Big Free Agent Contracts

[ADRIANGABRIEL]

The Giants won a World Series and they paid Barry Zito not to pitch!

Why is this not a problem? Because the Giants were paying just over $16M to Cain, Lincecum, Sanchez, and Baumgartner for 13.6 WAR. On the open market, that WAR should be worth about $70M.

As it stands, even with Zito on board, the Giants paid their starting pitchers less than $35M for over 15 WAR. Overall, the Giants actually got more than twice the value of what they paid their starting pitchers. Aren't they so stupid?!

For his career, Zito's bWAR is 32.6. If 1 WAR is worth $5M on the open market, then Barry Zito's career is worth $163M. Even if Zito doesn't pitch again and the Giants give him another $46M, he's still been underpaid for his career by about $19M.

I'm not saying these contracts can't be seriously damaging to a team's chances. However, the way baseball works, you can pay young superstar talent a fraction of what they would make when they're older. I don't see anyone who's upset at how much less young superstars are getting paid than they should be. The bloated contracts on the back-end are a function of the system that has been setup.

Zito's WAR with the A's was 28.8. He made $18M. So he was underpaid by $126M in Oakland. Aren't they so smart?!

[docdave]

That number on Carl Crawford just has to be wrong, Aero. TypoDave?