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While it maybe 1:1 most of the ones that work out are hitter contracts, young or very good hitters can be worth signing to a 5+ year contarct.
Pitchers are a whole differnt story, there are far too many issues to justify giving a pitcher a 6 year deal.
The thing is, I don't look at the deals as "boons" or "busts". What I'm mostly referring to is the value of the players contributions in comparison to the costs of the contract during each year of the contract. Typically, with a long term deal, you're getting the player at a slight discount for a year or two, but by the end of the contract the team is paying a premium for the player. So, in my opinion, those deals never (I should say rarely) are a good deal for the team.
The only exceptions that I see are truly exceptional players, and some arbitration eligable players. Those cases can certainly change the dynamic, but their hardly typical contract situations.
I typed in about 8 or 9 which have worked out (mussina i suppose is arguable so remove him) and you can probably add Nomar's contract with the sawx to that list. He was signed on the cheap long term to avoid arbitration and was a great deal for the sawx for quite a few years. So give me 16-18 that haven't worked out. If it's so 'rare' you can surely find 2-1 against my list with little to no problem. 4 year contracts and longer.Quote:
Originally Posted by ohms_law
I'll start...
Mike Hampton
Barry Zito
Johnny Damon (Yankees)
Carl Pavano
Chan Ho Park
Julio Lugo with Red Sox (so far)
Albert Belle - Orioles
Mo Vaughn (angels)
Kevin Brown
Those are just the big ones that come to mind...but it seems more balanced; I don't see the busts outweighing the booms all that much. But maybe someone else can add a ton more?
Darren Dreifort, Russ Ortiz, Denny Neagle
Thats my point, they dont' outweigh all that much when we're talking the big ones. If i'm not mistaken, Damon was a 3 year deal so he wouldn't count. You can add Matt Clement to the list, but Pavano & Clement weren't huge contracts but I believe they were both 5 years at around 10 mil per a piece if i'm not mistaken..so they'd make the list.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alloutwar
Damon was 4 years, $48 million.Quote:
Originally Posted by dickay
Matt Clement has been a major disappointment. I dont know if his deal qualifies as one of the worst ever, not being a mega-contract, per se. But the Sox signed him, after 3 decent years with the Cubs. After going a very ordinary 13-6, 4.57 (99era+ for the elitist stat geeks) in 2005, the last two years combined, he earned 19.3 million with a 5-5 record, 6.61 era (72 era+). Pretty much a bust.
Yep, very sad for Red Sox Nation (which is located somewhere outside of Yankee Universe)
But I didn't include Clement because his was only a 3-year deal, not the 4 years given Pavano the same offseason. Right?