Clayton Kershaw

[kydoty]

7 years, $215 million.

 

That's right, over $30 million per season.

 

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/story/_/id/10298436/clayton-kershaw-los-angeles-dodgers-agree-seven-year-deal-worth-215-million

[Brock Beauchamp]

Yeesh. I knew there was no way he was leaving the Dodgers but I didn't expect his yearly salary to surpass $30m.

[Guest USAFChief]

Observations:

 

- salaries generally go up, not down.

 

- desirable free agents don't often make it to free agency

 

Lesson: Putting off signing needed free agents because there'll be better options next year has its own set of risks.

[biggentleben]

Kershaw wanted 10 years at $30M per. To go under 10, he got a hefty raise in the per. Incredible deal, but if there's one pitcher in all of baseball that would get this contract, he'd be the guy.

[Seth Stohs]

Strange, but I thought this was significantly less than I thought he would get. I thought he'd get another 3-4 years, meaning another $90-120 million.

[TwinsTerritory]

Surprised me a little too, I thought he'd get closer to 10 years, $300 million. Barring injury, I would guess there is a really good chance that he becomes a free agent or gets an extension in 5 years.

[Monkeypaws]

I remember the shock and outrage when Puck pioneered the 3 million per season contract.

 

Tickets were a lot cheaper back then too, less than $10 to get in.

 

Coincidence?

[Thrylos]

This extension is akin to the Mauer one for the Twins and at a similar $ level and it does not include any old age years for the Dodgers. 25-32 age seasons. Slam dung for them methinks...

[Monkeypaws]

Slam dung for Kershaw - not for fans wanting to watch the game. The owners pass 100% of that mad money on the backs of the fans.

 

/end old fogie rant/

[jm3319]

Slam dung for Kershaw - not for fans wanting to watch the game. The owners pass 100% of that mad money on the backs of the fans.

 

/end old fogie rant/

 

The Dodgers have TV money coming out of their ears. This contract could be paid for 100% multiple times over even if the Dodgers decided to LOWER ticket prices. Yes ticket prices have gone up, but salary inflation is much more due to other sources of income for teams other than tickets.

[jm3319]

Kershaw wanted 10 years at $30M per. To go under 10, he got a hefty raise in the per. Incredible deal, but if there's one pitcher in all of baseball that would get this contract, he'd be the guy.

 

He got an additional $714K per year, not exactly a hefty raise (in ridiculous baseball money terms). It's basically an extra $5 million thrown in from the Dodgers for not having to risk 10 years on the guy. Great deal for both sides.

 

Fun Fact: This works out to about 75 cents per heartbeat for Kershaw for the next 7 years. (according to Twitter)

[drock2190]

Well I guess the Twins have to rewrite their plans for next year's free agents now...

 

 

Maybe they will make a push for Garza.

[thetank]

The Dodgets didn't learn from signing other bad long term contracts such as Park and Brown and Jason Schmitt.

[Brock Beauchamp]

The Dodgets didn't learn from signing other bad long term contracts such as Park and Brown and Jason Schmitt.

 

Kevin Brown was 34 years old when he was signed by the Dodgers.

 

Chan Ho Park didn't sign a big contract with the Dodgers. He came through their system.

 

Jason Schmidt was also in his mid 30s when he signed.

 

Darren Dreifort, on the other hand... That contract was inexplicable. Nothing like Kershaw, though.

[twinsfan34]

It's a retarded amount of money.

 

It's not due to ticket prices, directly. I forget who wrote a great article on why ticket prices have gone up. Maybe it was Nate Silver or Jonah Keri.

 

If anyone has some articles, research, insight on that...I'd love a gander.

 

But yea, this is a retarded lump of money, but I think the Dodgers got the better deal. A long term contract at 25. Compare that to what these other jokers at 29/30 are getting. Look at Verlander even, his contract, very similar, was at age 30, not 25.

 

Also, what does Tanaka get now, who also happens to be at age 25. (?)

[thetank]

Kevin Brown was 34 years old when he was signed by the Dodgers.

 

Chan Ho Park didn't sign a big contract with the Dodgers. He came through their system.

 

Jason Schmidt was also in his mid 30s when he signed.

 

Darren Dreifort, on the other hand... That contract was inexplicable. Nothing like Kershaw, though.

 

Dodgers have bad contracts in Matt Kemp, Crawford and likely Ethier. Adrian Gonzales wasn't that great last year as well. They could get burned here.

[Dman]

The thing that scares me about this is that if Sano, Buxton and some pitcher of ours become all stars then how are we going to keep these guys around at 30 Mill per year? Just those three would be 90 Mil at those prices. If that ends up the going rate 6 years from now.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Dodgers have bad contracts in Matt Kemp, Crawford and likely Ethier. Adrian Gonzales wasn't that great last year as well. They could get burned here.

 

Sure, any premium contract has the risk of going disastrously wrong for the signing team.

 

But a 25 year old Kershaw on a seven year deal is near the top of "risky" contracts that I'd snatch up in a heartbeat. It's less risk and higher potential performance than, say, Justin Verlander's contract.

[Oldgoat_MN]

Kershaw signs a contract that sets him up for life at age 25. He HAD to jump at it.

 

2 years from now they probably couldn't touch him for $30M per year if he keeps pitching like he's been pitching. And it's not a 10 or 12 year contract. I suspect Boras would have been looking at 10 years as a minimum.

 

While this amount of money is well beyond any reality in my world, I think it was a good signing by the Dodgers.

[nicksaviking]

Dodgers have bad contracts in Matt Kemp, Crawford and likely Ethier. Adrian Gonzales wasn't that great last year as well. They could get burned here.

 

They can afford to get burned. For the Dodgers, only having 25 roster spots is more of a hinderance than the payroll. I'm sure they have taken into consideration the possibilities that these guys could go bust, the reward clearly outweighs the risk in thier mind.

[ashbury]

Kershaw signs a contract that sets him up for life at age 25. He HAD to jump at it.

 

His 2012 salary of $7.5M minus taxes etc set him up for life. His 2013 salary of $11M allows him to go for high-end luxury items and activities during his career and thereafter. This contract allows him to start a charitable foundation, act as a venture capitalist to foster innovation, or whatever else he can think up.

[biggentleben]

He got an additional $714K per year, not exactly a hefty raise (in ridiculous baseball money terms). It's basically an extra $5 million thrown in from the Dodgers for not having to risk 10 years on the guy. Great deal for both sides.

 

Fun Fact: This works out to about 75 cents per heartbeat for Kershaw for the next 7 years. (according to Twitter)

 

I should have stated that better. He got a raise in the per season plus the 5-year opt out that he wanted by going for less years. I only mentioned the per as it was one negotiating angle that he was allowed to win by the Dodgers in order to come off of the 10 year contract.

[Mike Sixel]

Lesson:

 

next year's FA class will get smaller and smaller

prices will only go up

 

Conculsion:

Stop waiting for, in Torii Hunter's words, "a future that will never come", and start winning now

[biggentleben]

Lesson:

 

next year's FA class will get smaller and smaller

prices will only go up

 

Conculsion:

Stop waiting for, in Torii Hunter's words, "a future that will never come", and start winning now

 

It frustrates me because of this because the Braves are a small-market team at this point due to arguably the worst TV deal in all of baseball and an ownership group with no intentions to invest at all in the team. They have one of the better young cores in the league with Heyward, Freeman, Simmons, Minor, Teheran, Kimbrel, et al, and yet none will take an extension offered thus far as they all know the money will be there in free agency. This occurs to the Rays as well, so they have learned the art of trading just before they hit free agency to a team that can afford their contract and can return prospects to maintain the Rays' success. The Braves haven't taken this approach yet, and as a fan of the team, it's hard to watch homegrown players go to another team. Brian McCann will be a much better fantasy option as a Yankee in 2014, but to a Braves fan, it will be painful to watch him abuse the short porch in New York because that's a young guy who came up with the team and made his value with the Braves. Yes, I know that guys like Chipper Jones, Barry Larkin, Craig Biggio, and such really don't exist anymore, but it doesn't mean I have to like that...

[biggentleben]

Sorry for the long run-on paragraph! Rant-dump.

[thetank]

If the Dodgers were a small-market team and couldn't sign Kershaw I assume the best time to have traded him was after the end of the 2012 season. A team would have a year or so to try to sign him to an extension and 2 years of service time. The Rays have come to terms with David Price and he has 2 years left before he can become a FA.

[Fatt Crapps]

It's a retarded amount of money.

 

Beg your pardon?

[ashbury]

Probably should have been a differently abled amount of money. We'll keep an eye on this.

[johnnydakota]

The thing that scares me about this is that if Sano, Buxton and some pitcher of ours become all stars then how are we going to keep these guys around at 30 Mill per year? Just those three would be 90 Mil at those prices. If that ends up the going rate 6 years from now.

 

Well ownership will have to give up some of there profits ....hehehe or just raise ticket prices,and get a real regional tv contract

[Larsbars08]

Think about it. His contract will end when he's 32. If he's healthy, and even if he's not as dominant he'll still probably get another massive contract. He's in line to make an ungodly amount of money over the next 10-12 years. Of course, Santana and Halliday showed how quickly it can all disappear, but it would be nice to have the best pitcher in baseball locked up for the next 7 years.

 

Also makes you wonder what Trout's contract is going to look like.