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Let's jump into baseball and let's talk about the leadoff and this savvy new trend that is happening with organizations and their young superstars
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And to be frank with you, it's a trend that I actually like in a lot of ways
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You know, the Padres did it with Fernando Tatis Jr. Suspension aside
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The Braves have done it with Ozzie Albies. Ronald Acuna Jr., Michael Harris, Austin Riley, even Matt Olson to a certain extent
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Five players that they have locked up into six, seven, eight-year deals for very friendly money
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but also big money for those guys. And it's this trend that also kind of has moved out west to Seattle
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and given the recent you know collective bargaining agreements and negotiations this
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i think is something that can be seen that's good for both parties now when you talk about it you're
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like how is this good for both parties the teams have signed these guys to massive contracts yeah
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he these players have signed massive contracts but when we talk about the actual value that they are
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getting from the production of play compared to the money that they could sign for, it
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actually is a team-friendly deal. And this deal, the deal with Julio Rodriguez over the weekend is actually one of the crazier deals
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I'm going to read some spot rack information. They've broken down the contract phenomenally and we'll make sure that the link to that
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breakdown is in the description of the video as well but basically what you have is a deal that is
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seven years for 119 million dollars next year in 2023 julio rodriguez will make 4 million then the following season 10 million then it goes up to the top number that he get paid per season of million
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Now on top of this is a $15 million signing bonus. This basically covers his two team control years left and then three years of arbitration as well, which SpotRack says will ultimately pay him about $54 million for his arbitration years
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they reference that to Aaron Judge, who will only make about $37.6 million
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So Julio Rodriguez is getting paid more for his arbitration years based on what he did this season
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and we'll talk about why that number actually kind of makes sense here in a minute
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But aside from those seven years, there's also these incentives or options that go after the 2029 season
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So in 2030, the team has the opportunity to pick up an option for either eight years or ten years
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And the term of that contract, the eight years or ten years, is based upon MVP voting
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but also the dollar amount in those options is also based upon MVP voting
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So if he never picks up a single top 10 MVP vote from 2022 to 2028
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then the club could pick up an option for eight years at $200 million
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If he gets two votes, it'd be eight years, $240 million. Four top 10 MVP votes, it would be eight years at $260 million
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If he wins an MVP and receives one other top 5 vote or 3 top 5 votes but no wins, it's an 8-year $280 million option
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If he wins 2 MVPs or receives 4 top 5 votes but no wins it a 10 million So when all things are said and done at the very high end of this contract it could be an 18 deal Now if they don pick up that option he has a player option
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He could pick up a player option that's around the five-year $90 million that would cover years 2030 through 2034
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And those would be paid out at about $18 million per year
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Now, it's crazy all the, you know, what if this happens? What if this happens? What if this happens
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but the value in this contract is actually great for both sides one Julio Rodriguez gets paid I
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mean that's the the number one benefit like this dude is putting dollars on top of dollars and and
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things are are fantastic for him but even the Mariners make out pretty well in this deal yeah
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there's a lot of money potentially committed to him but right now as it stands after about 129
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games, J-Rod's a 3.4 war player, which Fangraphs projects out would net him about $27.5 million
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in free agency, which averages out about one war being worth about $8.1 million
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So the fact that next year he's getting $4 million, and then $10 million in 24, and then
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$18 million from $25 to $29 is a savings for the Mariners if this production were to continue
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And listen, I get it. There is risk involved. But this is not a bad approach to building a team
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And the other thing is that it keeps these stars in the uniforms that we are used to seeing them in
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We talk about, there's no loyalty in sports anymore. People just jump from team to team whoever pays them the highest Okay I get that And how can you blame somebody for going and getting paid the most money in their respective profession You can But these teams wisening up and going you know what
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Let's buy out their free agency and let's reward them. Taking the approach of the Braves
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Taking the approach of the Mariners. It's not necessarily a bad way to pay a team
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Or build a team. Think about it as a fan of the Atlanta Braves
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You know for the next six to seven years, you are seeing Ozzie Albies, Ronald Acuna Jr., Michael Harris, Matt Olson, and Austin Riley
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That core is not going to get broken up for the next six to seven years. And then you have the potential of signing Damesby Swanson
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Now if you're a Mariners fan, you know that Julio Rodriguez, barring a trade of course, is going to be in your uniform
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When you have players that are this special, it is very important to lock them up
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And it's a fantastic thing in the way that we let off this show. Because I think that this works out well for both players
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Even though fans will be like, oh, he hasn't done anything. Yeah, he's been a really good, I mean, he's a 20-20 guy
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Potentially even a 30-30 guy. Something that is very rare at this point in the game of baseball
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30 home runs, 30 stolen bases. Oh he's only hitting 265 Let's not focus on average so much
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Because of the value that he brings to this team He hits leadoff
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He hits 4 power in the leadoff position He is a bonafide star
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And he got paid like one That's going to do it for the leadoff
