Do Long Term FA Contracts Ever Work Out?

[BarclaySouthway]

Now that this thread has been resurrected, we can add the ageless wonder Nelson Cruz to the list?

His 4-year Seattle deal wasn't that long.  But 4 years at age 34 is considered long.

[DrungoHazewood]

1 hour ago, webbrick2010 said:

Even when they work... do they really work?

Mike Trout is the best most valuable player in baseball, but the Angels still suck

If that's because of a resource allocation problem then I say they should have let him walk

I don't know if there's ever been a case of a single contract keeping a team from competing.  The Rays win all the time with a $60M payroll, which is several Mike Trouts shy of average. 

The Angels have a ton of resources, and certainly could win pay Mike Trout whatever.  But they don't develop talent, they plug holes with 30-year-old free agents, and forever they've been getting almost nothing out of Albert Pujols' $27M a year.  They're a random collection of below-average-ish talent with Pujols and Trout thrown in.  It's almost like they've convinced themselves that LA teams have to have big names, they can't rely on the farm.

[Redskins Rick]

44 minutes ago, backwardsk said:

Do you think the Nationals regret the Scherzer deal?

Hell no, look at the WAR he has produced for them.

One of the few examples where big money worked and unlike Kershaw, Scherzer doesnt come unglued at playoff games.