Tuesday, February 1
By Sean McAdam
Special to ESPN.com
While the Detroit Tigers await word from Juan Gonzalez on their eight-year, $140 million proposal and the New York Yankees hold their breath that Gonzalez' pending deal doesn't make their tentative pact with Derek Jeter (seven years, $118.5 million) seem inadequate, the Boston Red Sox can be excused for sitting back with a satisfied smile.
The Red Sox are like the neighbor who finishes his Christmas shopping a week before Thanksgiving. Or the co-worker who files his tax return the first week of February.
Their dirty work is done.
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A sweet deal
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The Red Sox took a risk by signing Nomar Garciaparra to a long-term deal after his rookie season, but the contract now looks like a steal:
Signing bonus: $2 million
1998 -- $600,000
1999 -- $900,000
2000 -- $3.3 million
2001 -- $6.85 million
2002 -- $8.6 million
2003 -- $10.5 million (club option)
2004 -- $11.5 million (club option)
Note: Original deal included a $1 million buyout for the club for the option seasons.
Also: If Garciaparra makes the AL All-Star team in four of the first five years of the life of the guaranteed contract (1998-2002), the option year salaries increase by $500,000 each season (i.e., 2003 goes from $10.5 to $11 million and 2004 goes from $11.5 million to $12 million).
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Exactly two years ago, general manager Dan Duquette took the bold step of giving shortstop Nomar Garciaparra a five-year deal worth $24.75 million, plus two additional years at the club's option.
Should the Red Sox exercise the options for the 2003 and 2004 seasons, as they certainly are expected to do before April 1, Garciaparra's total deal will be worth $44.25 million over seven years.
That computes to an annual average value of $6.32 million, or, about one-third the amount of the deals being negotiated for Gonzalez and Jeter.
At the time the contract was completed, Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette took some criticism for the deal.
Sure, Garciaparra had enjoyed a terrific rookie season. He hit .306 with 30 homers and 98 RBI, led the major leagues in multi-hit games, led the American League in hits, was second in the league in total bases, runs and extra-base hits and led his team in RBI, all of which earned him unanimous Rookie of the Year honors.
Still, it was just one season and some wondered if the Red Sox hadn't been premature in granting Garciaparra such a long-term, lucrative deal.
"The idea at the time was to sign our core players and add some stability to our team," Duquette says now. "In Nomar's case, it was obvious that he was a very gifted player. After one year, he performed statistically better than any other player in the history of the organization.
"There are always risks in multi-year deals. But in our case, we're happy that Nomar is committed to the Red Sox for the next several years."
With the benefit of a few years' hindsight, of course, it's clear that the Sox made the right move. Garciaparra has only gotten better, finishing second in AL MVP balloting in his second season, while capturing a batting title last year, his third.
Just 26, it's conceivable that he has yet to reach his full potential. On anyone's short list of the game's best all-around players, Garciaparra name must be included. And thanks to some foresight, the Red Sox now have him under contract for the next five seasons, including two years past his free agency year, which would have been after the 2002 season.
While the Tigers can be excused on this matter -- they obtained Gonzalez in a deal only three months ago -- the Yankees have no such cover for procrastinating. Principal owner George Steinbrenner deserves credit for putting together a team that has won three of the last four World Series, but he has done so at his own financial peril.
Repeatedly, Steinbrenner has passed on the opportunity to lock up his best young players (Jeter, Bernie Williams, Mariano Rivera) to long-term deals, opting instead to deal contractually on a year-to-year basis.
That short-sighted approach has cost Steinbrenner tens of millions and untold hard feelings in arbitration. If, for example, Jeter and the Yanks don't finalize their deal soon, the shortstop can have his 2000 salary decided in arbitration and should he win his case, be paid $10.5 million -- or some $7.2 more than Garciaparra stands to earn this season.
(True, Jeter has a year of service time on Garciaparra and would be more highly paid to begin with, but not $7.2 million worth).
A year ago, Steinbrenner's stubbornness nearly cost him Williams, who was reigned back in at the 11th hour with a $87.5 million contract.
By contrast, Duquette's decision to lock-up Garciaparra and pitcher Pedro Martinez -- who has four more years to go on his six-year deal -- look like strokes of fiscal genius.
"There are very few players that qualify as franchise players," Duquette said, "players that give you a competitive edge, who can perform in the the clutch and produce quality numbers year-in, year-out. We thought (Garciaparra) would be a player you can build your team around."
Duquette and the Red Sox seem to have learned a basic but vital truism about baseball economics -- the market for star players is ever-escalating and tomorrow's price is bound to be higher than today.
Of course, as the money pile grows higher and higher for comprable players, there's nothing to prevent Garciaparra or agent Arn Tellum from asking the Red Sox to re-negotiate.
"There will be an opportunity to address that," said Duquette. "Nomar is the kind of player we'd like to have with us for his whole career."
Particuarly if they can again sign him at today's prices and not tomorrow's.
Sean McAdam of the Providence Journal-Bulletin covers the American League for ESPN.com.
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