I remember soeone asking Mickey Mantle (who compares to Pujols, except for SO/BB ratio) what he would have commanded in todays market. He said they'd have to give him a piece of the team- so the Cards got off lucky. As for Cabrera, well the Marlins have always operated as a cheap bunch letting players go when they command big money-so it's no surprise, bad for the fans but no surprise.

No question Cabera should have been locked up. But, re trade for prospects, if he'd been signed last year wouldn't his deal have been under the last Agreement? ie, He would be a 1 season rental if dealt, no? Regardless, that will haunt them. you have to expect that from an ownership that fires the manager of the year.

Actually, I would venture Cabrera would have rejected a contract offer last year. Well, maybe not a 10 year deal; I don't know how you pass up on ten years of guaranteed money.

But the point is that every word from his agent's mouth last year was that they were neither expecting nor pushing for a long-term deal, and one could easily read between the lines that he was content to take arbitration money all the way until he was up for free agency. When you're looking at record arbitration dollars and have a truly unfathomable deal looming, you're not really looking to take the hometown discount. There's always the possibility of injury, but between his age and his position, you can't assume it, and you'd have a hard time convincing me the security would be worth more than the potential gain.

In the Marlins' defense, they don't know how much money they have for payroll considering their new stadium deal is in everlong.

On the flip side of that for the Marlins is that they didn't sign Dontrelle to a long-term deal last yearafter he nearly won the Cy Young award. I can't believe that Matt Sosnick didn't push for a multi-year deal after a season like that, 22-10, 2.63 at age 23? Now his most recent work looks considerably more pedestrian: 12-12, 3.87. Sosnick should have his "License to Deal" revoked after letting that one slip away.

On the flip side of that for the Marlins is that they didn't sign Dontrelle to a long-term deal last yearafter he nearly won the Cy Young award. I can't believe that Matt Sosnick didn't push for a multi-year deal after a season like that, 22-10, 2.63 at age 23? Now his most recent work looks considerably more pedestrian: 12-12, 3.87. Sosnick should have his "License to Deal" revoked after letting that one slip away.

all these contracts make the reyes/wright lock ups look great too. i imagine the phil's will do the same with utley/howard - at least i hope so.

Locking up players is always a great idea "in theory." But all it takes is for a couple of these long-term deals to turn into Mike Hamptons for execs to envy a team like Florida, which makes players play for their contracts every year. And speaking of Cabrera specifically, he could use the extra motivation.

has anyone seen how fat cabrera is? or how bad his fielding is? he's gonna look fatter than mo vaughn in 2 years if he does not get serious about conditioning.

an agent can't sign a player to a long term deal if the team won't do it.

loria is trying to have the worse team out there so he can get his half a billion out of the miami taxpayers. he's not gonna try to keep guys he has to actually PAY

I'll be shocked if Willis and Cabrera aren't dealt this offseason. Especially Willis. Florida is never going to pay big bucks to anyone and those two guys would bring huge returns in top young prospects.