December 06, 2013

Wow. I know the M's needed bats (and... everything else for that matter), and i know the fanbase- including the diehards at USS Mariner- have given up on the team. But unless their anemic payroll is going to jump up to the next level so guys like Cano and Hernandez have something other than AAA scrubs around them... they may be feeling the weight of this contract for years to come.

Cano is good, but $24M/per seems steep at such a long contraxt. It feels like Texas and A-Rod all over again.

posted by hincandenza at 11:53 AM on December 06, 2013

It feels like Texas and A-Rod all over again.

ARod's 10 years after that deal was signed (the original length of the contract) produced a combined 150 OPS+ (a level Cano has never reached), 9 All-Star apperances, 2 Gold Gloves, 3 MVP awards, 4 Hank Aaron Awards, 6 Silver Slugger awards, and leading the league in WAR 4 times.

The Mariners would be praying for even half that production from Cano by the end of his 10 year contract.

Here are the list of every single second baseman who played more than 1000 games (at least 80% at 2B) between age 30 and 40, since 1901.

                           
Rk              Player OPS+
1           Nap Lajoie  142
2           Joe Morgan  132
3            Jeff Kent  130
4        Eddie Collins  130
5    Charlie Gehringer  129
6          Davey Lopes  107
7          Frank White   91
8          Jim Gantner   83

That's an awfully tiny list...

posted by grum@work at 12:43 PM on December 06, 2013

Tebow offered contract to play for Italian Seamen.

Do your own jokes.

posted by Mr Bismarck at 12:57 PM on December 06, 2013

Don't get me wrong, grum- I think ARod has been worth every penny over his career. That doesn't change the apparent fact that his contract inhibited the Rangers, as the Yankees and Dodgers are basically the only teams that can absorb oversized contracts. For a smaller market team like the M's, even if Cano produces reasonable value, it might still be too big/long a deal.

I have (as you've demonstrated with your very short list of 2Bs who put out 10 years worth of performance after age 30) far less faith that Cano is going to be worth all 10 years of his deal. The Ms would have been better suited to pursue Ellsbury and save 3 years and some $90M dollars. Theyd probably get the same WAR per year anyway.

posted by hincandenza at 02:47 PM on December 06, 2013

Holy hell - BG beat 'em decisively too. NIU must have gotten behind early and had to scrap the game plan and throw on every down. I need to go look at the turnovers and special teams data.

I know all eyes will be on the SEC title game today, but I want to check out the PAC 12 championship game. Both of those teams are capable of taking care of major business. I did not think that Todd Graham was going to take ASU this far this fast. I wasn't sure how he was even going to do in general in the PAC 12.

posted by beaverboard at 08:39 AM on December 07, 2013