Sports’
Bob Nightengale is reporting Jacoby
Ellsbury has signed a seven-year contract with
the New York Yankees that is in excess of $150 million, ending his
seven-year stint with the Boston Red Sox.
Reactions
to the deal were mixed. Some Red Sox and Yankees fans felt the
signing was the second coming of the Johnny Damon deal, with the
Yankees grabbing away another likable Red Sox center fielder and, in
doing so, hurting their biggest rival.
This
is silly. The Red Sox were never going to pay what Ellsbury (and his
agent Scott Boras) wanted. Ellsbury is 30 years old and has been
injury-prone is his career so far. The Yankees just gave him a
seven-year deal. Let’s count all the ways this is problematic.
1.
The Yankees will be paying Jacoby Ellsbury $20 million a year until
he’s 37
So
the Yankees just went through a nasty ordeal in which they needed a
league suspension to (hopefully) get out of paying a declining
superstar (Alex Rodriguez) a massive amount of money every year. So,
let’s say they are granted this incredibly lucky reprieve —
before it’s even finalized they turn around and offer a another
massive contract to a guy entering his 30s? Um, what?
2.
Ellsbury is known for his speed, something that typically declines in
human beings when they are in their late 30s
Yankees
fans lamented Alex Rodriguez’s decline, and the massive amount of
money he was owed, when his bat speed slowed down a bit. Know what
deteriorates faster than bat speed in guys as they age? Speed speed.
Ellsbury is a phenomenal hitter, but he relies as much on his legs as
anything, both on offense and defense. We’ll see how fast he is
when he’s 35, and how happy Yankees are that he still has two years
left on his deal.
3.
The Yankees already have Brett Gardner
Wait,
the Yankees already have a speedy, 30-year-old center fielder who’s
stolen 50 bases in a season before? Yes, yes they do. Now, Ellsbury
is a better player than Gardner. No one is arguing that. But is he
that much of an improvement to justify spending $150 million over
seven years? To the people who respond: “But Gardner is injury
prone!” um, have you met Jacoby Ellsbury?
4.
The Yankees have not learned from the mistakes of others
Two
years ago, the Angels spent huge bucks to sign Albert Pujols. Last
year, they spent huge money signing Josh Hamilton. Both were in their
early thirties, and had produced big numbers up until that point.
Both immediately fell off from their peak production, and now the
Angels are saddled with two massive contracts, when all they want to
do is build around their young phenom Mike Trout.
Source:
usatoday
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