i hear you that $100MM is life changing. IMO the Sox are trying to take advantage of his "down" year offensively with this offer. a 5 year deal will really only net us/him 2 FA years, correct? i believe he is arb eligible thru 2020? plus, do we really expect him to take the first offer?
i dont know, maybe 5 years at $100MM is fair. but i think if we arent going to offer him 10 years - he would prefer to be a FA with an age that starts with a "2" rather then a "3". and a 5 year contract now puts him at "3".....