Astros Extend Contracts With Moehler and Erstad
by Stros Bro
on Aug 29, 2008 9:15 PM CDT
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The Houston Astros signed outfielder Darin Erstad to a one-year, $1.75-million contract extension and right-handed pitcher Brian Moehler to a one-year, $2.3-million contract extension on Friday. The one-year extensions for both players are for the 2009 season, and both have additional bonuses. Moehler's deal includes an option for the 2010 season.
I like both of these signings. I know some who post here believe that Moehler's been lucky and has produced better due to good defense and things like that... but I'm a results guy... and Moehler has given us a chance to win in most of his outings... therefore I think he deserved a contract extension(or a new contract, however you want to word it) and I'm glad the Astros got him on the cheap and give him a chance to earn some bonuses.
I like the Erstad signing as well. Erstad has been everything we expected him to be this season and more. He's been a very good defensive player and a good offensive player as well. Yea so he probably can't be a 150+ game starter for us... well, we need good bench players and players who can fill in and produce if a starter gets hurt. That is exactly what Erstad is and has been for the Astros all season. A very good pick up.
I REALLY like contracts that have a low base salary and then give bonuses based on performance. I think EVERY contract should be that way. No way should any player have a base salary of 15-20 million. They should have a lower salary and then the chance to make much more based on results. Unfortunately that will never happen. If you are a good player and can produce, sign a contract with good incentives. Teams should be happy to let a player have a chance to make more based on incentives then they would if they just signed a flat rate contract.
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As for incentives...my understanding is that the Collective Bargaining Agreement...
doesn’t allow bonuses based on how well they perform. The bonuses have to be for things like reaching milestones and number of at bats or innings pitched, etc.
by clack on
Aug 29, 2008 9:41 PM CDT
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Yea
stupid unions(kidding! Not all unions are bad!)… The baseball union IMO is too powerful.
Go 'Stros!
by Stros Bro on
Aug 29, 2008 9:45 PM CDT
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Owners group is too powerful too
Astros fan for life
by Joe in Birmingham on
Aug 30, 2008 10:13 AM CDT
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AMEN to that
A good friend of mine used to say, "This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains." Think about that for a while.
by DyingQuail on
Aug 30, 2008 10:21 AM CDT
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As an aside, I was irked when the Yankees persuaded Selig to make an exception
for A-Rod. His contract provides him a huge raise if he hits HR no. 500. Giving someone a raise for hitting X number of HRs (however many remain before no. 500) is a performance bonus which wouldn’t be allowed for most players. But Steinbrenner persuaded his honah, the commissioner, that it should be viewed as a milestone unrelated to peformance. I just have this feeling willing that it would have been disallowed for another ball club. You might remember that Boras and the Yankees were stalemated when they were hammering out the contract details, and this provision resolved it. So, Steinbrenner figured that he needed to avoid the fall out which would occur if A-Rod’s deal blew up and he didn’t stay in NYC.
by clack on
Aug 29, 2008 9:54 PM CDT
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just forget the word "willing" in the 3d sentence...just some kind of chafe...
which ended up there.
by clack on
Aug 29, 2008 9:56 PM CDT
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My guess is that it is very unlikely Moehler can repeat this year's performance.
But I wouldn’t be surprised if he puts up a mid or high 4’s ERA, and, in that case, $2.3 million/year isn’t a big overpayment. It won’t wreck the Astros’ budget. I might be more concerned if it turns out that the options vests with some easy to reach milestone and becomes a 2 year contract (given that he will be 40 years old in the second year). I voted for the first choice in the poll.
I expect some of the sabermetric blogs to use this as an opportunity to make fun of Wade’s love of veteran players. But, truthfully, it’s hard to bitch about paying a little bit more money to these two guys after the seasons that they have had. Both guys seem to be professionals who know their role and do it well.
by clack on
Aug 29, 2008 11:45 PM CDT
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So we pay them for that?
I mean, it’s not a ton of money, but why would that be a consideration in paying for future performance — which is Ed Wade’s job.
Moehler might not be a bad deal. I think we could have offered him arb and taken a pick and saved the 2 million-ish to go find a someone better (and younger). My guess is that he’ll sport a high 4 ERA and probably bounce between roles. Why are we paying 2 million for that?
A good friend of mine used to say, "This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains." Think about that for a while.
by DyingQuail on
Aug 30, 2008 12:07 AM CDT
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If Moehler puts up a 4.5 - 4.7 ERA and pitches 6 or 7 innings consistently over the year....
he probably is worth $2 million/year. That’s about the going rate for a No. 5 type starter. Guys like Kip Wells and Josh Fogg signed for about that much or more. Having said that, I don’t disagree with your general point that it might have been reasonable if the Astros tried to net a draft choice by offering him arbitration and letting him go.
by clack on
Aug 30, 2008 12:22 AM CDT
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If either of these contracts were in the 5 million range
I could see a lot of people having negative comments about it… but honestly… this isn’t a lot of money and there’s always the chance that Moehler comes back next season and puts up a sub 4.00 ERA like he has done since starting. He’s made 20 starts this season and only has 2 really bad starts.
Go 'Stros!
by Stros Bro on
Aug 30, 2008 7:35 AM CDT
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2 bad starts...
But the “numbers” say it’s all “luck” and this is “obviously” just a “ridiculous” amount of “money” to be paying for “a” player. """"""
by entropic soul on
Aug 30, 2008 1:35 PM CDT
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