It's because outs are so important. In baseball, the out is the most precious commodity. Giving up an out via caught stealing takes away a lot of the value of the stolen base. The break even point varies from year to year, but it's typically somewhere around 70%. Someone who steals 2 out of 3 bases successfully is actually hurting his team.
The problem is that both Seattle and Oakland would have to jump over the Yankees, and those two teams have 10 games remaining between them. Believe me, I would love to see it happen, but I don't think either team has it in them if the Yankees play decent ball.
I'm not even talking about his contract. Pujols was older when he signed his, I realize that.
I'm talking about age by age comparisons.
Pujols might not be the best comp. I understand that some players age better than others. But the fact of the matter is, players peak at about 28. They start to decline in their very early 30s, and by the mid 30s that decline is usually quite drastic. It is completely possible that the last 5 years of Mookie's 10 year deal will be an albatross.
There are some players who defy those odds. Mookie might be one of them.
For me, it's too big of a risk to take.
I'll ask again. Is 5 years of an MVP type player worth also having 5 years of replacement level?
Your budget idea has some merit to it. I don't think that the players would go along with it though. I wonder what guys like Moreland and Pearce are thinking playing alongside players like Price and eventually Mookie who are making several times more than they are.
IMO, anything over 4 years is a big contract. For the top players, I can see going 5 or 6 years. And obviously, the player's age is a consideration. For someone like Mookie, I might begrudgingly go 7 or 8 years.
Ideally for me, Mookie would take an 8 year extension this offseason @ $30 mil per year.
Amen, brother Notin.
I am far more impressed with Dombrowski's acquisitions of Pearce, Kinsler, and Eovaldi, and his earlier signing of Moreland, than I am with his acquisitions of Sale, Kimbrel, and Price.
Albert Pujols, through the age of 30, was worth an average of 7.73 WAR per year.
After the age of 30 through the present, he has been worth an average of 1.36 WAR per year.
Even worse, from the age of 32 through the present, he has been worth a mere .6 WAR each year, on average.
Bill Koch
@BillKoch25
9h9 hours ago
Bill Koch Retweeted Nick Friar
Kimbrel in 36 save situations -- .132/.222/.281, 3.92 K/BB
Kimbrel in 9 non-save situations -- .242/.359/.424, 2.17 K/BB
Odd. I could understand the difference if Kimbrel were coming into games that were blowouts as opposed to save situations, but really, how much difference is there between a 3 run lead and a 4 run lead?
One thing that often bothers me is when one reliever comes into the game, has a dominant inning with very few pitches, then is replaced by another reliever the next inning, who may or may not get the job done. I wish the manager (not just Cora) would let a reliever pitch a 2nd inning when the first one was so easy.
My focus with managers has always been the off field stuff, not the in game decisions.
Cora has found a way to get his players to buy into everything he is selling. The players know that Cora has their backs. As one of the players said, they will jump through hoops for Cora.
Also, I think that Roenicke is an excellent complement to Cora.