Huge Contracts are Boggling My Mind

Giancarlo Stanton‘s record 13-year $325 contract with the Marlins made my mouth drop last week. Now Russell Martin‘s reported signing with the Blue Jays for $82 million over five years seems absolutely ridiculous. It was just a few seasons ago when the Dodgers refused to give Martin $5 million, and now he will be earning an eye-popping $16.5 million per year. While I was fully on board with a Dodgers-Martin reunion as of yesterday, I’m now glad the Dodgers didn’t drop that much cash on the catcher.

All of these huge contracts being inked recently boggle my mind. I realize that Major League Baseball is a billion dollar business, and the teams are making large profits from most of these high dollar players. The upward trend has really given players more reason than ever to test the free agent market. I wonder how much Hanley Ramirez is looking for now that he has become a free agent for the first time in his career?

I understand the value in a catcher like Martin, and I feel that the Dodgers need to invest in their catching depth. I’m just not sure $82 million would have been the best investment for the Dodgers who are already spending record amounts on payroll. Obviously Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi didn’t want to overpay for Martin whose price tag seems extremely pricey in hindsight. Of course we don’t know how interested the Dodgers were in Martin or if they had even extended any offer to the former Dodger.

The price tags on these free agents seem to be skyrocketing, and baseball ticket prices and television cable costs are also increasing in price as well. Will we see a $500 million contract in the near future? Just how many Miami fans do the Marlins need to bring in to watch Giancarlo in order to make a profit over the next 13 years? Perhaps I’m just a bit bitter about Stanton not becoming a Dodger any time soon.

I just wonder how much would Roy Campanella be worth today? I’d pay Campanella $82++ million.

Ironically, Martin will usurp Toronto backstop Dioner Navarro for the second time during their careers. Martin took over starting catching duties from Navarro back in the day for the Dodgers. Also, Ontario born Martin will play for a Canadian team which surely factored into his decision…plus all that money…that too.

It has been a relatively quiet Hot Stove Season for the Dodgers and baseball in general. Russell Martin became the first big free agent to sign this winter. The Cubs and Dodgers are still likely to be looking for a catcher this offseason. The Dodgers also need to fix their bullpen, shore up the back end of the starting rotation, potentially trade an outfielder and find a shortstop. There’s a lot to do, and baseball is in just 106 days.

Russell Martin will not be reuniting with the Dodgers, and I’m okay with that. $82 million saved. That doesn’t mean that the Dodgers should settle for Drew Butera/A.J. Ellis. A good catcher is such an integral part of the roster, and the Dodgers need an upgrade in order to compete with those teams in the league who have superior catching corps (Buster Posey, Yadier Molina, Miguel Montero, etc.). A world championship team has a world championship caliber catcher.