One of the enduring memories of the remarkably unforgettable ESPN production "Dream Job", where geeks like me could compete for a job as an ESPN talking head, was the boss man's mantra that "ESPN doesn't make mistakes like....blah,blah,blah,blah,blah".
Simple mistakes like pronunciation of names, dates when events happened, stadium names, etc. Well, guys how about some remedial math courses thrown into the next corporate get-together?
The reason I bring this up? On a recent Baseball Tonight with Steve Bertiaume and I believe Kruk and Steve Phillips (who should know better) were batting around the
recent Buerhle-White Sox contract drama, and compared his age, salary and prior record with that of the Giants Barry Zito.
They did a good job of illustrating that they were dead even in almost all the relevant baseball stats, not including salary. Good job so far. These guys looked like equal values.
HOWEVER, they then veered into the dollars and centsd and Bertaume acted astonished that the Sox would not sign a comparable talent to Zito for ".50 cents on the dollar vis-a-vis Barry Zito. Apparently, accounting is not for everybody.
I guess using the simplistic "total value quoted" method of analysis this might be correct: Zito signs for $126 million vs. Buerhle's $56 million.
However, given the assembled on-air talent and the army of off-air staff these guys have in research (where's The Schwab when you need him?) shouldn't somebody have told these guys that Buerhle was not giving these guys any real "hometown discount"
That's another term I heard the local (Chicago) ESPN talent tossing around a little too liberally. Guys, there isn't any discount here.
I'll do the homework nobody at ESPN seems to be able to do.
Contract figures are from:
http://mlb4u.com/profile.php?id=209
We'll look at Zito's deal in depth. Although it's reported as a 7-year, $126 Million deal.
Contract:
signed 7-year deal worth $126M thru 2013 season on 12/29/06- + he receives salaries of $10M in 2007, $14.5M in 2008, $18.5M each year in 2009, 2010 and 2011 and $19M in 2012 and $20M in 2013- + the deal includes a team option for 2014 worth $18M or a $7M buyout- + the option becomes a player option if he pitches 200 innings in 2013 (with at least 180IP in either 2011 or 2012), 400 innings combined over 2012 and 2013 or 600 combined from 2011 to 2013- + if the option becomes guaranteed as a player option, but he chooses to decline it then he receives a $3.5M buyout- + he receives a complete NO-TRADE clause- + he receives a suite on road trips- + he can earn award bonuses: $500K for Cy Young Award, $200K for 2nd place Cy Young finish, $150K for 3rd palce Cy Young finish, $100K for 4th place Cy finish, $50K for 5th place Cy finish; $750K for second Cy Young award and $1M for 3rd Cy Young award; $250K for MVP, $150K for 2nd place MVP finish, $100K for 3rd place MVP, $75K for 4th place MVP and $50K for 5th place MVP; $200K for WS MVP, $100K for LCS MVP; $100K for Gold Glove and $100K for All-Star selection- + as part of the deal, he will fund the construction of youth fields in the San Francisco area through his foundation and a portion of his deal will be donated to his charity, Strikeouts for Troops- + 2006 salary: $7.9M, 2005: $5.6M, 2004: $2.7M, 2003: $900K, 2002: $500K (+ $400K signing bonus)
OK, lets see how that works out for Zito for the early years:
2007 - $10M
2008 - $14.5M
2009 - $18.5M
2010 - $18.5M
so for the first four years Zito makes $57.5M in salary.
2011 - $18.5M
2012 - $19M
2013 - $20M
and in years 5-6-7 $57.5M in salary.
So in reality, a 7-year, $115 deal, so far.
ZITO ALSO HAS $11M POTENTIAL BONUSES, BUT HE WOULD HAVE TO WIN THE CY YOUNG AWARD, TH E LEAGUE MVP, THE WORLD SERIES MVP & THE GOLD GLOVE AWARD EVERY YEAR FOR SEVEN YEARS TO COLLECT ALL $11M IN POTENTIAL BONUS DOLLARS AVAILABLE.
What are the odds of that happening? Realistically, out of that $11M pool of "potential" bonus money, he'll be lucky to collect 10-20% of it over the life of the contract.
Don't even get me started on the rant about why a guy who is already getting paid $15-20M in salary has these type of bonuses in his contract.
A-Rod has a bonus for making the All-Star team for chrissakes!!!
FOR HIS SALARY, HE SHOULD MAKE THE ALL-STAR TEAM EVERY FREAKING YEAR, OR HE FORFEITS A PERCENTAGE OF HIS SALARY!!!
Oh well, too late.
Anyway, back to Zito-Buerhle:
So Buerhle gets 4 years, $56M vs. Zito's FIRST 4 years, $57.5M, a hometown discount of $1.5M over the same four years. The only difference is Zito knows what his salary is for years 5,6 and 7 and Buerhle does not. Buerhle might get a bigger deal in the out years. It depends on his performance and where the market goes. Both sides are taking a crapshoot.
White Sox fans to this day are clogging the airwaves with fanciful hopes of a pot of $70 million in saved salary that can now be spent on top-tier free-agents (A-Rod??).
STOP IT PEOPLE!!!
Ask yourselves, who are you going to get in years 5-6-7 to be your top of the rotation starter and how much do you think it will cost in those years?
So get all your facts together before opining on these issues or issuing kudos to Kenny Wiliams, White Sox GM, or Buerhle for the "hometown discount" or loyalty or whatever. It's just not there, folks.
I'll forgive the boys at ESPN this time, after all, I owe them for removing Salibury from my local radio airwaves. And now, I hear Danny-boy is leaving also, which means the Olber-douchebag can't be far behind. My ears may stop bleeding after all.
HAT TRICK!!
Now if Doug Gottlieb can only contract terminal laryngitis. Ahhh, perchance to dream.
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