As was first reported last night, and then later expanded upon by Marc Topkin, the Rays are set to announce a long-term extension with James Shields today. (The Heater)
The new deal could pay Shields more than $38-million over the full seven years, the Times has learned. Plus there are incentive clauses that could push the total value to more than $40-million. The guaranteed portion of the deal - the first four seasons and a buyout of the options - is believed to be worth about $12-million.
Even though I think trying to sign Shields to a long-term extension is a tremendous move in the right direction - and might be part of the plan to try and convince Scott Kazmir to stick around and sign a long-term, below-market deal - the timing on this one is a little bit curious to me. There was absolutely no rush to sign him, since he hasn’t even hit arbitration yet. No surprise, by the way, that the last 3 years of the deal are all options. I wasn’t able to tell from this if those were all one-year options or it was one big option for 3 years, but at its core it’s a 3-year contract for $26-million after the initial 4 years are up. At just under $9 million per, that could turn out to be either an incredible bargain or a ridiculous waste of money.
Of course, it could just be that FriedCo. really likes him.
I’m trying to think of a pitcher in a similar situation to Shields who has signed a similar contract, and it’s not coming to me. Do any of you remember pitchers who were so far from free agency but signed such massive deals with their club? I’m not talking about draft picks like David Price who signed for such lucrative amounts coming out of college, but rather pitchers who came up through the system and were essentially making the big league minimum but were signed to big deals while still in their “protected” contract status. It’s an interesting discussion, and one that I’m curious to see if anyone remembers any examples.
I’m probably as guilty as anyone of understating Shields’ role with the team. He has been a fantastic pitcher so far in his young career, and as long as he can keep himself healthy, could solidify himself as one of the top arms in the American League.
