I don't fully understand how contract negotiations in baseball work, but 8 years, $45 million sounds like an extremely low offer for a 40 homer candidate in his second year. What gives? http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3397385
He bought financial security. He took the long-term deal early. When you do that, you typically take less per year. That's the trade-off. He's now guaranteed to make $45 million no matter what happens. Hard to turn down that kind of money, particularly if you're happy where you are...which Braun claims to be.
Simple. He's in his 2nd year. So assuming no long term deal, next year he should be making the minimum. And the 3 years after that, arbitration, which usually favors the ball club when the player is pretty young even if he has a great season. The club is basically severely overpaying him for his next couple of seasons, and giving him financial security, in return for him not asking for a king's ransom in the 2nd half of the deal.
I'd be funny if teams severely backloaded deals because of that. "OK, we'll pay you the minimum for the next few years and then $800 Million in 2013."
yea he'd be making less than $500k this year and then almost the same next year. in his 4th, 5th, and 6th year he'd probably have to sign a series of 1 year deals because of arby. he took the financial security and the brewers are hoping that since they paid him early (as opposed to have him making under $1m for the next few years), that he'll show them some loyalty when he's eligible for free agency.
Just for comparison, Ryan Howard, a similar player with 2 years on Braun, earned $900,000 last year (when he won MVP) and $350,000 the year before. Until players become arbitration eligible, teams are allowed to tell players what they will earn. Literally just tell them. Without an alternative deal, after three years of being told their salary, for three more years the club and the player both submit a proposed salary to an arbitrator and the arbitrator just picks one of the two figures. The arbitrator can't split the difference. It has to be one or the other. The system is set up to heavily favor older, 'proven' players.
Right, but considering how highly recruited he was, if he puts up big numbers in his first 4 years, isn't he eligible for a Carlos Lee type contract in his 5th year? I'm not familiar with the arbitration process, though, and that might have something to do with it.
no. the arbitration process only considers year to year contracts, not long term deals. years 4,5, and 6 are arbitration eligible years. after year 6, theyre eligible for free agency. very rarely do players actually go through the arbitration process. usually they come to an agreement with the club that splits the difference. at the beginning of the year, miguel cabrera signed a 1 year $11.3m deal with the tigers to avoid arby. alfonso soriano lost his arbitration case and made $10m as opposed to the $12m he was seeking a few years ago.
I think it would be after the fifth year of the contract. 2 club years, est. $1 mil per = $48 - $2 = $46 mil Three arbitration years at $10 mil per (what Ryan Howard got in arbitration) = $46 - $30 = $16 mil He is getting $16 mil for his first three free agency years, which I'm going to guess is about a $30 million dollar discount? If all goes well, though, at the end of the contract he will be in line for one last big free agent deal, in his low 30's.
Ah, I see. And say a club like Florida is not willing to give a $10 million, 1 year deal to an up and coming prospect in his 4th year and they do NOT offer him arbitration, is this the only way he can become eligible for free agency before year 7?
well he'd have to be really mashing to earn enough money for them to get rid of him...like 50 homers his rookie year. they have a few options: - come to a contractual agreement to avoid arby - go to arby - non-tender him, which means they dont even offer him a contract, which makes him a FA - trade him, which is what they did to miguel cabrera
Hanley Ramirez earned himself a $70 million, 6 year contract in his 4th year (not sure what he earned his first 3 years, going to fabricate those numbers). Year 1: $200,000 Year 2: $200,000 Year 3: $200,000 Year 4: $439,000 Year 5: $11.666 million Year 6: $11.666 million Year 7: $11.666 million Year 8: $11.666 million Year 9: $11.666 million etc. Whereas Ryan Braun looks something like this: Year 1: $200,000 Year 2: $455,000 Year 3: $5.6 million Year 4: $5.6 million Year 5: $5.6 million Year 6: $5.6 million Year 7: $5.6 million Year 8: $5.6 million Year 9: $5.6 million So he stands to make about $11 million more than Ramirez did in his 3rd and 4th seasons, but loses out significantly over the course of 8 years.
usually these "poor" teams will hang on to them for at least 2 years into their arby years and trade them the year before they become free agents or right before the trade deadline. thats what happened with carlos beltran. however, if they trade them with 1 arby year left (miguel cabrera), they can receive more in terms of prospects via trade.
I think it's hard to turn down 5 millions dollars this year when you're making $200,000. Even if it means over an 8 year period, you'll be making $45mill instead of $55mill, I can understand when a young person doesn't want to wait a few years for financial security. It's like taking the cash up front option when you play lotto. Well, it's not really like that, but there's a lot one can do with a $10 million 2 year head start.
Brilliant move by the player. This guy is set for life having played only one season in the majors. It almost seems unfair but "so be it". $45MM guaranteed! It could also end up being a brilliant move by the Brewers since they locked him up for 8 years. Time will tell if he's another Albert Pujols or Richard Hidalgo. They are taking a huge risk.
