Baseball's $100 million men

Sport's Illustrated's Web site recently posted a gallery of baseball's 16 $100 million men. It got me thinking about the success of the players' teams since handing out these massive contracts. The players are: Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Manny Ramirez, Todd Helton, Johan Santana, Alfonso Soriano, Vernon Wells, Barry Zito, Mike Hampton, Jason Giambi, Carlos Beltran, Ken Griffey Jr., Kevin Brown, Albert Pujols, Carlos Lee and Miguel Cabrera.


"This is how many wins I will give you for your $14.5 million in 2008."

The fundamental problem with handing out contracts like these is that the players are always looking for an extremely long-term deal, and are already established stars, which means they are likely in their late 20s or early 30s. Giving a long-term deal to a player that age means a team will have him until his late 30s at least, and will be paying him the most during those later years since the salaries in these contracts typically go up each year. A team that hands out a contract like this get a few years of the player's prime, but they will end up paying him the most during his later (and likely, worst) years.

The other problem is that teams that blow so much money on one player do not leave enough money left over to surround their superstar with other quality players. As the Rays proved this year, a championship-caliber team does not need a high-priced superstar to be successful.

Let's take a look at how these teams with loose wallets have fared since signing their big-name free agents:

Alex Rodriguez - $275 million, 10 years
Yankees, signed in 2008
Age when contract will be complete: 42
World Series' won by Yankees since signing: 0

Derek Jeter - $189 million, 10 years
Yankees, signed in 2001
Age when contract will be complete: 37
World Series' won by Yankees since signing: 0

Manny Ramirez - $160 million, 8 years
Red Sox, signed in 2000
Contract completed at age 36
World Series' won by Red Sox since signing: 2

Todd Helton - $141 million, 9 years
Rockies, signed in 2001, took effect in 2003
Age when contract will be complete: 39
World Series' won by Rockies since signing: 0

Johan Santana - $137.5 million, 6 years
Mets, signed in 2008
Age when contract will be complete: 34
World Series' won by Mets since signing: 0

Alfonso Soriano - $136 million, 8 years
Cubs, signed in 2007
Age when contract will be complete: 38
World Series' won by Cubs since signing: 0

Vernon Wells - $126 million, 7 years
Blue Jays, signed in 2007
Age when contract will be complete: 35
World Series' won by Blue Jays since signing: 0

Barry Zito - $126 million, 7 years
Giants, signed in 2007
Age when contract will be complete: 35
World Series' won by Giants since signing: 0

Mike Hampton - $121 million, 8 years
Rockies, signed in 2001
Contract completed at age 35
World Series' won by Rockies since signing: 0

Jason Giambi - $120 million, 7 years
Yankees, signed in 2002
Contract completed at age 37
World Series' won by Yankees since signing: 0

Carlos Beltran - $119 million, 7 years
Mets, signed in 2005
Age when contract will be completed: 34
World Series' won by Mets since signing: 0

Ken Griffey Jr. - $116.5 million, 9 years
Reds, signed in 2000
Contract completed at age 38
World Series' won by Reds since signing: 0

Kevin Brown - $105 million, 7 years
Dodgers, signed in 1999
Contract completed at age 40
World Series' won by Dodgers since signing: 0

Albert Pujols - $100 million, 7 years
Cardinals, signed in 2004
Age when contract will be complete: 30
World Series' won by Cardinals since signing: 1

Carlos Lee - $100 million, 6 years
Astros, signed in 2006
Age when contract will be complete: 36
World Series' won by Astros since signing: 0

Miguel Cabrera - $153.3 million, 8 years
Tigers, signed in 2008
Age when contract will be complete: 32
World Series' won by Tigers since signing: 0

Total - $2.22 billion, 124 years
Combined World Series' won: 3

The moral of the story is that paying players big money does not even come close to guaranteeing a World Series appearance or win, but teams still hand it out because if they do not some other team will. If a team does decide to do it, they should make sure it is a bona fide superstar (Rodriguez, Pujols), that the player is not already old at the time of signing (Brown) and that the player has not shown even the slightest sign of decline (Zito).

There are some clear winners (Pujols, Ramirez) and losers (Zito, Hampton, Brown, Giambi) in this group, and some that the jury is still out on (Cabrera, Santana, Soriano). Others, like Rodriguez and Jeter, have played well but their teams have nothing to show for it.

The way things are working now, if a team does not want to pay somebody's huge contract demands, that player can always find a more willing team waiting with open arms and an open wallet. What I want to see this offseason is for every team to refuse to hand out huge contracts and force superstars to futilely hold out for the big money. How awesome would it be to see Mark Teixeira or Francisco Rodriguez starting the 2009 season with the Long Island Ducks or Atlantic City Surf?