K-Rod 3 Years $37MM vs. Ollie 3 Years $36MM

20 Comments + Add Comment

• NCMetsfan86 February 4, 2009 at 10:56 am

  Why we paid what we did for Ollie I will never know. I was aboard the Sheets express to bring him in. I hate to say this Mets fans but this deal will bite us in the long run, mark my words. I would have been happier to go into the season with a starting rotation like this:
  Santana
  Pelphrey
  Maine
  Redding
  Garcia or Neise
  I think the money we spent was a waste when we could have used that money to get a solid LF (Ramierez, Abreu, Dunn). This signing will haunt us!!
• NYsportsGUY February 4, 2009 at 10:59 am

  I may be in the minority here but I don’t feel we over paid for OP. His age, the fact that he is a lefty, his high K total, and what seems like his unfulfilled potential are all reasons why he got the contract he got. 12 million a year is slightly above average salary for a slightly above average pitcher.
  K-Rod is a closer which historically isn’t going to get as much money as a starter. You don’t pitch as much innings as a starter, hence you work less, hence your right to earn as much money is less. Still, K-Rod’s salary is way above average for a way above average closer.
  Seems alright to me.
• Christian (MetsMan) February 4, 2009 at 11:04 am

  Maybe we will finally see how overrated the save stat is.
• Des February 4, 2009 at 11:09 am

  Though the winter season is short, the market changed between the two signings. Maybe K-Rod should have been paid more. Or maybe Oliver should have signed for less. But the market trumps what we fans think about fairness!
  K-Rod’s agent is Paul Kinzer, Oliver’s is Scott Boras. Maybe that explains some of the financial irony.
  To stretch the point of fairness a mile, back in 1936 Joe DiMaggio played for $8,500. Yup, the decimal point is not misplaced!
• Mr.Metro February 4, 2009 at 11:15 am

  Two Reasons… Ollie’s Agent (Bore-Ass) and Relievers are not paid as much as Starters…
• Russell Zanca February 4, 2009 at 11:21 am

  Oh, yeah, it’s insane!
  Perez has had exactly one good year in the majors, one decent year, and everything else about the guy screams mediocrity on balance.
  He deserves a fraction of what he’s being paid.
  As they say, life just ain’t fair.
  He’s done nothing, I repeat, nothing to earn this kind of salary.
  Having said this, he’s not a hateable figure, but this Mets fan will have a much lower tolerance for his crap performances this coming year as opposed to last year. And while I hate a lot of the short-fuse booing that we manifest too quickly toward our guys, I have to say I’m not going to squawk if my fellow fans starting letting OP have it for poor performances.
  I like to think that possibly we BB fans can start putting a stop to this crazy salary biz. Yeah, I know: Fat Chance!
• Ravi February 4, 2009 at 11:22 am

  The thing is, the entire mid-level starting pitcher market has been inflated for years. In fact, it can be traced back to the Mets resigning of Kris Benson, which put a floor on the market. Then you had guys like Gil Meche and Carlos Silva making $44-$48Mill/year. Though it was a different economic climate, that is the benchmark against which pitchers have been measuring contracts against. We all know that Omar assigns a value to each of his targets, and doesn’t like to go beyond that. Unfortunately, he was already burned with that approach in regards to Lowe. With Ollie, he got him for about half his asking price of 5yrs/$70mill.
  I know that there were no other teams that were actively bidding on Perez, and you can say that Omar did slightly bid against himself, but at the end of the day, the terms of the contract were MUCH closer to what Omar wanted than what Ollie/Boras were looking for.
  Also, starting pitching is also valued much more than closers in the market, so comparing the two contracts would show that either K-Rod is overpaid, or Ollie is underpaid.
• Des February 4, 2009 at 11:41 am

  Those management guys over in the Bronx have a lot to do with the salary inflation.
  But with revenue sharing, and with equal revenues from the MLB merchandise market, some of the small market teams are not too unhappy about the zany Steinbrenner’s.
• tim February 4, 2009 at 12:11 pm

  because k-rod wanted to play for the mets,and opie didn’t.
• Kay February 4, 2009 at 12:20 pm

  OP’s ERA went down 1.25 or so since Rick Peterson left – I’d like to see what happens after more time with Dan W.
• tim February 4, 2009 at 12:27 pm

  opie also had the year of his life in 07 under peterson. dont expect big things from opie.
• Patrick February 4, 2009 at 12:33 pm

  Ollie pitched 194 innings. Krod pitch 68.1 innings. Ollie struck out 180, Krod struck out 77. If they were both closers or starters then yes Krod is worth more but ollie pitches about 3X’s the innings and 3X’s the K’s. But, Krod pitched in 76 games to Ollies 34. Again thats like comparing a catchers salary to a CF salary, yes they’re both hitters but they have different roles. To me Ollie was a bargan considering the economy and his agent. I’m glad to have both Krod and Ollie on the same team.
• James K. February 4, 2009 at 1:38 pm

  A question to MMO’ers – who would you rather have? Lowe and Fuentes or Ollie and K-Rod?
  Keep in mind they cost about the same (Lowe/Fuentes slightly less). I’d rather have Lowe and Fuentes, even though they’re older. Much more valuable.
• Patrick February 4, 2009 at 2:29 pm

  Krod and Ollie 60/40 over fuentes and lowe. lowe and fuentes’ annual salary is higher and there older. krod has proven that he’s the best and ollie has more upside. you know what your getting with lowe…consistancy and innings but ollie can be lights out where lowe can give you 6 close innings.
• James K. February 4, 2009 at 2:40 pm

  Patrick,
  I believe you are mistaken on the salary. Not including options, the average annual salary of Lowe/Fuentes is slightly less than $24 million. Perez/Rodriguez is slightly more than $24 million. I’m including K-Rod’s $2 mil signing bonus in that total.
  Over the last 2 years, Lowe/Fuentes have been 4 WAR (wins above replacement) more valuable than Ollie and K-Rod. I dunno I’d rather have the older and better guys.
• Christian (MetsMan) February 4, 2009 at 2:40 pm

  Any choice that has Fuentes in it I want no part of.
• Patrick February 4, 2009 at 2:53 pm

  James,
  Do you give 3yr deals to Lowe and Fuentes? I think Omar learned a lesson about signing old lefty closers to long term deals. Any concern about Lowes age over the 3yr deal?
• James K. February 4, 2009 at 5:44 pm

  Patrick,
  Fuentes’ deal is 2 years, not 3. Lowe’s deal is 4. And I’d much rather have Lowe for 4 than Ollie for 4 (or 3). Lowe has never been on the DL in his career – he’s one of 2 major leaguers with 10+ years in the league who can say that. No concern about his age. Groundballers age more gracefully.
  Lowe will be a ton more valuable over the next 3-4 years than Ollie will.
• Patrick February 4, 2009 at 6:16 pm

  James,
  Your right about Lowe. If he were a lefty I’d agree with you completely. Perez atleast creats some balance on the pitching staff. Santana and Feliciano are the only lefties if Lowe signs. I believe Perez will do very well over the next three years, he will pitch in the post season. Lowe chose money over a contender. He’s pitching for a team with a huge lack of offense. Again, i’ll go with Perez
• King February 4, 2009 at 6:34 pm

  i didnt read every comment but i read : NYsportsGUY : and i agree with him. Frankie got Starter Money to pitch maybe 67 innings. Ollie got less then him and is gonna pitch 160+ innings. So i dont think we over paid for him. if he does get himself together then we got him in a hell of a deal.