Jay Bruce signed for 6 years, $51 million, $12 millon club option for 7th year

[ragecage]

Where does it say Erik Smith? I don't support imitators like this Matt Klaassen child.

I assumed his facebook page is just his alias to keep his loyal fangraph fans from hounding him.

[BINGLEBOP]

I assumed his facebook page is just his alias to keep his loyal fangraph fans from hounding him.

Geraldine is fake?!?

[ragecage]

Yeah, I linked that before having seen ragecage's post. :|

You know you likes me. <3

[BINGLEBOP]

You know you likes me. <3

Forum soulmates.

I knew it from the moment you quoted each other's posts.

[ragecage]

Geraldine is fake?!?

Now you are just blowing my mind.

[HoustonGM]

You know what's more likely to set back small market teams than locking up young, pre-arb/arb players to long-term deals?

Signing mid-30's league average pitchers to three year extensions worth $12 million per year

[Kobie]

I sense the beginning of a deep and meaningful relationship.

[haveacigar]

That's still not going to set any MLB team back a few years.

Plus, while you'll be in the "more expensive" years, there's also inflation to account for.

And, for these types of players and contracts, the "back end" of their deal will be when they're 27-29. The risk is really, really minimal compared to free agent contracts, which are you usually similar in length yet handed out to players who are ALREADY 29.

And, like you said, the risk is also significantly higher with pitchers. These types of deals for position players nearly always produce surplus value for the team.

Any small market team that is eating 10+ mil in payroll is going to be set back. That doesn't mean it kills them or prevents them from competing or anything drastic like that, but it's definitely going to be set back to some degree. I also don't know if inflation really has a notable impact.

That doesn't keep it from being a good idea though. Generally you're only doing it for extremely talented players like Bruce or Longoria, and like you said, it's during years where it's perfectly reasonable to expect improvement or maintained production.

[haveacigar]

You know what's more likely to set back small market teams than locking up young, pre-arb/arb players to long-term deals?

Signing mid-30's league average pitchers to three year extensions worth $12 million per year

That was completely retarded. Dude had an option for the same money for 2011, absolutely no reason to do this now.

[Lex Logan]

Yeah, extending Arroyo rather than just picking up his option is a head-scratcher. However, Jockety seems to be doing a few things right . A big key will be how much of a bump making the playoffs gives to revenue. Anyway, Bruce at $63 million seems a much better bet than a player eight years older at $126 million. Bruce will be younger in 7 years than Werth is now. And Fangraphs had them producing near equal value this year, though that depends heavily on defensive metrics.

The Reds ought not be a "small market" team -- they used to outdraw everyone in the National League but the Dodgers. The potential fanbase covers half of Ohio, Indiana and West Virginia and practically all of Kentucky.

[CCamels73]

john Fay at cincinnati.com says

A good portion of Bronson Arroyo’s salary for 2011 is deferred.

Arroyo was set to make $13 million under the option that the club picked up.

However, his new 3-year, $35 million contract has deferred money and will pay him to 2021