Life without baseball is boring. Pulling some baseball cards is kinda something I can do to at least kill boredom. Most sports cards are delayed in this tough period. Baseball cards are not the exceptions. Since there are not many new baseball cards available, I decided to pull some old baseball cards. It’s what I got.
Ozhaino Albies now is known as Ozzie Albies. He's a 1-time all-star and 1-time silver slugger second baseman. Meanwhile, he signed a long-term contract with the Braves in 2019, a $35M, 7-year contract with a pair of team options that could make it worth $45 million for nine seasons. The contract has been discussed a lot in the media and is considered a team-friendly contract.
According to Spotrac, the deal is as below.
In the 2020 season, Albies should receive 1 million. The same as his teammate Acuna, it ranks 451st in the league.
Among the second basemen, Albies’ salary ranks 33rd in the 2020 season.
Now, let’s move forward to 2025, there are not so many contracts extended to 2025. At this moment, Albies’ salary ranks 29th.
*Club Option
Only three second basemen have contracts extended to 2025, two of them are club options. It’s still hard to tell if the team will exercise the options. Albies will be guaranteed to receive 7 million in 2025.
*Club Option
Does the contract match Albies’ performance? From 2017 to 2019, Albies’ wRC+ was 109 and ranked 103rd , better than Andrew Benintendi and Trea Turner.
Looking at WAR in the last 3 seasons, Albies’ 10.3 WAR ranked 43rd, he’s one of the top 50 position players.
If Albies is healthy and can replicate his performance, he’s one of top players and a top 5 second baseman in the league. However, there are more and more players who are available for multiple positions. Albies can only play at second base. That might hinder his market value a little bit. But a top-5 second baseman is supposed to be worth more than 10 million per season.
In addition, if the contract isn’t signed and Albies is never sent down to the minors, he will be a free agent after the 2023 season. At age 26, he should be at his peak. If he doesn’t have any big injuries, he can probably sign a deal for 3-5 years, a deal that should surpass his current contract $45 million. Even if it’s a 5-year/45 million contract, it’s still better than his current contract.
In the meantime, there are club options included in this contract in 2026 and 2027. If he plays extremely well, the club will definitely exercise the options. Hence, he is under team control till 2027. 2027 might be the first time that Albies becomes a free agent and he will be 30. He could still seek a long-term contract at age-30, however, it might not be that ideal compared to age 26 or 28.
Therefore, if Ozzie Albies stays healthy and provides offense as he has done, the contract is truly team-friendly. If he provides more offense as projected in his mid-20’s, the Braves front office will be just more than happy. However, we don’t know whether financial security is so important for Albies. We don’t know whether the future free agent market will be after the COVID-19 pandemic and the next collective bargaining agreement. But, again, Albies was a high-level prospect and is no doubt that he will be one of the great second basemen.
No comments:
Post a Comment