Thursday, January 16, 2014

Will Trout be the next $30 million player?

Yesterday it was announced that Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers have agreed to a 7 year, $215 million deal, making him the highest paid player per year: I got these numbers from an ESPN article... 

Clayton Kershaw, LAD ('14-20)$30,714,286
x-Roger Clemens, NYY ('07)$28,000,022
Alex Rodriguez, NYY ('08-17)$27,500,000
Justin Verlander, Det ('13-19)$25,714,286
I know baseball contract have been ridiculous the past few years but I think it's understandable to shell out that kind of money if you have it available. I can't argue as a Yankee fan when I was fine with them signing so many players in the early 2000's to make the playoffs to then get ousted in the first round. The only reason I'm against them is because of the history of long contracts working out. We all know how A Rod has turned out, Pujols has been injured the first two years of his ten year contract, Prince Fielder got traded and his numbers dipped, Joe Mauer's numbers aren't the same and he is no longer playing catcher, Texiera has not been the same since that championship season, CC is the brightest part of that rotation but not the same as before, Tulowitki and Werth are iffy as well and Verlander may be slowing down. I believe Manny and Jeter has pretty good seasons during their long careers but it is a tough investment. 

Positives I can say is that Kershaw has been the best pitcher in the league the past three years. I will be using stats from http://www.baseball-reference.com... He's has 6.0+ WAR the past three seasons (6.5,6.2,7.8 respectively) and has led the National League in ERA the last three seasons only been twice before (Greg Maddux and Sandy Koufax). I guess win total (13,21,14,16) is not a factor when it comes to judging a pitcher when you have the ERA  and pitchers at least pitching in 200 plus innings the past four years. He is 26 years old and his contract will expire at 31 if he decides to opt out and 33 if he doesn't. He has the potential and previous stats to do well. The best pitcher in the league will always end up getting the highest contract and I can't argue why he was given the money. I'm just concerned about the years and that he doesn't turn in to a Lincecum. 

Now to Trout by far my favorite player in the league. I grew up player outfielder and in the 90s I was a fan of Bernie Williams, Griffey, Edmonds, Andrew Jones. So in a way I'll be subjective and objective. I'm objective because the way he plays reminds me of Griffey, Hunter and all the amazing outfielders during that era. His defense is amazing, has hit a plus .300 average, 25+ Homeruns, lead the league in SB two seasons ago. He has all five tools ( has a good arm, runs for speed, hits for average, hits for decent power and everyone knows he can field. I love looking up numbers and he posted a WAR of 10.9 and 9.2 the last two years. He is an everyday player and will definitely get his money, he probably won't get A Rod money unless he improves the numbers he posted in the next two year.. He is 21 so I won't be surprised if he gets a long term contract but not with $30 million. Only time will tell and LA has the money to do so. Baseball has slowly shifted to the West Coast, maybe I should move back/ These two players will keep me interested in baseball for the next decade or so. 

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