![]() Harper ended up selecting a contract on the opposite end of that spectrum, meaning the Dodgers can fit all their salaries under the luxury tax threshold in 2019. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. When every other “biggest contract ever” hovers in the $300 million range, it could be a tough ask for the $400-plus million he would receive on merit alone.īy submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice. ![]() If anything, the problem for Trout might be that he is so much better than every other player who’s negotiated a contract of this magnitude that the precedent isn’t right for him to garner his true worth. It’s impossible to overstate how large a contract Trout should command in two winters, if owners and front offices operate in good faith. This winter, Harper and Machado signed for a combined $630 million-and Trout has been as valuable as those two stars combined over their careers. But again, Trout has been the best player in baseball history thus far in his career, and he continues to improve in meaningful ways every year. Like Betts, Trout will be a few years older than Harper is now come the winter of 2020, which could scare off teams that fear adding a player for his decline. Trout’s current contract went for nine figures and still represents a massive underpay. Through that agreement, Trout has earned $78 million in four years and is due to earn another $66.5 million over the next two in that time, he’s been worth more than $70 million per season based on dollars-per-WAR calculations. That’s because Trout, the best player in baseball history through age 26, is also scheduled to reach the open market that winter, after the six-year extension he signed in 2014 expires. Mike Trout, GenerallyĮxcept Betts shouldn’t even collect the largest payday for a right-handed outfielder in his own free-agent class. Either way, plenty of dollars will soon come Betts’s way. ![]() Then the potential age difference wouldn’t be a factor and the two sides could negotiate starting with an apples-to-apples comparison. ![]() Or, much like Machado’s free-agent deal this winter provided a template for the new Nolan Arenado contract with Colorado, Harper’s contract could serve as a baseline number if Boston wants to extend its star before he reaches free agency. He shouldn’t, anyway, given the skill gap between the two players in Betts’s favor. So Betts is no stranger to record amounts of compensation, and, even with the age difference, it would be difficult to imagine Betts signing for less money than Harper in two years. That total represented a record for players at that stage of the contract process. Last season, even after a relatively down year in 2017, Betts won his arbitration case to earn $10.5 million (Boston had offered just $7.5 million), and earlier this winter, he and the Red Sox reached a $20 million deal for this season to avoid having to go to arbitration for a second consecutive year. The 2018 AL MVP is the same age as Harper but isn’t slated to reach free agency until after the 2020 season, so he’ll be two years older when searching for his big contract. Harper isn’t the best right fielder in baseball, because Boston’s Betts plays the same position. The Giants’ desperation didn’t match the Phillies’, after Philadelphia made several win-now transactions and needed a climactic capper, but he certainly would have helped.īaseball’s Chosen One Is at a Crossroads We Promise the Manny Machado–Padres Marriage Is a Good Thing Nolan Arenado’s Record Deal Is a Win for Both Him and the Rockies Mookie Betts Like Manny Machado with the Padres, he’s young enough that he would’ve still been in or near his prime when the Giants’ slow rebuild through the minor leagues was ready to return the major league club to the success it experienced in the first half of this decade. But he would have made them better this year, and he would have made them better in 2020, and he would have made them better in 2021 and beyond. Harper alone wouldn’t have fixed the Giants’ 2019 problems, which range from an aging core to a spotty staff to an outfield that would need two Harper-level players to look good. FanGraphs forecasts a 75-87 record for San Francisco this year, Baseball Prospectus 73-89-and both marks are the worst in the NL outside Miami. The Giants project as one of baseball’s worst teams this season, after winning just 64 games in 2017 and 73 in 2018, despite making win-now moves-trading for Andrew McCutchen and Evan Longoria, among others-last offseason. Check out all of The Ringer ’s MLB coverage leading up to Opening Day San Francisco Giants
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