If Danks can keep on the arc that his career has been on, his numbers will be as a 27 year old left hander hitting the free agent market. That means even if he gets a seven year deal, he would be 34 when it ended, which with Danks stuff isn't nearly the risk as many.

 

Looking at the biggest pitchers contracts, Sabathia was 30 when he got his deal, Johan was 29, Zito was 28, Hampton was 29, Lee is 32, and Kevin Brown was 34. Looking at similar points in their careers, Danks compares favorably in most cases. Santanas numbers blow John away, but the rest have had much worse seasons if you don't include Danks rookie year. I could see Danks having a pretty good shot at a seven year deal on the open market

 

And lo and behold, all those mentioned above (except Kevin Brown) are left-handed.

New contracts are really not about "what he's earned". Sure, for favorite son type players there tends to be a bit of extra money, but mostly, contracts are given to players based on what the team thinks that player WILL do in the future. These aren't back pay bonuses.

Not true....arbitration is comparing one player to another that had similiar seasons.... Your pay is based on what youve already done.

New contracts are really not about "what he's earned". Sure, for favorite son type players there tends to be a bit of extra money, but mostly, contracts are given to players based on what the team thinks that player WILL do in the future. These aren't back pay bonuses.

This is what it SHOULD be based-upon. But unfortunately, at least until you start talking about veterans in their mid-thirties or so, baseball is largely a pay for past-performance type marketplace. Perhaps enough bad contracts will alleviate this, but there always seems to be one or two GMs that need a player bad enough, whether it be to try and put his team over the top or to legitimize his club as a competitive destination, that for now, a lot of contracts get handed out for what you did last year or what you did over the course of recent history.

Not true....arbitration is comparing one player to another that had similiar seasons.... Your pay is based on what youve already done.

Wait, you're talking about arbitration? I thought we were discussing locking up Danks in a long term contract with the team - which is not arbitration. Those contracts are not about past performance, they are about anticipated future performance. Past performance is of course a major influence in that, but there is still an important difference there. Your statement that they should pay Danks what he deserves, if we are talking about a long term contract, is just not the way it works.

 

If you meant arbitration, then certainly that's different.

 

I am actually VERY afraid of the Royals. Not really this coming year, but soon. People are saying that the Royals farm system is the best farm system that they've ever seen. We could soon have our very own version of the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL Central, and that worries the s*** outta me.

 

I'm even more afraid of Kenny acquiring more Royal "talent".

 

We've heard this before about the Royals someday becoming dangerous. Losing is a habit for them. I