Do Long Term FA Contracts Ever Work Out?

[Bahama O's Fan]

It seems rare to me that a free agent acquisition ever ends up being worth the contract they receive. Can ya'll remember many that did? Maybe some small ones, but I am thinking the really big ones, like top tier?

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, Bahama O's Fan said:

It seems rare to me that a free agent acquisition ever ends up being worth the contract they receive. Can ya'll remember many that did? Maybe some small ones, but I am thinking the really big ones, like top tier?

First two that come to mind (that are expired) are the first long term deals signed by Arod and CC.  The Scherzer deal is looking good.

[orange23]

I can't think of many big ones, but off the top of my head, Wei-Yin Chen was well worth the money we paid him. He didn't make any headlines but he was a big help.

[Bahama O's Fan]

3 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

First two that come to mind (that are expired) are the first long term deals signed by Arod and CC.  The Scherzer deal is looking good.

Did Arod work out in the end? Wasn't there injuries that caused him to miss a season or two? Maybe we can quantify if his WAR was worth the contract?

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, Bahama O's Fan said:

Did Arod work out in the end? Wasn't there injuries that caused him to miss a season or two? Maybe we can quantify if his WAR was worth the contract?

I said the first contract, not the second one. 

[Bahama O's Fan]

Just now, Can_of_corn said:

I said the first contract, not the second one. 

Oh, ok. Sorry, I missed that.

[crowmst3k!]

The CC Sabathia deal worked well, even with a few hiccup years.

 

[Beef Supreme]

Reggie Jackson.

[Frobby]

I’ve broken these down here:

 

[Yardball85]

14 minutes ago, Bahama O's Fan said:

It seems rare to me that a free agent acquisition ever ends up being worth the contract they receive. Can ya'll remember many that did? Maybe some small ones, but I am thinking the really big ones, like top tier?

Without looking up and comparing WAR, here are some that come to mind:

Manny Ramirez to Red Sox 

Vlad Guerrero to Angels

Randy Johnson to AZ

Miguel Tejada to BAL worked well at least the first few years before he was traded

Jon Lestser to CHC is working well so far

If memory serves, Carlos Delgado to FLA and eventually the NYM worked out well.

That's just a few off the top of my head without looking at any numbers.  But certainly, there are many awful FA contracts as well.

[murph]

Matt Holliday?

[Il BuonO]

Greinke deal with the Dodgers was good. Not many people here thought he was worth it. He totaled 17.5 rWAR over three seasons.

[murph]

2 minutes ago, Il BuonO said:

Greinke deal with the Dodgers was good. Not many people here thought he was worth it. He totaled 17.5 rWAR over three seasons.

2.3 and 6.0 bWar so far on the current deal too.  But no way that one works out in the end, right?

[Frobby]

2 minutes ago, murph said:

2.3 and 6.0 bWar so far on the current deal too.  But no way that one works out in the end, right?

Probably not, but too soon to say for sure.   

[McLovin]

Here is an all-time outlier: 

35 year old Randy Johnson signed a 4 year deal, which was later extended to 6. He finished his contract after his age 40 season with 4 Cy Young's, 1 2nd place Cy Young finish, a WS title, a perfect game, and 47.8 rWAR!