Even if that's a real issue, how does the "not caring" not just shift to year 3 under your contract? If there was a salary cap, caring about the AAV makes sense. But there isn't. All that matters is the total $ amount you are risking. There are people who will to go so far as to say "I'll pay 3/$90, but not 4/$90!" What? It's a totally free year at that point and you still say, "no thanks!" It makes zero sense. And Time Value of Money is a real thing when you're talking $90 million contracts. And since there's no cap, teams have flexibility to spend extra if they have a year with larger dead contracts. If I'm the Pohlad's, I'd certainly rather spend an extra $20 million on the 2023 payroll than give a pitcher a higher salary for reason in 2020 and 2021.