Big Players, Big Contracts, and the Pittsburgh Pirates

In case you haven't heard, the Cincinnati Reds gave Joey Votto a 12-year, $251.5 million dollar contract earlier this week. That makes Votto a Red until 2023. Yeah.

Votto is a great player, he is undoubtably one of the best hitters in the game. I'm not going to put any numbers here because that's not what this post is about. Just know that Votto is an MVP caliber player and will continue to be so for the next handful of years.

But signing the guy to a 12-year contract extension? That blows my mind. I don't care if you have the next Babe Ruth or Barry Bonds in your system, locking up a guy until he is 40 years old is a tough thing not to regret in the end. The prime years for a baseball player are 27-30. Good players can be stars past that age range, but in general you start declining when you get into your 30's. Votto could very well remain an all-star player well past 30, but is he going to be worth the $251.5 million they're going to pay him? I can't see that happening.

Teams are in a tough spot these days. The Angels signed Albert Pujols to a ten year deal, and they didn't really have much of a choice in the matter. Pujols and his agent had all the leverage. Somebody was going to sign the guy and it was going to take a ridiculous amount of cash and commitment to do it. That's just how things are right now. And once one guy gets a huge deal, the next guy wants a bigger deal. The Tigers gave Prince Fielder a ridiculous nine year deal, this stuff isn't going to end anytime soon.

Remember when you were a kid and your parents told you about the dangers of peer pressure? "If Billy jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?". I'd like to hear what the moms of the Reds management staff would have to say right now. "Just because the Angels signed away the next ten years to one player, doesn't mean you have to do it too".

Before this year, this kind of thing was unthinkable for Pirates fans. The recent signing of Andrew McCutchen has made us feel a little closer to the playing field of the bigger market and competitive teams. The great thing about that deal was that the Pirates got a player that is possibly just as game changing as a Votto or Fielder, but they got him for a much better price. Sure, they only have McCutchen locked up until 2016 when he's right around the age of 31, but isn't that how it should be? The goal should be to make sure you have impact talent on your team during their prime years, and then you can figure out what you want to do with them after that time has past. The Pirates don't have the means to be taking huge financial risks. McCutchen could be an MVP player when he's 32 and 33, and he might not be a Pirate for those years, but the important thing is that the Pirates will have him when he has the best chance to be an MVP level player, and they still have financial flexibility to do other things around him.

Easter time is as good a time as any to remind the world that it's never a good idea to have all your eggs in one basket. The Pirates understand that. It's an unfair game but for now our hometown team seems to have the right understanding of how to best play it.

Here's to hoping the Reds regret this massive Joey Votto contract as soon as possible.