Comments on: Branyan Wants Multi-Year Deal

By: dawsonct

dawsonct — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:03:23 +0000

WOAH!! Thanks for your service Russel, best of luck with your future endeavors, etc….

By: Madison Mariner

Madison Mariner — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:38:45 +0000

All baseball contracts are guaranteed. You cannot have a series of one year contracts that the club can walk away from like in football.

Well, with 1 big exception in baseball:

The year-to-year contracts that arbitration-eligible players get every year(whether in arbitration or through direct negotiation with team, avoiding arbitration) are NOT guaranteed.

Teams can release players under such contracts every spring with either 30 or 45 days termination pay–the Jays did it to OF Reed Johnson in early 2008, IIRC(and then the Cubs signed him.)

Anyway, I still hold out hope for Branyan coming to terms with the M’s on a one year deal with an option for a second year–it beats trading for Lyle Overbay, as per the current rumors.

By: atcrb

atcrb — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:23:38 +0000

Who would be the better player for the M’s in 2010..Branyan or Overbay?

By: Mike Snow

Mike Snow — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:28:10 +0000

By the way, according to today's story from Larry Stone, the Mariners' offer did include an option year. So it would seem like in order to compromise further, they might need to make it a vesting option.

By: DMZ

DMZ — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:15:30 +0000

That’s a wonderful sentiment, but I think on further reflection you’ll realize how badly it goes wrong. Teams can’t be built and run that way.

By: maqman

maqman — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:32:17 +0000

The key word here is “fair.” Branyan was a 2.8 WAR in 2009, worth $12.6M according to Fangraphs, even with his time on the DL. The Ms made an $11M profit off his performance. They can give him $5 a year for 2 years and still have a profit if he gets hit by a meteorite when he stands in the box on the first day of the next season.
Branyan did good last year because he realized he wasnâ€™t seeing the ball well previously and he found and undertook an eye conditioning program that improved his visual acuity. He does an eye routine every day to stay sharp. Big but not dumb, Russell wanted to find out why he was having back problems. Working with a physical therapist he found out that although he was big and strong he had weak hip muscles, which caused too much stress on his back. He is on a therapy routine to strengthen his hip muscles and is feeling better than ever. He will be good to go next year. I wasnâ€™t a big fan of his until recently, now I think he deserves a two year deal, has earned it and it is the fair thing to do. He has a much stronger case to return than Junior, which Iâ€™m not in favour of, but as The Safe is the house he built heâ€™s earned the right to another year there if he chooses to do so. That too is the fair thing to do. Thatâ€™s the kind of thing that make the Ms better than the Yankees.

By: coreyjro

coreyjro — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:14:13 +0000

As a player who hasn’t really seen his payday yet I think Branyan has a responsibility to get the best contract he can this season. Yes he’s an aging veteran, but he’s not like Griffey, Thome, and Delgado in the sense that he’s never had a huge contract. Those guys have made more in one season than Branyan has made in his entire career. I hope things can work out for both parties.

By: mariners2009

mariners2009 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:30:50 +0000

No one thinks that Branyon can get a multi-year deal? You forget, there is a team in the MLB called the Royals, and they love to give big deals to guys who have moved through the M’s. I could see him landing in KC for something like 20 million over 3 years. And you all know after reading that statment just how dumb but true it sounds.

By: Catherwood

Catherwood — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:17:09 +0000

I am not sure the NFL is the be-all, end-all of treating players equitably, considering how many drafter rookies turn out to be highly-paid busts, and how many players end up with mangled bodies and concussion-related brain damage.

There are vast differences between the two sports, the most salient of which is that not-so-old baseball players don’t go ga-ga because they played baseball in their youth, while not-so-old football players do.

The second, obvious, difference is the salary cap. The NFL has one, MLB doesn’t. Some teams can take stupid chances signing players, knowing they can just eat the salary, cut them, and buy someone else. No other league in North America allows this.

But to stay on-topic, I like the idea of one year for RB with a team option for a second year, that second year to be shaped, perhaps, by first-year performance (minimum AB, and so on).

By: TranquilPsychosis

TranquilPsychosis — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:04:21 +0000

Agreed. Then again, thereâ€™s always this guy who did alright after his surgery (also note the torque hitting a baseball 400+ > throwing a baseball 100+).

So you are citing the exception rather than the rule to rebut my argument? I’m not sure I can buy into that. Also, RJ’s fastball was 97-98 for most of those years. And actually his slider was (and still is) his best pitch.