You’re not getting hometown discounts last year or next year. No team is on their players unless there’s legit health issues (as in Yordan and Javier). you are getting a chance to give him a raise now and buyout some free agent years, and possibly not be having to overpay him for the 35+ years. If they want to lock him up through his age 33 season at a fixed rate now (but market rate), they have all the leverage. They just have to pay the going rate. Again, it’s probably a safer investment vs their yearly 1b signings or 8th inning guy signings.
What makes you think he will sign ANY offer? Players and Teams have different ideas about what market value is. Especially if Boras is his agent. Pena is not going to sign for anything Crane would be willing to offer. That had to happen before he had $$$ millions in the bank.
In order to buy out seasons in his early 30s without committing to his mid 30s, the FA seasons would need to be $35M+. Players use their prime years in order to get teams to buy their declining years No player wants to be a FA at 33.
You are a quite silly person. Why is Scott Boras an issue? He is not. "Pena will never sign for anything..."
True… but he’d also be getting paid $30 million+ for the next 3 years now…. Vs. his arbitration salary. Also protects him against a possible injury over the next 3 years or a bigger runway before the work stoppage. It’s a trade-off. The goal as a player is to get as many chances at big contracts as possible (accounting for inflation and contract values continuing to go up… due to new TV deals or market forces). Signing a 6 year deal at age 31 vs. signing a 5-7 year extension at age 28.
Weird take. Just as weird as presuming any homegrown player should be obligated to take a “discount” simply because he’s locked into said team for another 3 years. If you want to keep a player long term, owners can/should attempt to extend homegrown players at a fair market rate around this time. Exact model that other leagues use with true “rookie” scale contracts that are 3-4 years max. This will also likely be the trade-off should the players ever somehow agree to a cap/floor (doubtful)… they’re going to want less club control/earlier free agency options.
I am down for signing Pena early at the market rate, might as well do it now as the market just gets richer by the year, same strategy Caserio used to sign Nico.......get the player paid early before the bidding gets out of control, pay market value NOW to be fair because in a few years it will cost you more. Pena has earned it and I cant see him not being a part of the future, great kid IMO
To be fair, NFL contracts are signed with the mutual understanding that neither will be getting or paying the full amount (hence why the signing bonus is probably the only number that matters). Also to be fair this was a breakout season for Pena, after his rookie breakout season, with 2 years in between of declining metrics and concern that the league had figured him out. Would still be a risk if the league now adjusts to his adjustment…. And the 2025 season happens to be his true “peak”. You would also take into account the “older” homegrown players, vs. the ones that were fast-tracked. Peña’s career arc is more in line with Springers… and Luhnow/Crane really did push to try and get something extended around this time with Springer (settled on a fixed rate arb year extension as springer wasn’t going to forget the service time manipulation). For the Correa’s/Tuckers of the world, if you’re not going to try and lock them up within their first 2 seasons, they’re not going to be advised to sign now (Yordan/Breggy situations somewhere in between). Of course throw all this analysis/thought process out the window once the CBA is up.
Peña has had a breakout year and I think he is teetering within the superstar stratosphere. I don’t think anyone expected that Peña would be as good as he’s gotten; if not the Astros would have sweetened the pot in the offseason before he’s had this massive improvement (allstar level) season. As Astros fans where, we want the best players on the team; we’ll Peña might be on the verge of pricing himself outside of those salary parameters Astros operate under. And by no means do I say the Astros are cheap, they spend good money, but it’s all within a financial scope that fields a solid team from top to bottom. Imagine if Springer, Tucker, Bregman, Cole, would have resigned with the Astros. The team would have 4 more allstar players; but the salary would have been in the stratosphere. Peña may end up with a contract that starts a bidding war when he hits free agency. From what I had heard, Peña is no financial pushover, they guy has a smart group around him advising him well.
The Astros spend good money… but they also waste (or get low value) for some of their bigger splurges. They have a top 5/10 payroll, but it’s not comprised of the MVP candidates or cy young types. Even their early extension candidates (Yordan, Javier) happened in part because those players had health concerns and needed the security (and their missed games over the last 2-3 years is exemplifying some of that). Apparently there is a decent contingent in the front office who may be re-thinking about how they allocate money going forward, and possibly a shift of some of the principles they’ve held ever since the payroll started going up.
Boras is always an issue. He will counsel Jeremy that he will make more by testing free agency. And Pena specifically hired him to make sure he doesn't leave money on the table.
Every player should try to get what they can. And make sure they don't leave money on the table. I don't think Boras is different in that regard. He's just an agent. Good at his job. And we've extended Boras clients. I don't know what he tells them behind closed doors, but it didn't stop Altuve and Bregs and LMJ signing extensions.
Yea the Boras crap was an issue with Uncle Drayton, it's not anymore. Not in any way I think it's likely Pena would sign an extension if he thought it was close to market value. But if him and Boras think they could be leaving 75 million on the table or something like that, then heck no
No, he is not. He is extremely good at his job, but if you really look at all the evidence we have what Boras is good at is getting the best contract within what his client wants. Many Boras clients have signed extensions including several Astros. ALL players don't just want the highest possible contract they can get (although many do) and Boras is the best at getting them what they really want On your last line, I had no idea you were close enough to Pena to know exactly why he hired Boras. That must be pretty cool to be so close to him
Altuve and Lance specifically told Boras they wanted to stay in Houston. Bregman actually fired his agent and hired Boras after he signed his extension.
Matt Chapman extended with the Giants. Boegarts with the Red Sox. Andrus with the Rangers. CarGo with the Rockies. Strasburg with the Nats. These are all Boras clients who did extensions.
Absolutely. And none of them had an agent who was trying to work out an extension that the player fired in mid negotiation in order to hire Boras who then got the extension done. Players hire Boras in order to maximize FA dollars. Boras all but begs his clients to file FA and avoid extensions. Extensions mean less money for both the player and Boras 90% of the time. At the very least, the minimum Boras and Jeremy consider is above Crane's max because Jeremy is now only 2 years from FA and is no longer making MLB min salary.
Sounds like you’ve either been indoctrinated or just traumatized in your view of things. Way too many assumptions/bias or just flat out made up stuff here. a **** ton can happen between now and 2028 for either Pena or the Astros. He will also be turning 31 that season and that will limit some of the crazy long term deal offers. Yes, Crane (or any owner) should be offering market value AAV if they want to extend a player with club controlled years left. The agent wants the player to make money now… and later. He also knows the risk of what an injury or regressing performance does to contract value.
