That's entirely possible. It works the other way too, where a good hitter wins a GG because he wasn't as bad as usual in the field (e.g., Jeter, Palmeiro). I was only going by what I'd heard in scouting reports, since I don't get to see him play often.
Yeah, a Barry-less Giant lineup is going to be even more punchless than the Dodgers were this past season. Those young stud pitchers are going to have to be good to keep them in games.
Agreed. The best player in baseball should be paid accordingly, and Rodriguez set the benchmark with the last contract, when his track record wasn't as robust as it is now. It's easy to say you don't need him when you just won the World Series.
On the other hand, this is exactly the kind of salary calculation that the players union counts on to keep pushing salaries up. "Mike Hampton sucked and my guy doesn't, so he should make way more than Hampton did."
In my opinion, it's not the $30 million per that's crazy, it's the idea of 10 years. Locking yourself into that much money over so long is so risky, even with a player who works hard and stays healthy like Rodriguez.
I wouldn't go that far. A lot of people thought that contract was worrisome even when he signed it. Up to that point Dreifort had already had major surgeries, and his reputation was for having good "stuff" more than helping the team win. It wasn't a total shock that he never stayed healthy and produced for them.
20-20 hindsight is necessary for something like, say, trading Pedro Martinez for Delino DeShields.
