Brownie19

Beltre is another one. There are examples of one's that worked out too...don't get me wrong. Seems to be a lot more that didn't...even from guys who were at JDs level when they signed.

Fair enough - but there are comparable ones in Pujols, Mauer, D.Wright & Griffey Jr. You could even argue Crawford (coming off 5.9 and 7.7 WAR years), Ellsbury (who had a 9.4 WAR year and was coming off a 5.6 WAR year) and Kemp (coming off a 8.3 WAR year) are close. Ironically, the best comparisons all completely fell off a cliff almost the day they signed the massive deal...

Is there a case to be made that versatile, good players (Bryant, Zobrist, etc.) who play that sort of start/utility role are more valuable to a team than a guy who's stuck at one position? With more new-age managers in the game, I would think players might market themselves as being more valuable to an organization because they can play multiple positions.

How long is the list of ones that didn't work out? - Fielder - Pujols - Wells - Howard - Hamilton - Mauer - R.Zimmerman - Hampton - Teix - Kemp - Ellsbury - Griffey Jr. - Crawford - M.Cain - D.Wright - J.Santana - Zito - A.Soriano - J.Reyes - H.Bailey - E.Andrus - J.Upton + Miggy + J.Zimmerman (have to assume these 3 tiger signings will not) Actually - looking at this list (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_sports_contracts) there are a few more players who I think will provide value over the long term - Votto - Kershaw - Max - Verlander - Posey - Tulo - Lester - A.Gonzalez - Trout - Hamels - Freeman Book is still out on: - Strasburg (unlikely) - Stanton (injuries - yikes) - C.Davis - King Felix (more probably than not + may already have provided it with 2013-2015) - Heyward (looking ugly). - Grienke - Choo - Cueto - Braun (likely will) - Pedroia - Longo - K.Seager That's all off the top of my head, so be gentle. There may be players who have or haven't provided value (technically based on WAR).

Is there a list (or could we make a list) of players who were signed at age 31-32 on long term deals (say 6+ years) that provided positive value to the team? I suspect Adrian Beltre did, maybe Arod? but that list has to be pretty short. This seems like a move we'd do if we're on the cusp of winning the WS in 2019-2020 and we need to keep JD here to make it happen.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/joe-maddons-other-curious-decision/ Good point made.

How good would Matty V, Smoltz and Shulman be in the booth?

Get that man a banana! Where is Muni!

I think the long laces off Baez's glove hit Lindor. Does that count as a tag?

Haha. I caught that. But f*** it. It's the WS and everything is a big moment.

Did Shapiro just hold up a sign of David Ross?

I fully expect Shatkins to target platoon bats like B.Guyer

Lester seems to be reeling from the allegations he drove home drunk after the ALCS celebration...

Holy f***. Buck is doing the WS? Fail

This Kipnis injury could play a huge role in the series. Terrible luck

Coglan starting over Heyward Game 1.

Sometimes life isn't fair. We assume things and create stereotypes because a lot of the times if it smells like s*** and looks like s*** - it's s***. It's not ideal - but it's how our society works.

s*** - I thought this was a joke - but it appears it's not. Interesting.

Does Thames always carry a stuffy with him?

right - I don't feel so stupid now. thanks.

I just read 4 tickets (row 5 behind home plate) to Game 4 Saturday night in Wrigley sold for $64,000 on stubhub. Damn. (I also don't know what JG34 is - right over my head).

The thing is Eaton went from a 3.5 WAR player to a 6 WAR player simply because they took him out of CF (where his defense was below average) and put him in RF (where his defense was stupendous). If he'd played RF in 2014 and 2015, he might be coming off 3 straight 5-6 WAR seasons (in which case there's probably very little chance anyone considers trading him for Stro).

I think a lot of people compare how building around pitching is working out for the Mets and how building around position players is working out for the Cubs....and they'd rather be the Cubs.

A good observation. It used to be teams would try them as starters until they fail, then they'd try them as a starter again and again...then if he still failed, they would convert him to the pen. That mentality is changing. Tampa wasted years of productivity from Wade Davis following this old school mentality.

Maybe not once you see what Chapman and Jensen get...