ensco

State taxes are deductible from federal taxes in the US. The paystub doesn't really tell the story. Anyway, we are being boring. I think it matters, you don't, agree to disagree, cheers.

Sorry that's not quite right. Using you numbers (15%), to get EE $60M after tax in Toronto means you have to pay him $111.1M If the number is 46% in Canada vs 35% in Florida (which is closer to reality, based on deductions), then to get EE $65M in Toronto you have to pay him $120M, ie 20% more. This got a lot of press when the Leafs were going after Stamkos. There is a major difference, I don't see the controversy anywhere else.

There are blogs you can google that claim that the tax difference is barely anything, but they never give you the math they are using. First of all, the difference between a 46% tax rate and a 40% tax rate in dollars paid is 15%, not 6%. Secondly, high income earners in places like Florida have tremendous deductions that aren't available in Canada (mortgage interest, and lots of other things) I may have overstated it. This article shows it being $2.6M in tax, vs $2.2M, or about 18%, for Josh Johnson in 2012, but I think it increase at higher levels http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2012/11/14/traded-marlins-players-will-take-2-million-tax-hit-in-canada/#4e87b7a3b2f1

btw for any player that a team in Texas, Florida, Arizona want, given the relative tax rate ... the Jays start with a ~25-30% disadvantage, If EE is offered 5/100 from Texas or Miami, Jays need to be at 5/125 or something to match Seeing what Reddick got definitely makes me think EE will blast through $25M AAV btw. Reddick got 25-50% more in total dollars than he would have got 2-3 years ago. The market is just insane.

Davis was one year removed from a 0.8 WAR (but I totally get that you get paid for "recency") I'll put it another way - it's just about whether there is an auction or not. I think there is. I'm convinced that there will be enough interest, real and perceived, from the free spending teams like the Red Sox, that Eddie will get the high end.

Sorry but the Sandoval contract is a meaningful data point. It's what the market was recently, for a player with question marks (Sandoval's issues were well known pre the contract), when multiple teams bid. The fact that Sandoval was a bust is a point, sure, but there is no evidence that the market pricing structure has changed (in fact, it's probably more insane in competitive situations, ie Price last year)

Thanks. I know. Long time lurker. It happened to be a close proxy, in this particular case. I should have used WAR because it just makes the point more clearly - EE has a higher WAR than Cespedes (or Davis did last year) I think the issue of age related dropoff is pretty significant in 30 year olds also, as the Pujols post noted.

But when you look at what Sandoval projected to be over the next 5 years... I mean his peak year was 25 HRs or something. That's what EE will probably hit in year 4, even with the age impact. I get that good 3B play has value EE doesn't bring, but Sandoval aged 31 isn't projecting out to be remotely close to EE as a hitter aged 37. I only raise Cespedes because it's clear that the price of eggs for this kind of player in his prime is $25M per year I think the 4/80 benchmark is wishful thinking. He will get more. Maybe a lot more. Not Davis money though (I agree Davis is worth more, but there is some injury risk with Davis). I think the 5/110 people have it about right, (3x25, 1x20, 1x15), but it could go higher.

Why is everyone so convinced that 4/80 is "fair", in a world where when Pablo Sandoval got 5/95, and Cespedes got 3/75 with an opt out. He has averaged almost 40 HRs a year for 5 years. Even with the inevitable falloff as he ages, seems to me EE could get 5/125, if he gets an auction going. 6/150 is not out of the question.