A contract fit for a King

[moriartp]

Felix Hernandez gets $175 million to keep him in Seattle though 2019 (replacing the two years left on his current deal and adding another five). There are going to be some good teams in the AL West for quite some time.

Oh, and he'll be just 33 at the end of the contract.

[Bench]

Over/under on no-hitters against the Astros over the next three seasons?

[Mr. Happy]

That proves to me that the Seattle ownership is serious and wants to win.

[juliogotay]

Over/under on no-hitters against the Astros over the next three seasons?

Four.

[BudGirl]

Wouldn't you have thought they'd have more than one perfect game pitched against them the last 2-3 years?

[geezerdonk]

Isn't that about $750K a start? That's going to be tough to cash flow in Seattle. Are the other eight guys going to be volunteers?

[moriartp]

Isn't that about $750K a start?

That's if he doesn't hit the DL for any length of time.

[Reuben]

Isn't that about $750K a start? That's going to be tough to cash flow in Seattle. Are the other eight guys going to be volunteers?

It basically adds 5 years at $27mil/year onto his existing contract, which had 2 years left. He's amazing, and certainly I'd rather have him at that price than Greinke at his price, but man. That is a HUGE risk.

[MusicMan]

7 year pitching contracts are a brilliant idea.

[Mr. Happy]

7 year pitching contracts are a brilliant idea.

Are you thinking about the Giants and Barry Zito? The deal hasn't worked out so well for the Giants. I wouldn't give any pitcher, I don't care a lick about the ceiling, a deal longer than three years, and that's not what most would get out of me. Most would be yearly deals. Too many things can go wrong for a pitcher health-wise. I would make a terrible GM because I would be loath to hand out long-term contracts like candy.

[Ty in Tampa]

Are you thinking about the Giants and Barry Zito? The deal hasn't worked out so well for the Giants. I wouldn't give any pitcher, I don't care a lick about the ceiling, a deal longer than three years, and that's not what most would get out of me. Most would be yearly deals. Too many things can go wrong for a pitcher health-wise. I would make a terrible GM because I would be loath to hand out long-term contracts like candy.

Bash that sarc meter there, Hap...

[BizidyDizidy]

Bash that sarc meter there, Hap...

No one could be that oblivious

[Ron Brand]

Realistically, long-term deals like this are a mixture of

a) AIS, new or maintained
b) keeping a star happy
c) flags fly forever, and championship-hunt level $$$ spends that debt down
d) if the star gets hurt, hello insurance claim
e) overall payout vs. the real 3-4 years of expected production
f) I'm selling the team by the time this thing gets ugly, so what the hey

[Bench]

No one could be that oblivious

One man can be.

[chuck]

No one could be that oblivious

Do you know that Japanese linguistic custom basically precludes the use of sarcasm and that as a result they have a very difficult time detecting it in language that does employ it?

I would ordinarily wonder if someone who demonstrates difficulty in detecting sarcasm had undergone some hyper-intensive, culture-immersion Japanese language training but I happen to know that Hap refuses to leave his Montana survivalist compound. So I don't know what to tell you.

[geezerdonk]

Sayonara

[Mr. Happy]

Bash that sarc meter there, Hap...

Y'all know that my sarc-meter does not work. This isn't new. Move along, folks. Nothing interesting here. I noted that no one but my friend, Ron Brand, responded to the substance of my comment. And, Chuck, I also am clueless about the Japanese culture. I just take people literally.

[chuck]

Say, that reminds me. Has any one read 1Q84? I've liked Murakami in reasonable doses but I'm not sure what to make of 1,000 pages staring at me.

[Ebby Calvin]

Say, that reminds me. Has any one read 1Q84? I've liked Murakami in reasonable doses but I'm not sure what to make of 1,000 pages staring at me.

I have a buddy who's reading it now.  He really likes it, but it took a good 400 pages to get going.  It's hard to top Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, but he's done some really good stuff since then.  We always joke that he's the only author who can write 1,000 pages about a boy who sits at the bottom of a well and make it interesting.

[astrosfan76]

Say, that reminds me. Has any one read 1Q84? I've liked Murakami in reasonable doses but I'm not sure what to make of 1,000 pages staring at me.

I checked it out from the library and got in ~350-400 pages.  I liked the premise and it was interesting, but I couldn't get into it enough to muscle through the sheer volume, especially with time constraints.  It just wasn't enough of a page-turner for me.  Which is a shame, because I was looking forward to reading it after hearing about it.  In Japan, it was released as three volumes, perhaps it would have been more palpable in that format.  That's just me, though and it was my first experience reading Japanese literature.

[chuck]

I have a buddy who's reading it now.  He really likes it, but it took a good 400 pages to get going.  It's hard to top Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, but he's done some really good stuff since then.  We always joke that he's the only author who can write 1,000 pages about a boy who sits at the bottom of a well and make it interesting.

Proust qualifies I think.

[Ron Brand]

Say, that reminds me. Has any one read 1Q84?

No, but I read the comic.

[NeilT]

I checked it out from the library and got in ~350-400 pages.  I liked the premise and it was interesting, but I couldn't get into it enough to muscle through the sheer volume, especially with time constraints.  It just wasn't enough of a page-turner for me.  Which is a shame, because I was looking forward to reading it after hearing about it.  In Japan, it was released as three volumes, perhaps it would have been more palpable in that format.  That's just me, though and it was my first experience reading Japanese literature.

I listened to it, but didn't read it.  I liked it, but it's been awhile.  Sometimes I go back and read books that I've listened to, or vice versa, and that's one I'd probably think about reading.

[Limey]

Proust qualifies I think.

Even in summary.

[NeilT]

Y'all know that my sarc-meter does not work. This isn't new. Move along, folks. Nothing interesting here. I noted that no one but my friend, Ron Brand, responded to the substance of my comment. And, Chuck, I also am clueless about the Japanese culture. I just take people literally.

We all know your sarc-meter doesn't work, but if it were me, I think I'd start claiming that every time I missed it that whoever raised the issue just missed your counter-sarcasm, and needs to check their sarc meter.  It could be and endless sarcasm cycle, which could power the Eastern grid.