Bucky wrote:

Good effort, Bucky.

introductory press conference tomorrow

LT's right, of course. I'm sure the team and the agents both employ finance people who can break down the contract NPVs. Sometimes the players may even like the bigger total top line contract value. 3/50 (even on a backloaded deal) sounds a lot more than 3/40 (even on a frontloaded deal) even if both deals equal out to the same NPV.

Also, LT is right that adding money on a deal to pay for the backloaded portion still saves the team money overall solely because of time value of money.

Klentak's backloading of this deal is the right way to do it. Amaro's contracts with random options with huge buyouts never made any sense (except maybe the Cliff Lee deal structure, but that was a terrible contract in the first place).

Before analytics were as mainstream in assessing a player's worth, I think players also were OK with a backloaded deal because it helped them negotiate the "next" deal. Coming off a season in which he made $20M instead of $10M (if payouts were reversed in years 1 and 3) would have helped McCutchen in his 2023 deal. I'm not so sure that matters much in today's free agent market, but maybe there's still some perception factor. McCutchen's buyout year salary is "only" $15M, so the perception-based backloading benefit is a bit muted in this specific case.

The buyouts never seem team friendly unless they aren't utilized. Then, the benefit comes from the buyout already having been counted against the cap. If McCutchen is still producing and is wanted at $15M for 2023, he'll only count $12M against the tax. Hopefully that matters.

While I understand that the time value of money plays a big factor, I have always thought backloading deals for players was a mistake. From the tram’s point of view, the player gets paid more and chews up more of your budget as his effectiveness dwindles, and from the player’s point of view, they have to wait for their money (cash up front is better, right?), and the pressure to perform going up as their salary goes up might have a deleterious effect, especially when coupled with the likely diminishment of skill that accompanies aging. More need for the player to “press.”

Wolfgang622 wrote:While I understand that the time value of money plays a big factor, I have always thought backloading deals for players was a mistake. From the tram’s point of view, the player gets paid more and chews up more of your budget as his effectiveness dwindles, and from the player’s point of view, they have to wait for their money (cash up front is better, right?), and the pressure to perform going up as their salary goes up might have a deleterious effect, especially when coupled with the likely diminishment of skill that accompanies aging. More need for the player to “press.”

From a GM’s perspective, you never know how long you have. If you’re paying less in the first couple years, it gives you more flexibility during the time you’re reasonably sure you’ll have a job.

Doesn’t get the nbcsp treatment.

ReadingPhilly wrote:Doesn’t get the nbcsp treatment.

A shame, because he's really awesome at this part

gets his familiar #22, previously worn by Gabe

ReadingPhilly wrote:Doesn’t get the nbcsp treatment.

Gotta sell some vacuums instead. That's pathetic.

Kapler said McCutchen may lead off, which to me only makes sense if they get one of the big guns

I think they really want Segura to hit 2nd, which makes a ton of sense to me

If they get only one of Machado/Harper, I may still be tempted to hit Cesar leadoff to spread the lineup out a little bit and hit Cutch 5th

Bat Segura 2nd and he’s gonna hit into a ton of dp’s.

JFLNYC wrote:Bat Segura 2nd and he’s gonna hit into a ton of dp’s.

Gonna be a problem with Machado too, he led MLB in them last year

JFLNYC wrote:Bat Segura 2nd and he’s gonna hit into a ton of dp’s.

yeh, I would think 2nd would be one of the worst places to hit him. He also doesn't see many pitches, so the SB numbers from the leadoff spot will go down. And his OBP isn't great and it's largely BA driven. I would put him 5th or 6th, depending who else we get. Let him drive in the people on base with his high BA and low SO rate.

BigEd76 wrote:

get yourself a free agent who looks at your manager this way.

https://www.mlb.com/phillies/video/mccu ... id=8877464

He seems great, the whole good clubhouse presence rep appears well deserved.

HOW BIG IS DADDY'S CONTRACT??




In truth, I'm very happy to have one of the good guys in baseball and his family here. Let's hope Philly lets him stay that way.