In my Heater article this week, I took a broad look at all the contracts signed during the offseason. One of the things that struck me was just how popular contract options are becoming. During the offseason, about one-third of all free agent contracts included an option year, worth more than $380 million.
Nearly one-half of all contracts that included an option year were one-year deals, with a second-year option. I was a bit surprised by that, assuming that most option years would be associated with long-term contracts. Contract options used to be relatively simple things, in which the club could call an option on a player for a specific salary (or buy it out for a specific amount). Now, contracts can be triggered by all sorts of events, including playing time, a trade or MVP voting.
It gets complicated. For instance, if Jason Michaels has 375 plate appearances in 2008, he has the right to void the club's $2.6 million option for 2009. If Craig Counsell is traded during the next two years, the third-year club option will turn into a player option. The sixth year of Brian McCann's contract will become a club option year if McCann doesn't reach certain award thresholds in the previous five years.
I've tried to track and categorize all of these deals as best I can. Here's a table of how I categorized each offseason option deal:
Hey, at least these guys are being creative, right?Code: Select all
Type Dollars Straight Club Option $173,850,000 Club and/or Vesting $74,900,000 Mutual $45,450,000 Vesting $40,425,000 Mutual/Vesting $19,000,000 Player $16,000,000 Player/Club $11,000,000 Club and/or Mutual $2,600,000 Grand Total $383,225,000
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