Post by Rog on Mar 11, 2015 9:52:26 GMT -5
Here are a few recent items at MLB Trade Rumors involving the Giants:
. While the Giants' initial offer to Pablo Sandoval was an unrealistic 3/$40, by the end of spring training he had an offer for four years with a vesting option for a fifth that would have paid him $85 million if the vesting option were exercised. In other words, even before last season, the Giants offered Pablo a vesting option that would have brought him within $10 million of what he wound up receiving. Pablo likely should have taken that offer, since he gambled a lot on last season for what turned out to be only a $10 million gain.
. We already know that James Shields left money on the table by not taking the Giants' offer. And that the Giants were willing to pay at least as much to Jon Lester as he received. If we are to criticize the Giants for their actions this off-season, I think they offered too much to their top interests.
. At least six other teams had interest in Jake Peavy. When the Giants rebounded from the Lester and Shields spurnings to re-sign Jake, he was considering Atlanta and Miami.
. The Giants and White Sox were the two teams closest to trading for Jayson Heyward before he was dealt to the Cardinals.
. The Giants don't have interest in Allen Craig as a short-term replacement for the injured Hunter Pence, since they would have no apparent role for Craig after Pence returns.
One could make an argument that the Giants have a more realistic valuation of top free agents than some other teams do. High-priced free agent contracts have in general worked out in a so-so manner at best. I'm surprised the Giants were willing to go as high as they did for Pablo and Lester, although their offer to Shields may have been a reasonable one. It may be that their short, inexpensive signing of Peavy will turn out the best of those four possible moves.
At the very least, if the other proposed moves turn out better, they will do so for only two years, since that is the length of Jake's contract. Jake's contract appears to be one of decent reward/low risk. Lester's contract appears to have the highest reward of the four -- but also at least $60 million more risk than any of the other, and $131 million more risk than Peavy's contract.
To help put that in context, the $131 million added risk is more than four tiems the amount the Giants will be paying Peavy, Romo, McGehee, Aoki and Vogelsong PER SEASON. The Giants have placed their future primarily with Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner and Matt Cain.
Think, by the way, how much that trio would have gone for had they been free agents this past winter. Because he is coming back from injury, Cain might have accepted a reasonable one-year contract so he could prove himself for a big pay day a year from now, but think of the huge contracts both Posey and Bumgarner would have commanded. Meanwhile, the Giants have those three players locked up for a combined 20 years or so.
In a tough off-season for replacing the free agents they were losing, the Giants appear to have received a decent reward with a relatively low risk. I haven't seen many evaluate the Giants' off-season that way, but I also haven't seen many who have understood the low amount of dollars the Giants had available to spend in their budget. The Giants have the fourth-highest payroll in the majors as it is.
. While the Giants' initial offer to Pablo Sandoval was an unrealistic 3/$40, by the end of spring training he had an offer for four years with a vesting option for a fifth that would have paid him $85 million if the vesting option were exercised. In other words, even before last season, the Giants offered Pablo a vesting option that would have brought him within $10 million of what he wound up receiving. Pablo likely should have taken that offer, since he gambled a lot on last season for what turned out to be only a $10 million gain.
. We already know that James Shields left money on the table by not taking the Giants' offer. And that the Giants were willing to pay at least as much to Jon Lester as he received. If we are to criticize the Giants for their actions this off-season, I think they offered too much to their top interests.
. At least six other teams had interest in Jake Peavy. When the Giants rebounded from the Lester and Shields spurnings to re-sign Jake, he was considering Atlanta and Miami.
. The Giants and White Sox were the two teams closest to trading for Jayson Heyward before he was dealt to the Cardinals.
. The Giants don't have interest in Allen Craig as a short-term replacement for the injured Hunter Pence, since they would have no apparent role for Craig after Pence returns.
One could make an argument that the Giants have a more realistic valuation of top free agents than some other teams do. High-priced free agent contracts have in general worked out in a so-so manner at best. I'm surprised the Giants were willing to go as high as they did for Pablo and Lester, although their offer to Shields may have been a reasonable one. It may be that their short, inexpensive signing of Peavy will turn out the best of those four possible moves.
At the very least, if the other proposed moves turn out better, they will do so for only two years, since that is the length of Jake's contract. Jake's contract appears to be one of decent reward/low risk. Lester's contract appears to have the highest reward of the four -- but also at least $60 million more risk than any of the other, and $131 million more risk than Peavy's contract.
To help put that in context, the $131 million added risk is more than four tiems the amount the Giants will be paying Peavy, Romo, McGehee, Aoki and Vogelsong PER SEASON. The Giants have placed their future primarily with Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner and Matt Cain.
Think, by the way, how much that trio would have gone for had they been free agents this past winter. Because he is coming back from injury, Cain might have accepted a reasonable one-year contract so he could prove himself for a big pay day a year from now, but think of the huge contracts both Posey and Bumgarner would have commanded. Meanwhile, the Giants have those three players locked up for a combined 20 years or so.
In a tough off-season for replacing the free agents they were losing, the Giants appear to have received a decent reward with a relatively low risk. I haven't seen many evaluate the Giants' off-season that way, but I also haven't seen many who have understood the low amount of dollars the Giants had available to spend in their budget. The Giants have the fourth-highest payroll in the majors as it is.