Longoria Gets 6 years, $17.5 Million
ESPN.com reports that the Tampa Bay Rays’ 3B Evan Longoria agreed to a 6 year, $17.5 million dollar contract that could be worth as much as $44 million over 9 seasons. Pretty good for a kid who has only played 6 major league games. I’m not saying I disagree with locking him up for the future, but that’s setting quite a precedent for young talent. This could significantly affect contract negotiation for talented prospects in the future.
The Rays have become trend-setters with contract negotiation recently. They have agents throughout the industry upset about their new policy of tacking a few one-year club options on the end the guaranteed term. This is essentially a win-win situation for the club; if the player develops as expected they buy out a few years of arbitration and free agency on the cheap, or if the player falters they simply let the options expire. On the flip side, the young prospect gets the security these types of deals provide.
Bucky on April 20th 2008 in 3B, Evan Longoria, MLBPN Top Prospects, Rays Prospects, Top 5 Prospects
