That 2001 Dbacks team was really a dream team for the ages. Bunch of old vets who knew it was their last chance for a ring, as well as thirsty young rookie talent. I believe the docu "Destiny in the Desert" is on youtube now and it's pretty well done.
Found it funny in one of my Moneyball videos, someone commented that the A's could never win with their roster construction because "a team could never win it all with a gimmick sidearm pitcher."
@@BaseballsNotDead I mean, the D-backs almost didn't. BHK blew back to back save opportunities in games 4&5 and was not seen again for the rest of the series. In fairness, in game 6 they beat the shit out of the Yankees pitching 15-2, but in game 7 the D-backs went with Bautista and Randy in relief.
It's insane that megadeals signed by shortstops today are still barely above Arod's contract AAV 23 years ago. And he actually lived upto it (steroids aside). People must have lost their minds looking at that much money back then.
I remember him signing that and thinking he might actually be worth it, but not for Texas who had NO pitching at the time. Kevin Brown's contract was the most obvious overpay in that era, because he was like 35 yrs old and got 7 years.
This actually is wild and something I’ve never thought about before. In terms of current active short stop contracts there are only six guys who earn an AAV of $25.2M or more. There are only three dudes making more than his later $27.5M. It’s fucking wild to realize that A-Rods deal in 2001 would still be near the top of the short stop market this many years later considering how much salaries as a whole in the league have gone up since that time. A-Rod got $252M while the same year Jeter got $189M. Kinda wild to see how much more his deal was in comparison to a dude who was probably seen as the other top guy for his position. Also interesting that the dude making way more went to the Rangers versus the high spending Yankees. Alex performed up to his deal but it wasn’t able to be worth it for the Rangers. He performed at the level for it but the Rangers were too bad to win even with how elite he was playing. But at the same time it was obvious the deal was that amount because that was the only one to get him to willingly go somewhere he knew he wasn’t going to win games. They had to pay a steep premium to compensate for the fact that he was going to a team that wasn’t going to win games. And that amount had to be enough above what he would’ve made elsewhere to be worth accepting you’re going to lose games. Also a bit ironic of course because the size of the deal locked in that the team wouldn’t be competitive because they had so much locked up to Alex they couldn’t afford to build a team around him. It’s also an example of Alexs douchey personality through the years. Later on when Alex opted out of this deal when controversy arose Alex dumped a bunch of shit on his agent. Boras of course announced Alex opting out during the World Series which was a douchey move, without ever even meeting with the Yankees before they did it. Once everyone was pissed about it Alex basically dumped it all on Boras and ended up working out his new deal without him. And he blamed Boras for why he went to Texas and said that Boras talked him out of going to the Mets and then went on basically saying if he let Boras handle his business that he’d be forced to go somewhere for the most money even if he didn’t want to be on that team. And then acted like he took a big discount by signing his new deal with the Yankees which was another ten year commitment and paid him more money, albeit not a big raise above what he was already making. But obviously was still the biggest deal so it was laughable when he positioned himself as making sacrifices to stay with the team after opting out to earn more money. Alex played to elite levels for a lot of years and is one of the best ever but he was such a douche over the years. Honestly don’t even care that he gave up winning for more money but can’t help but think it’s a goofball move to try and blame it on your agent as if you aren’t the one who can tell him no and to get a deal done with a team you want to play for. A-Rod has always fallen miles short of taking accountability for various things he’s done wrong during his playing days. Will give him credit that he seems to own up to things more now than he did back then. Dude made $455M in salary in his career. Not bad at all but only did get the one ring.
They did. I'm a Rangers fan and remember the anger fans had towards him- as his contract played a significant role in the Rangers nearing bankruptcy in the late 2000's. Add in his cocky personality, it is quick to see why so many hated A-Rod. That said, probably one of the greatest SS/3B to ever play the game.
I thought about this and then did a bit of digging. in December 1988, Nolan Ryan signed a 1 year $2 million contract with the texas rangers. He would play 5 years for the Rangers in total before retiring during the 1993 season (notably, during a game his elbow "popped" and he immediately walked away, about as boss as the rest of his career). His adjusted salaries (using your chart) totalled $76.5 million over that 5 year period and he put up 15.2 WAR over that period, at a rate of just over $5 million per WAR, which would have sat 15th on your list had it qualified (which it didn't notably because in none of his final 5 years did he have a multi-year contract). What amazes me about that is that he was already 42 years old when he signed with the Rangers, roughly 3 years older than the manager of the team Bobby Valentine. I remember vividly seeing Ryan, Bobby Valentine, and the equally aged Charlie Hough sitting together like a bunch of old men watching the kids play (other than Ryan and Hough it was a very young team in 1989). Ryan was older than the Manager Valentine, older than the Pitching coach Tom House, and than two other coaches Toby Harrah and Dave Oliver).
You’re awesome dude. I’ve loved baseball all my life and people like you and Foolish have helped me during a tough time stay interested one of my 3 big interests (baseball). You do rad work, editing, great topics, delivery, humor balance with analysis. I hope your channel grows like crazy dude you clearly deserve it
Oh man after Randy Johnson's 1st year with the diamondbacks my dad & his business partner went in on a 1/4 season ticket package. So approx 10.5 games a piece. My dad never went to one so on avg I probably got all the tickets to 12 or 13 of the 21 each year. And probably at least 2 of 4 tickets 20 of 21 games. and it seemed like they almost always fell on randy Johnson or curt schilling starts. It was amazing. 2nd row up from the field on the 1st base sideline right where the opponent dugout ended which is right around first base. The first 4 seats off the isle, easy in easy out. That was amazing and because it was a construction company they were always too tired to drive to Phoenix and Stay out iate when they had to be up at 4am. I made sure the tickets didn't ever go to waste but admittedly gave a bunch of the ones I was sitting in away to strangers.
Great to see Adrian Beltre on the list twice. I figured his 2011 contract would rank highly, but it's easy to forget how strong his Mariners years were. And no surprise the Big Unit would be number one, but it's shocking how far he was on the ranking metric.
Super esoteric content like this is why I love RU-vid. This channel is awesome. You answer questions no one asked, yet it is incredibly interesting and gives amazing insight into a game I still love a lot. The spreadsheet is icing on the cake. Thanks for making stuff like this.
The amount of research you have done (excellent job explaining your rationale btw), the editing, etc. A big BIG thank you to you sir. New sub on your channel and rooting for it to grow Love your work!
Love that man. Will always be my favorite and have gotten to chat with him a few times. I feel that man some how went so underappreciated. IDK how he didn't make more AS games.
I really like how you script and present your videos, you're great to listen to! It's also really nice to see you shouting out other creators, I think you're really good for the online baseball community. Great work!
Ppl always give me a weird look when i tell them i love baseball, its ppl like you that make me appreciate the sport that much more, your insight and delivery is next level, 1 million subs easy !!
What's crazy is Bonds only won 1 MVP during the contract that was #2 and only 3 in the 90s. I think he won 7 silver sluggers in the 90s (best hitter at his position), 8 gold gloves (best defender at his position) and averaged a 30-30. He almost averaged a 30-30 for his career (162 game average, 28 stolen bases and 41 home runs). From 1990 until he retired he had an OPS over 1 or lead MLB in OPS 17 of 18 years and the year he missed it he was 40 and had an ops of .999. Only player in the 400-400 or 500-500 club. HOF is such a joke without him
Nice video. Quick note about the ARod contract, the Braves were absolutely convinced that they had him locked up at 7 years and $140+ million before the Rangers smashed that amount.
One more punch line about that A-Rod contract; the Rangers actually got better the year after dealing A-Rod, improving from 71 to 89 wins, in a sort of turnaround that would probably never happen in the other major sports.
It actually does happen somewhat frequently across other sports! Bill Simmons coined it as the “Ewing effect” where a team gives up their star player and improves. Though it is unusual for it to happen when said player is young and ended up being great for another team.
I mean, those Rangers teams had a really good lineup. Rafael Palmeiro, Ivan Rodriguez, Michael Young, Hank Blalock, and Gary Matthews Jr. Their pitching, on the other hand, was awful
The Rangers had a garbage pitching staff in '03, that's why the Rangers were so bad. The staff was a lot better in '04. Had little to do with A-Roid being there or not.
What I got from this is that the Mariners and Rangers owe Beltre more money, and that Bonds belongs in the HOF regardless if he used PEDs in his later years to compete with everyone else using PEDs (which was most)
yeah, bonds is the best hitter of all time, and there's zero question about it, and if you think there's a magic pill that makes you a better baseball player, then you probably shouldn't have a hall of fame vote
Both objectively correct statements. If Bud Selig who knew about, condoned and profited off steroid usage gets to waltz into the HOF (he did) Then every PED user who put up the numbers during Seligs era should too. Either he gets punished and they do or he walks and they do too. It was the Wild West and that saved baseball from the strike. It’s dirty and nobody loves it but it saved baseball after the strike. So why do the players take the fall and Selig gets the Hall? Gotta have consistency.
I don’t know how you don’t have more of a following man. I watch guys with half a million subs with less interest than how I watch your content. Keep going, I just don’t see how this type of content doesn’t not eventually blow up.
I'm really surprised Scherzer isn't top 3 at least. He may go down as the best real mega deal ever. People were horrified they were giving a 30 yo pitcher that kind of money, but he simply couldn't have given them anymore. A playoff beast, cy youngs or finalists every year, a WS, eats up innings. Johnson performed as well or better, but given the difference in the eras/pitching doctrines its hard to compare
I love all your Videos but please do video on what the states like war really mean the in’s and out Also doing a Stat Description video that’s big on Baseball terms in Football and Basketball
Pujols's 100 mil contract with the Cards is definitely the best ever. He signed a very team friendly deal, so they could sign free agents and this occurred during his peak years. He put up over 60% of his WAR during this span over 7 years, which amounted to about 1.7 million per WAR. There will never be large contract like that ever again.
i really enjoy that a lot of these relatively small baseball channels are like one big happy family where everyone says to go watch this video or that video from another guys channel.
Beltre was a 5 year deal… i didn’t even have to look it up; I’m a dominican Red Sox fan and hurt a lot to see him leave Fenway (6th year was an team option). Great stuff btw; liked video
Yeah, Pedro (not Beltre) was 7. I mistook the Red Sox confirming his 7th year option after year 5 as a two year contract extension. Re-doing the math, it still rates the exact same spot in the rankings.
Not unlike G Cole, Verlander saw his spin rate increase significantly higher once he arrived in Houston suggesting the usage of spider tac was most likely involved but that being said he returned from TJ surgery and still performed at an elite level in 2022 in his age 39 season and as a result he justifiably also won the AL Cy Young. He is most definitely a huge asset at any amount of salary.
Watching this got me thinking, looking at all the money being thrown around, an analysis of how these latest free agents need to perform in order to be considered "worth it" would be a great topic for a video
I would love to see an analysis of money per WAR per year, where you take the take the money/year and divide it by the WAR/year, and handle the comparison that way. This was good, I think that might be a more useful way to evaluate long term contracts.
Because of the animal abuse? There's an artistic purpose for it, it's not just so this guy can get his rocks off son!! IF you were a real man you'd apologize but, we both know better don't we son?
A little surprised yadi and wainwright didn’t make it. The original extensions looked great. If you see this, just know that you do great work and you’ll get noticed very soon.
To factor in arbitration years, you could take the average arbitration value during that season (or seasons that were bought out) and subtract it from the total value of the contract. This would give you a new contract length and value starting at a new season, which you could adjust for inflation.
Very informative video…just one misspeak you missed…you said the Rangers lost to the Yankees in the NLDS during the Pudge Rodriguez contract…love ur content sir
Me too. I quit really following closely around 2008. The amount of fun we had back then and my god the talent. Tom Brady thinks the NFL is lacking big time, shit come look at baseball. I get a lot of flack for this, but when people are screaming that Mike Trout is the best player in ball then something is wrong. I was looking at his stats the other day and I just do not see it. Especially since covid. Not just talent, but players were bigger than life back then too. It felt like we had so many different personalities and larger than life players and now it is just generic baseball guy on 62,63,64,65. Personally that is why when Trevor Bauer was cleared of everything, I was hoping someone would swoop in and take him. I get that he is abrasive and polarizing, but he was like the players back in the day. He is his own person and brings excitement to the game. Nothing generic about him, from the way he warms up to his obsession with numbers, to his sword shit. When he chunked that damn ball over center field I followed him immediately. Baseball needs guys like him or this sport will continue to die off.
Great video but why is Scherzer's inflated salary less? League average salary has gone up a lot in the last 7 years. Also I was too young then to remember but it says Verlander signed a 7/180 extension in 2013. Still loved seeing these get broken down good job
It actually hasn't gone up in those 7 years. League average salary in 2016 was almost the same as 2022, and it was lower in 2017, 2018, and 2020. It's why the lockout happened when it did. Also factor in pro-rated pay in 2020 as well as the contract deferrals (I factored in deferred money as happening in that season and without the interest) and it comes in well under the $210 million announced at signing.
I loved this Reddit post. I love these videos. I got four video ideas. Best and worst one year deals by dollars per war. And best and worst 10 year+ signings by dollars per war.
ARod: he’s incredible! He’s great! Perfect contract! (Failed numerous PED tests, doctor ordained cheating with testosterone, used PEDs as far back as high school) Bonds: wellllll ermmmmm I’m not going to get into whyyyy he was good (never failed a drug test, won 3 MVPs before alleged use, best batter eye in baseball history)
Havnt watched yet - Barry Bonds did more than his numbers show. He also filled up the stadium every game, boosted ratings, etc. As a bay area Giants fan, Barry Bonds did soo much more than hit home runs and take steroids. His contract was worth every penny for the giants, regardless of how he places in this video (havnt watched it yet!)
Like most people, I agree that Bonds absolutely took PEDs and they are why he was such a ridiculously op homerun guy and that his record should have an asterisk...unlike most of those same people I still think Barry Bonds should have been inducted into the HoF unanimously, just based on how crazy good he was BEFORE the juice. He arguably had two careers and BOTH had the numbers to easily get into the hall, with his previous play before juice honestly being more impressive for its sustained carnage year in and out. He was clearly the best overall player in the league with only Griffey Jr having an argument during that stretch. In my mind his records should have an asterisk, but hes an easy choice for the Hall. He was simply too good for too long before the roids to justify excluding him...yet they did it anyway. Itd be like Mike Trout, whos been the best player on the planet since he got to the MLB (yes even his rookie season you could already see the guy was just different), getting injured the last year he plays and using some sort of PED to recover quicker and then being denied the Hall because of THAT. Despite his sustained greatness and place atop the baseball pecking order, although now i think Shohei has taken over the mantle quite securely with Trout being the second best player. Its stupid and tunneled thinking, its exactly how fucked up decisions get made on a daily basis in the world. People who try to sum up the entirety of a human being in one act, an act that wasnt even all that bad in comparison. PED use during those years wasnt the SAME as someone using NOW, back then tons of players used the shit and to compete at their typical levels guys had to follow suit, not every guy juiced to the gills LOOKED the part, (McGwire, Sosa, Canseco, Bonds, Clemens, etc all looked the part) i.e. A Rod didnt look like those guys at all, he looked relatively normal yet that dude was so full of juice he could have smashed through a brick wall holding some icecubes. Its just stupid to exclude the guys who were unarguably best of the best from the Hall over some nonsense in their last few years when they played straight and great for 15 years prior.
One thing to keep in mind about those contracts is they aren't in 2022 dollars... there will be a sort of reverse inflation since 2023+ dollars will continuously get less valuable. So if you take Turner's contract and extrapolate out an inflation estimate, it's closer to a $230 million dollar deal on this list than the stated $300 million. Because of that, if he puts up 23 WAR in those 11 years, which is doable for him, it's going to be better than $10 million per WAR. To crack the top 15 on this list, he would have to put up close to 46 WAR in 11 years, which is a little more questionable with an aging curve and him putting up 29.7 WAR in his fist 7 years and only having one season over 5 (2021). So Turner grading out as a respectable contract with decent value, very doable, which if the Phillies aren't hamstrung on adding other talent during that time will, in the end, make them a better team during that contract. Turner grading out as a top 15 contract of all-time, probably not.
The reason why Bonds contract was so low relatively speaking is... no one wanted him and the Giants were the only team who was still willing to take a chance on him, but it wasn't because of him being a questionable talent (he was the most dominant player in baseball during that time and maybe even ever)... he wasn't a team player and everyone including his teammates hated the guy. And on top of everything he came bundled with his steroid controversy. He was fortunate just to have received any denomination of contract.
As a Pirates fan who was 8 in 92 I've always hated Bonds for ditching us. The fact he's not in the HOF is disgusting. He was goin in without PEDs. You can't say that about those other guys.
JR got all the love from the media to the point that the writers voted him into the all century team when he only had a few years in the MLB and even worst he had less years in the mlb than Barry bonds. Bonds was a prick but he was definitely better than JR at almost everything except arm strength
Hey Mr. Dead, I'm curious as to how exactly the Barry Zito deal was so horrendous that it was a net loss in terms of $/bWAR of -424,638,790? I understand it was a horrible deal in hindsight, but I don't think the SF Giants could continue as a business entity in America if the took such a massive L. Said number comes from your handy-dandy spreadsheet.
@@BaseballsNotDead makes sense, my only question is how did it only affect Zito? Was it a simple clerical error or is he just super special in the worst way possible?
Barry Bonds definitely doesn’t deserve hall of fame votes or official MLB records, but I’m glad he still gets memorialized in youtube baseball nerd listicles.
Before I watch the video, im going to guess Mad Max's contract isnt on here just because of how much money it was. I still feel that its one of the best big contracts ever and thats not even counting the WS run/win, just from a what he added to that team perspective. Let me see if im wrong. Edit: Didnt take long to be proven wrong.
To be fair, most people would list that contract as a top 5 of all-time, so it falling to 11th on this list is because exactly what you said... it was just a LOT of money.
