More Thoughts on the Adam Lind Contract
When other MLB agents start getting pissy, that’s when you know you’re doing something right as a General Manager.
Ken Rosenthal reports that some agents are all up in arms about Adam Lind’s latest 4-year $18 million dollar contract extension, arguing that Lind could have easily gotten that kind of money without the club options:
“Three club options? The union hates those deals and understandably so,” one agent said. “He should have gotten those numbers without the options. The arbitration process rewards offensive production, and this kid is going to produce.”
Good for Lind’s agent John Courtright on negotiating a deal that was best for the client, rather than gouging the Blue Jays for maximum dollars. Maybe Scott Boras could learn a lesson or two from Mr. Courtright.
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Delving further into this topic, Rosenthal also shared a few more thoughts on the Lind contract:
“Adam Lind’s new deal with the Blue Jays is another example of the crashing market for designated hitters as teams place renewed emphasis on defense.
At first glance, his four-year, $18 million contract looks extremely club-friendly, particularly since Lind granted the Jays club options on each of his first three free-agent years. Yet, when considering the harsh treatment of DH types in recent free-agent markets, the deal makes more sense.
The risk for Lind is that salaries will return to the point where top DHs command better money. The risk for the Jays is that Lind will get injured or decline.”
Lind signed this extension when contracts for a DH are at an all time low, and most designated hitters are lucky to even squeak out a two-year contract.
If he is going to continue to be the starting DH, then the Blue Jays picked a very good time to sign Lind this contract while the market is still down. Chalk one for the good guys!
Rival agents are upset because they see their commissions disappearing. Whine me a river.
I thought that there might be some kind of reaction to this from agents. It is actually refreshing to see a contract being called 'club-friendly' in this day. We have done a 'ying-yang' from the days when clubs exploited players. The exploitation is clearly on the other side now. Lind's contract actually seems more towards a balance.
"Good for Lind's agent John Courtright on negotiating a deal that was best for the client, rather than gouging the Blue Jays for maximum dollars."
…This sentence makes no sense. Club options are never in the player's best interest. Unless you are implying that Lind actually told his agent he wanted as player-unfriendly a contract as possible.
Derek, I also have a tough time feeling sorry for the agents. Poor poor pitiful me, only taking 10 percent on a $10 million dollar contract!
Jeremy, you're right .. the "club-friendly" contracts are few and far between these days. It's a very refreshing change from the norm.
Peter, sorry … I probably should have explained myself a little better. What I meant was, Lind obviously wants to stay in Toronto and is comfortable playing there. So rather than go through a couple years of arbitration and try to hit the free agent market, his agent convinced him to sign a long term extension, and thus solidify his place on the team.
As a free agent, Lind would fetch much more money as a free agent. But would it be best for him as a young developing player? Maybe not.
Personally, I find it laughable the people talk about the players consistently gouge teams for money in their deals and that they should be happy with their salaries when it's actually the TEAMS that make the BIG money.
True … especially with the Yankees. As big as contracts they sign to free agents, those players help the franchise make tonnes and tonnes of money.
But with smaller market teams like Toronto, it doesn't make sense to sign free agents to big money contracts. It sounds like AA would rather spent that money on guys like Chapman or Hech.