Another Beane brainstorm available for copycats
From ESPN.com - MLB/PLAYOFFS2006 - Kreidler: Modified Moneyball pays off for A's:
While watching Frank Thomas's at-bat in the 9th today, I thought of how genius it was of Billy Beane to offer the Big Hurt that incentive-laden contract that was essentially a low-risk one for the A's to offer.
With the success of Thomas with the A's, that's probably another tactic that other GMs are going to copy from Beane. I think sometimes Beane does this kind of thing not just to meet payroll, but simply because his mind really is operating on a level much higher than everyone else's.
Looking back, it seems like the biggest no-brainer of the winter: Thomas for $500,000, with a boatload of incentives tied directly to his being able to get on the field and stay there.
And if it was so obvious, you wonder why no one else thought of it first. Beane did, getting Thomas to come to Oakland when the Twins, among others, were courting him for their own roster. Now the results are so glowing -- and, for Thomas, enriching to the tune of millions -- that people have discussed a similarly structured contract for the likes of, say, Barry Bonds. (Bonds' reply: Uh, no.)
While watching Frank Thomas's at-bat in the 9th today, I thought of how genius it was of Billy Beane to offer the Big Hurt that incentive-laden contract that was essentially a low-risk one for the A's to offer.
With the success of Thomas with the A's, that's probably another tactic that other GMs are going to copy from Beane. I think sometimes Beane does this kind of thing not just to meet payroll, but simply because his mind really is operating on a level much higher than everyone else's.
posted by blank book at 4:39 PM
1 Comments:
I don't think the "incentive-laden" contract will catch on because most players and their agents will refuse to sign it (Bonds, for example). The Big Hurt was coming off two very poor, injury ravenged seasons. He really did not have a lot of options but to sign that type of contract. Thomas also wanted to play on a grass field to save his body which ruled out signing with Minnesota.
Thomas this year reminds me a little of Andre Dawson's famous "Blank Contract" of 1987. That year Andre Dawson wanted to leave the astroturf of Montreal so badly, the gave the Cubs a blank one year contract that was already signed. All the Cubs had to do was fill in the amount of salary. Cubs GM Dallas Green low balled Dawson by giving him a base salary of $500,000 and only $250,000 worth of incentives. Green never expected Dawson to accept those terms. Andre signed the deal, became a Cub in 1987 and won the National League MVP that year. The following year, Dawson had all the leverage and got a fair contract.
Post a Comment
<< Home