December 20, 2005
Pay the Stars!
I see that the Marlins are working on a one-year deal for Dontrelle Willis. I'm more surprised by this, however:
Cabrera, 22, has not yet qualified for arbitration. The Marlins have the right to renew his contract. Cabrera is expected to make about $475,000 this season.
Here's a thought. Give your two stars decent contracts! The Marlins cut their payroll to next to nothing already. Cabrara and Willis are the only reasons to come see the team this year. Why not send a message to them and the fans that they're going to stay a while. Broker a deal for a three-year contract for Willis at $15 million. Give Cabrera a 4-year, $22 million deal. This accomplishes a number of things:
- Neither player nor team needs to deal with arbitration.
- The two Marlins would still be eligible for free agency at the earliest possible time.
- The fans would know that the Marlins are serious about winning in the future.
- If the team is going to move, they may get a city to build a stadium if the city believes people are actually going to attend games. With Cabrera and Willis, that's more likely.
- Given the ability of these two players, the contracts are still cheap for what they can deliver, so if the Marlins decide to trade them, they can still get good value in return.
Paying Cabrera less than $500,000 is certainly the right of the club given the structure of the CBA. But Cabrera isn't a run of the mill ballplayer. He's been something special since he arrived in the majors, and the Marlins would be wise to recognize that and treat him accordingly.
Posted by David Pinto at
08:36 AM
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Financially, what would Cabrera prefer? I mean, if he stays healthy for the remainder of his career. If he makes $475,000 this year, does he become a free agent for 2007? He could potentially get in the double digits of millions per year if he gets a few teams interested in him.
Or, he could take something like that 4 year, $22 million deal you propose, and at least get something substantial for 2006 and have some security.
I almost think he's better off, in the long run, taking the $475,000 this year... assuming he stays healthy and productive.
Or his career could end this year in a freak injury. There's risk on both sides.
Cabrera in the open market would be worth $15 million a year, if not more, given his age and that you haven't seen peak production. For a few million a year now, the Marlins make him happy enough that they hold on to him when he does become a free agent. Right now, they're taking the route the Pirates took with Barry Bonds.
just trade them now, while you can.
Kind of what the Pirates did for Jason Bay....Give the guy a decent a contract, but don't overpay and then like you said avoid the always sticky arbitration process.
re: Willis & Cabrera
it's a sign of how talented the marlins were (and what a pain in the butt they were to the Phils and Braves) that after stripping away all of the talent they have so far, including Pierre and Castillo at leadoff, a power 1B, a great C in LoDuca, a possible HOF pitcher in Josh Beckett, etc etc, you look down and the team still has the league's best left handed Strike out pitcher who can rack up 200 IP no problem, and an OF who can play IF, and hit 30 HR, big OBA, big Batting Avg, and a big secondary average, a real big bat, potential all star each year.
Those two and a lot of prospects makes the Marlins a lot better than a 100 loss team; more like a .500 team, and on the days Dontrelle pitches, they're a damn hard team to beat, like the 72' Phils with Carlton pitching or the 99 Phils with Schilling pitching.
-Arthur John Kyriazis
i'm not quite on the dontrelle bandwagon (i think beckett and burnett are both better), but i think i started the miguel cabrera bandwagon. he is the real deal and the marlins would be smart not to low-ball him like the pirates low-balled oliver perez and jason bay. I also question the marlins' commitment to winning. i understand they are in a terrible predicament but this fire sale was worse to watch than the one after the 97 series. Miguel is going to cash in some day as long as he stays healthy. I say move the marlins to Monterrey, Mexico. The south florida fans just dont seem interested, which is really sad because in such a short history the fish have done some really great things.
the marlins can't afford that if they want to keep their payroll under $10,000,000
Pay Dontrelle and Miguel or risk really making them angry. I'd say 3/$15 and 4/$22 is lowballing both of them. They both could ask for $10 mil in their first yr of arbitration and likely get it. However, I don't see the Marlins even offering the proposed amounts to the superstars, yet alone close to their Fair Market Value.
agreed...its only a matter of time before the yankees come calling with the big money. Sheff is in the last year of his contract and the yanks love adding big name pitching. What other team has 10 starting pitchers?
(Johnson, moose, wang, chacon, small, wright, pavano, nomo)
"Beckett and Burnett are both better" ???? On what planet?