Opinion: The Money and Years for Alex Cora
In a post to Mets Citi Blog, Brian DePersis asks, “Why do the Mets over-value mediocre role players?”
Similarly, Adam, the Brooklyn Met Fan, says, while he is happy to see Alex Cora return, “I have to admit, I was slightly taken aback by the $2 million dollar price tag.”
…these guys make a fair point, as did Ted Berg yesterday, at Ted Quarters, in that, if the Mets have any sort of budget, if they only have so many dollars to spend, why give $2 million to cora, when it’s likely no other team would have matched this…
…the thing is, the Blue Jays signed infielder Alex Gonzalez to a one-year, $2.75 million deal… the Red Sox were willing to give him $3 million… and so, i have to think cora could have found another one-year deal, some place, paying him, say, $1.5 million, or half of what a player like gonzalez got, who, by the way, put up roughly the same numbers… the point is, if the Mets really wanted cora, for whatever reason, i understand them guaranteeing a bit more money to get it done… that said, is cora that necessary…
In a post to Twitter, SI.com’s Jon Heyman joked that Cora will get $50,000 for playing baseball, and $1.95 million for being ‘a helluva nice guy.’
…i have no idea how to price character, or if it’s even worth anything in a clubhouse… it might be… it might not be… i am not a major league player, and i only know what i saw… from what i could tell, cora helped in the clubhouse, he was usually in good spirits, he supported his teammates, he talked to everyone, answered questions, worked with young players on how best to manage the long season, and so on… but, is that worth $2 million, which might end up being needed to sign a catcher, or a left fielder, instead, i have no clue…
…i also have no clue whether the Mets have that tight of a budget… i mean, if they sign everyone and anyone, plus cora, and still have money left over, then what do i care how much they pay a guy for his golden personality…
…to me, guaranteed years is a far, far bigger deal than the dollar value of the contract… and so, i can’t for the life of me figure out why the team felt it necessary to include a vesting option, based on 80 starts, to bring him back in 2011… i just can’t believe another team would have been willing to do this, and i am not totally sure why the Mets felt compelled to do it as well…
