Free Agency gone mad

[HOOTIE]

Is it me, or is this the worst signings you have ever seen? Sure there is no 100 mil deal, but tons of guys are getting too many years, at too much per year. Yea i know if the market bears it, then some will say it's worth it. But i don't think i see one deal that will work out over the duration. No closer is worth 9 mil a year. None. A .500 pitcher who rarely throws 200 innings gets 5 years 55 mil? This is pure insanity. In 2 years most these teams will be trying to get out of the deals via trade. The fans might be excited, but they likely won't in a year or two. The teams not signing are better off. Look at past history.

KBrown
DNeage
MHampton
Beltran
Beltre
Pavano
Wright
Park
Dreifort
Thome

And i could find plenty more.

[BronXBombers51]

A big reason why I'm glad the Yanks are being quiet this offseason. They've proved more than anyone that you shouldn't give big deals to questionable players. I think Burnett might be ok in Toronto, but I wouldn't have given him that amount of money, nor the amount that went to Ryan.

Byrd and Loaiza getting $7 million each, Millwood getting an opening offer of $11? It is getting pretty insane.

[OhMrScottyTrav06]

Yeah, it reminds me of 2000... but without the huge name or Manny or ARod available. Teams are just throwing money around...

Glad the Angels aren't doing this... seems like they got good value for Vlad two years ago at $14 mil/year to what Konerko and Furcal got... Now is not the time to buy...

[mweir145]

Do you really think the Jays would be better off next year in the AL East by sitting back with their 50 million dollar payroll and losing once again to the Yankees and Red Sox? Would they have been a better team without Burnett and Ryan. Definitely not. I'd rather the Jays spend their money on good young pitchers as opposed to older, cheaper (but not by much) pitchers like Morris or Hoffman. I mean even Millwood is rumoured to be getting an 11 million dollar offer, and I'd much rather have Burnett than him. Is that extra year really such a terrible thing?

They had to spend the surplus of money somewhere, and what better way than acquiring two of the top FA's of 2005/2006. Money really isn't a problem for this team anyway, with them still being under the league average next year, and having one of the richer owners in the league. This is the best and most exciting off-season the Jays have had in 12 years, and I'm certainly hoping there will be more like them in the future.

Here is RotoWorld's take on the Burnett deal, they look at it pretty favourably...

ESPN is reporting that Burnett has an opt out after three years. Burnett will earn $7 million next year and $12 million in each of the following four, so he'd make $31 million before he could opt out. Since no one else is saying it, we will: this is a very good signing for the Blue Jays. Burnett is risky, but he's the one pitcher out there capable of being a dominant force for the next several years. If you're going to take a chance, it's much better to spend $11 million per year on Burnett than $7 million-$8 million on Paul Byrd or Matt Morris. And, frankly, everyone on TV and the papers expressing shock and disbelief at this deal just hasn't been paying attention. This doesn't raise the market for everyone else. Every team in MLB knew that Burnett could and likely would get this type of contract as a free agent. Deal with it. The money is out there, and it's going to get spent.

The opt-out is another interesting part of this contract. You have to think that if he underperforms, he will stick around for the 5 years, but if he exceeds expectations, he will almost certainly leave the Jays after the 3 seasons (assuming there will be a market like this one in 2008). That could mean having Burnett for 3 years at 29 million (a great deal). However, if he's pitching well at that time, I'd much rather have him for those extra two years.

I'm loving this off-season.

[thedude]

Simple Economics. This year there is a small supply and a high demand. Which means that prices go up.

[Fight Song]

thedude wrote:

Simple Economics. This year there is a small supply and a high demand. Which means that prices go up.

Agreed, not alot of big names out there compared to other years. We will probably see more trades though.

[perlick29]

A big reason why I'm glad the Yanks are being quiet this offseason. They've proved more than anyone that you shouldn't give big deals to questionable players. I think Burnett might be ok in Toronto, but I wouldn't have given him that amount of money, nor the amount that went to Ryan.

Byrd and Loaiza getting $7 million each, Millwood getting an opening offer of $11? It is getting pretty insane.

Even though I'm a Yankee fan I've got to disagree with what you just said because...

A) The luxury tax and debt is killing us in the offseason so we have yet to be active. Perhaps later in the Winter when some of the prices go down a bit, but for right now Farnsworth was the only signing which by the way could be considered questionable according to your first statement.

B) We proved just the opposite of being frugal spenders last winter when we signed... gulp, pavano and wright. Not to mention getting an aged Kevin Brown among other past prime veterans.

As much as I am a Yankee fan I am also a realist. We are just as guilty if not more as the rest of the MLB when it comes to making over the top signings.

I agree whole-heartedly with HOOTIE, these teams are finding more and more ways to prove my oldest addage: Sometimes big contracts for players are like peices of dung in the moonlight: They look shiny from far away but the closer you get, the more they start to to stink.

[mweir145]

Simple Economics. This year there is a small supply and a high demand. Which means that prices go up.

Exactly, I've been trying to explain that.

[BronXBombers51]

A big reason why I'm glad the Yanks are being quiet this offseason. They've proved more than anyone that you shouldn't give big deals to questionable players. I think Burnett might be ok in Toronto, but I wouldn't have given him that amount of money, nor the amount that went to Ryan.

Byrd and Loaiza getting $7 million each, Millwood getting an opening offer of $11? It is getting pretty insane.

Even though I'm a Yankee fan I've got to disagree with what you just said because...

A) The luxury tax and debt is killing us in the offseason so we have yet to be active. Perhaps later in the Winter when some of the prices go down a bit, but for right now Farnsworth was the only signing which by the way could be considered questionable according to your first statement.

B) We proved just the opposite of being frugal spenders last winter when we signed... gulp, pavano and wright. Not to mention getting an aged Kevin Brown among other past prime veterans.

As much as I am a Yankee fan I am also a realist. We are just as guilty if not more as the rest of the MLB when it comes to making over the top signings.

I agree whole-heartedly with HOOTIE, these teams are finding more and more ways to prove my oldest addage: Sometimes big contracts for players are like peices of dung in the moonlight: They look shiny from far away but the closer you get, the more they start to to stink.

I'm not saying the Yankees aren't guilty. I'm saying that I'm happy that they aren't following in their previous footsteps by giving expensive contracts to players like Pavano and Wright. No yielding to Damon's ridiculous demands, no chasing Burnett, etc.

It seems many other teams have stepped in and taken over that role this year...Toronto and the Mets to an extent.

[HOOTIE]

Simple Economics. This year there is a small supply and a high demand. Which means that prices go up.

That is true. So don't sign anyone this year, wait another year.