Quote:
Originally Posted by YouNeverKnow25
But he's NOT A FREE AGENT THIS YEAR. That's the whole point! He was 5 years away from free agency! That's literally the entire reason why it's not a discount.
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I am going to do this slowly.
First, remember that this discussion started with Mike Trout, who is also NOT A FREE AGENT THIS YEAR. Trout is 4 years away from free agency! That's literally the entire reason why it's a similar discussion.
The point you and gocubs tried to make was giving him an extra 500k this year would provide no financial benefit to the team in the future, and you said it had never happened before. Besides my point being is that getting a salary discount wasn't a primary factor in the motivation for the Angels to give him the extra 500k, I brought up a player who has given his team a discount after getting some extra money earlier, in Evan Longoria. No while you can say it wasn't a discount (which I think is absurd, considering contracts that are handed out), I'm not sure what your point is, if all you are going to do is say someone IS NOT A FREE AGENT. None of these guys who sign contracts that buy out their free agency years are FREE AGENTS. If they were FREE AGENTS, we would not be having a discussion about buying out years of FREE AGENCY before the player is a FREE AGENT.
Since, we're going slowly, I'll show you why Longoria did give his team a discount. As you pointed out, he was 5 years away from free agency, and he accepted a 6 year extension worth about 100 million, avg approx 16.5 million per year - all years he would of been a free agent, in his prime. This offseason, Freddie Freeman, who has not been as a productive as Longoria at a position that is traditionally more productive than Longoria position, signed a contract worth 135 million over 8 years. However, 3 of those years would of been arbitration years, when he couldn't have been a free agent - those 3 years, he is being paid approx 25.5 million over 3 years. Hence, the free agency years of his contract (i.e. the years he could of been a free agent) are 5 years / 106.5 million, which is definitely higher than Longoria's contract for a player not as good.