Clayton Kershaw 7 yr 215 MM extension

[All The Hype]

Richest contract for pitcher in baseball history. Per ESPN, more to come.

 

[Jaypers]

I'll be curious to see if this takes LA out of the Tanaka hunt.

They claim otherwise, but we shall see.

 

[Super Mario]

What a stupid contract. No pitcher is, ever has been, or ever will be, worth $215 million.

No position player is worth that. And no player who only plays once every five days is worth that.

But kudos to Kershaw for getting such a large contract.

 

[All The Hype]

What a stupid contract. No pitcher is, ever has been, or ever will be, worth $215 million.

No position player is worth that. And no player who only plays once every five days is worth that.

But kudos to Kershaw for getting such a large contract.

I tend to agree with you, although he has won 2 Cy Youngs in 3 years (he was 2nd in voting in 2012). What if he reals off 4 more Cy Youngs in the next 7 years? Think he'd be worth that much money? Seems to me he would, especially being a young home-grown talent and one of the faces of the franchise.

 

[longbomberz]

He's the best pitcher in the game at 25 and teams are printing money. Contracts are going to keep going up.

 

[vwnut13]

He's the best pitcher in the game at 25 and teams are printing money. Contracts are going to keep going up.

...but when the Yankees do it...

 

[Super Mario]

I tend to agree with you, although he has won 2 Cy Youngs in 3 years (he was 2nd in voting in 2012). What if he reals off 4 more Cy Youngs in the next 7 years? Think he'd be worth that much money? Seems to me he would, especially being a young home-grown talent and one of the faces of the franchise.

And he could blow out his shoulder this spring training and never be the same pitcher ever again.

 

[longbomberz]

And he could blow out his shoulder this spring training and never be the same pitcher ever again.

You could apply that to any contract. You can't solely abide by the worst case scenario when making decisions.

On the other side of the coin, what if they wait and he repeats his 2013 season this year. $300 million?

 

[ChasHawk]

This is incredibly painful for me to say, but I agree with everything Sam has posted in this thread.

Whew! That took a piece of my soul with it...:lol:

 

[Jaypers]

All I know is, Price and Scherzer owe Kershaw a steak dinner. They're presently dancing in the streets.

 

[Super Mario]

You could apply that to any contract. You can't solely abide by the worst case scenario when making decisions.

On the other side of the coin, what if they wait and he repeats his 2013 season this year. $300 million?

Yeah, it's a double edge sword for sure.

But when I do see things like this, a little part of me wants to actually see the player completely fail and make the team regret handing out such a ridiculous contract, putting an albatross on the franchise.

Hopefully what the Pujols contract does to Anaheim, and the Cano contract does to Seattle.

 

[Super Mario]

This is incredibly painful for me to say, but I agree with everything Sam has posted in this thread.

Whew! That took a piece of my soul with it...:lol:

Haha. You probably won't agree with my last post, so you should find solace in that haha.

 

[ChasHawk]

You could apply that to any contract. You can't solely abide by the worst case scenario when making decisions.

On the other side of the coin, what if they wait and he repeats his 2013 season this year. $300 million?

Kershaw is coming off arguably the best season of his career, as he went 16-9 with a 1.83 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 232 strikeouts.

Great ERA, but 16-9 is not mind blowing.

 

[ChasHawk]

Haha. You probably won't agree with my last post, so you should find solace in that haha.

Actually I feel a little bit that way too when I see these stupid contracts getting handed out.

 

[markakis8]

...but when the Yankees do it...

Don't worry the Dodgers are quickly becoming the NL West Yankees...over $200 payroll and not getting to the World Series, sometimes not even the playoffs.

 

[markakis8]

Yeah, it's a double edge sword for sure.

But when I do see things like this, a little part of me wants to actually see the player completely fail and make the team regret handing out such a ridiculous contract, putting an albatross on the franchise.

Hopefully what the Pujols contract does to Anaheim, and the Cano contract does to Seattle.

Now come on, I know you like to defend ARod, but you can't leave him out too.

 

[longbomberz]

Great ERA, but 16-9 is not mind blowing.

He had 11 starts with 2 ER or less allowed where he received a loss or no decision. Pitcher wins and losses are worthless.

 

[Super Mario]

Now come on, I know you like to defend ARod, but you can't leave him out too.

You're right.

 

[Austin]

...although he has won 2 Cy Youngs in 3 years (he was 2nd in voting in 2012).

Tim Lincecum did the same thing, then he became mediocre and is being paid $20 million a year.
I hope Kershaw fares better, but signing pitchers to monster contracts is a huge risk.

 

[Musial Collector]

If I read the story correctly, opt out after 5.
Holy hell hes gonna be a 300 million player if he wins 2-3 Cy Youngs and the Dodgers win 1-2 titles in the next 5 years.