 2018. And prior to 2017 he had injury issues as well. The Astros thought he would retire, but they were willing to bring him back for 1 year (not 2). They were also betting that LMJ would stay healthier longer than CFM ever would. Now Morton has been as steady and healthy as any pitcher his age could hope for... while the rest of the Astros pitching core has all suffered some sort of major injury (both young pitchers and old pitchers).
Why? Do you think the Yankees regret the Cole signing? Do you think the Phillies regret signing Bryce Harper? Do the Angels even regret signing Mike Trout? None of those players are the reasons their teams haven't won a WS, and none of them have prevented those teams from making other big moves/improvements.
Sport is an up and down game from year to year. Handing a single person a guaranteed contract for a decade is incredibly stupid. NBA and the NFL have a cap, which is exactly what baseball should have. There is absolutely no way a guy like Turner is worth his contract and players that may be worth it due to their performance strongly inhibit building around them. 6 years should be the cap on a contract (including extensions)
Again, do you think the Yankees regret the Cole signing? Do you think the Phillies regret signing Bryce Harper? Do the Angels even regret signing Mike Trout?
I agree with this. There are financial (ticket, concession and merchandise sales along with merchandising opps) and positive fan morale benefits to signing a star player. Many owners have different priorities that may he furthered by winning, but are not based on winning. Maybe thats money and maybe its fame and popularity. But the benefits of having super star players furthers those goals regardless of winning.
Nothing has really changed. The Yankees, Dodgers, and a few others can spend without restriction and still make a profit. Teams like the Astros have to live on a budget. It is what it is.
By normal logic, I agree. But the Dodger FO is probably measuring the deal in terms of rings. 3 Rings = Worth it 2 Rings = Still OK 1 Ring = Meh 0 Rings = Clusterf#ck
Other big benefit of the super long contracts is the AAV is really small. Harper is only making 26 mil/year because his deal is so long. If his contract was 6 years instead of 13, he's probably getting around 6/240 so philly basically saves 14 mil/year on his contract
Teams that can’t truly afford the contract can get out via trade to a team that can. Every league has huge contracts based on the league revenue. What other leagues don’t have is “poor” teams that choose not to spend.
The Dodgers draft and develop the farm better than any team in baseball. All teams could do this… they do it better.
Actually they develop prospects and choose which ones to trade and which ones to keep just like the Astros have. I don't see much difference. The difference is they hype their prospects and the prospect ranking systems/organizations always raise their prospects so they are able to get Mookie Betts for Alex Verdugo and Max Scherzer/Trey Turner for Kelbert Ruiz. Astros were good at that but never as good as the Dodgers.
