Mark Berman: Astros offering Carlos Correa a 5 year/160 million dollar contract

Absolutely - but there's a huge gap between 5 / $160 and 10 / $325. The idea that the Astros offer was even remotely interesting was laughable. It's just a continuation of last year's ridiculous 5 / $125. Correa could have been injured half of this season and he'd have gotten more than that.

 

Universal DH, yes. Expanded playoffs have a lot more strings attached, including extending the overall season with now 4 rounds of playoffs.

 

I still think our best approach is to make him highest paid AAV, on shorter deal, with opt-out PO that allows him to hit market again in his prime

Let's say he wants to top Lindor somewhere around $350M
That's at least 10 yrs in length with no opt-outs, meaning it will basically be the last big deal he ever signs, and he's locked into his new team the rest of his career

Crane should offer him $200M for 4 yrs, with PO after 3rd year

Our pitch to CC on this should be:

- You immediately become the highest paid in the game
Becoming the first $50M man has a certain prestige of its own, and you get paid more right away
Compared to say $35M per, you will pocket an extra $45M the next 3 yrs

- You are basically guaranteed to remain in contention thru your prime
You already rank among the all-time leaders in several key stats thanks to all the winning and clutch performances to start your career
If you join a rebuilding squad like DET or SEA, nothing is guaranteed, and you may squander your shot to be remembered as one of the greatest playoff legends in the history of the game
And you cement yourself as an icon in Houston as the face of the franchise

- You hit the market again at age 30
This is the key
With $150M already in the back for 22-24, you could hit the market again, still in your prime
Semien just got $175M at age 31 to play 2B
If you only got the same deal he did, that would total $325M over both deals
Splitting into 2 deals gives you the flexibility to join another contender in 2025, still get your $300M+ total, and not have to play the majority of your career in an afterthought, cold-weather market like DET or SEA

 

The players aren't getting more money without expanding the overall pie. Best way to do that is expand the playoffs because that is where the big TV money comes from. It's just like football.. you want more money? Fine, 17 game season and expanded playoffs...

 

I’m completely against expanding the playoffs.

 

The baseball union isn’t as weak as the NFL’s, and baseball owners don’t have the leverage that NFL owners have.

That being said, NFL and NBA salaries went up when revenue went up. MLB salaries didn’t.

There are also plenty enough 1pm weekday playoff games as is… it’s not really going to change the overall tv ratings that drastically to warrant the extra week of the season if they really wanted to do 4 rounds. They could do more one game wild cards… they’re mostly in prime time anyways, where ratings have a chance of influencing future tv deals.

 

Expanding the playoffs should drive down salaries.
Think about it- you now only need to win 84 or so games if 14 teams make it in. Your odds of winning a wolf series with 98 wins vs 84 aren’t much different. even if things don’t go
Your way and you go 500 you still get to sell a pennant race to your fan base before they lose interest. It all makes it a rational decision as an owner to spend less.

 

They sell the playoffs as a package.The more games the more money. They could shorten the regular season to 160 games and have more flexibility with scheduling the playoffs or shorten spring training similar to what the NFL did. I don't think the players get any of the big changes they want without expanded playoffs being part of the deal.

 

You underestimate the players case. They’re going to get more money, whether it’s by salary floor or other means, as there needs to be a better middle class.

I don’t see expanded playoffs being the most critical. You also overestimate the value of a watered down 4 round playoffs, but they do need to ensure the best teams play in the LCS… reseed the wild card round.

 

Let me clear up my position. When I say expanded playoffs I don't mean necessarily more teams in the playoffs. Maybe the owners try to get that too. However, I am saying that I believe 100% that the owners will require more PLAYOFF GAMES. That could be making the wild card series 3 games and making the division series 7 games. It doesn't have to be more teams. More playoff revenue one way or another.

 

Makes sense. Their current proposal has two more teams, and 4 full rounds (with the best team getting a bye to the LDS).

Its similar to 2020 where they had the extra playoff teams… but the season was contracted and there were no travel days in any of the subsequent rounds, so it didn’t really extend the season.

I agree if you need more playoff games, needs to be LDS after you’ve re-seeded to ensure you don’t have a Dodgers-Giants 100 win vs. 100 win first round matchup.

However networks would then counter that the ratings for these 1pm or 3pm LDS games aren’t really moving the needle enough to pay exorbitant fees. They’d want to stagger the games more on different days (more off days), or play them concurrently in prime time.

In the end, I just don’t see anything radical happening. Maybe the 3 game wild card series… although with potential tie breakers like this year, that could still end up as a scheduling nightmare and potentially have division winners sitting around for a full week not playing.

 

10 years, $325million to Seager?………ya’ll can straight up forget keeping Correa anywhere’s near the current Astros offer in time and money

 

Loads of money spent for the Rangers, so glad the Astros are that desperate. I hope they keep their salary low and find the right trade partner in the middle of the season to plug whatever holes come our way. Get the 6 man rotation going to preserve LMC and JV along with those young arms. The bullpen has enough fire power to go into spring training. If it takes stupid money to get another bat just be patient. Their will be trades to be had to improve the roster especially once all the young arms get going.

 

Assuming the Tigers reach a deal with Baez, we might just be golden here… the Phillies are still out there as a dark horse and despite the consistent ‘no’ feedback, the Yankees have to be considered… as the list of potential suitors dwindles, where will Correa turn? Saving face might be the biggest challenge to getting a deal done at this point.

 

man the Rangers really just ****ed **** up. Those contracts might look like **** in a few years, but they aren't gonna be a pushover. and see ya Correa with those numbers on the board.

Marte gone...Scherzer gone...Gausman poached...

Just treading water...not even gonna spend that extra money huh...

****!

 

They have a highly-touted SS prospect (Noelvi Marte). I'm not suggesting you opt prospect over Correa but they might direct that money elsewhere.

 

Wouldn’t be surprised to see the Mets go full “FU” and give Correa whatever he wants. At this point, they’re going all in regardless of tax implications.

And while we know the front office’s don’t care about the cheating scandal, the fan bases of the Yankees and Dodgers got so warped by it… they’re still convinced that there are buzzers somewhere. Unlikely to be worth the extra headache of trying to appease everybody.

 

Unless the Tigers are pulling a Rangers, Correa is looking like a Dodger, Philly, or Yankee I guess.