The economy, the economy, the economy.  That’s all we hear these days.  Of course, that makes sense given … well … what happened with the economy.  And while analysts will tell you how the down-turn two years ago affected baseball, it’s often overlooked how in turn, baseball has affected certain players; namely, veterans.  We have come to see teams placing a greater reliance on prospects than on grizzly vets.  It makes sense for long-term success but more and more we see a reluctance to even pay vets for their services now.  It’s the new economic age in baseball.  Long-term guaranteed contracts for players in their thirties is going to become a thing of the past.  Rather, more frequently we will begin to see the careful preservation of teams’ young talent.

This year, the big-name “victims” of this new economic philosophy are Jermaine Dye and Pedro Martinez.

Jermaine Dye – Age: 36.  2009 stats: 141 games, .250/27/81 with 78 runs and a .793 OPS.  Current status: Unemployed

Pedro Martinez – Age: 38.  2009 stats: 9 games, 5-1 3.63 ERA with a 1.25 WHIP and a 37:8 K:BB ratio.  Current status: Unemployed

Last year, the big-name ”victim” was Jim Edmonds

Jim Edmonds – Age in 2009: 38.  2008 stats: 111 games (btwn SD and CHC), .235/20/55 with 53 runs and an .822 OPS.  Status in 2009: Unemployed

And in 2008, the big-name ”victim” was Barry Bonds

Barry Bonds – Age in 2008: 43.  2007 stats: 126 games, .276/28/66 with 75 runs and a 1.045 OPS.  Status in 2008: Unemployed

I put “victim” in quotation marks because obviously these guys have been well compensated throughout their careers.  They’re certainly not suffering and often times their demands exceed their diminished skills.  But these examples demonstrate the reluctance to offer guaranteed multi-year deals to players in the twilight of their careers. 

History is teaching some teams a lesson as they have now come to realize the err of their ways in contracts such as Alfonso Soriano ($18 million a year guaranteed in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 on an 8 year/$136 million contract), Chipper Jones ($13 million a year guaranteed in 2011 and 2012 on a 3 year/$42 million contract), Carlos Lee ($16 million guaranteed in 2011 on a 6 year/$100 million contract), Alex Rodriguez ($174 million owed through 2017 on a 10 year/$275 million contract), and Raul Ibanez ($11.5 million guaranteed in 2011 on a 3 year/$31.5 million contract).  And that’s just the hitters!  Pitchers such as Oliver Perez ($12 million guaranteed in 2011 on a 3 year/$36 million contract), Derek Lowe ($15 million a year guaranteed in 2011 and 2012 on a 4 year/$60 million contract), and Carlos Zambrano ($17.875 million and $18 million guaranteed in 2011 and 2012 with $19.25 million in a vesting player option in 2013 on a 5 year/$91.5 million contract) are all examples of teams overpaying for players and overextending contracts.  Each one of these guys except for Carlos Zambrano and Oliver Perez (pitchers have a shorter shelf-life anyway) was in their 30s when signed to a long-term deal.  Now these teams are staring at a minimum of one more year shelving out double digit millions for players whose production is half that of some of their own young talented prospects.

These contracts were undoubtedly the product of the steroid-era in baseball.  Teams saw players playing well into their 30s and 40s without any real decline in power and health and figured others would age that way as well.  Now that we have all of a sudden become aware of why these players weren’t showing any signs of slowing down into their 30s and 40s, we’ve begun to see more and more short-term incentive-laden contracts for these types of players (i.e. Manny Ramirez, Adam Dunn, etc.).  These short-term contracts serve two purposes: a) keeping these players motivated to play as they age; and b) saving teams financially from the messes some clubs have gotten themselves into by doling out long-term contracts back when the economy was booming and steroids were rampant. 

Ultimately, it’s the best thing for the sport.  The vets can still contribute, but they’re now put in a position where they must prove their worth or be ushered to the exits.  There’s nothing wrong with providing a player with the greatest incentive to continue playing hard.  On the flip-side, the greatest beneficiaries of course are the young rookies who no longer have to wait until September call-ups to make any sort of impact on their ballclubs.  If you’ve proven your worth at the minor league level, right from the start of the season teams will be willing to pit their season’s success on the arms and bats of these rookies at a cost-effective price.  These teams can compete, and compete for years to come, because their finances are no longer tied to long-term contracts for players batting under .200 and pitchers relegated to the bullpen.  And not only are these young players contributing, but they are exceling at the highest levels of the bigs.  Guys like Stephen Strasburg, Jaime Garcia, Mike Leake, Jason Heyward, Buster Posey, etc. are some of the top names amongst all players. 

So perhaps this should have been done long ago.  Reliance on the young prospects from the farm systems, minimizing future financial difficulty by avoiding long-term contracts, creating incentive-laden contracts to keep the players motivated.  Often times it takes a shock to the system to exact a degree of change.  The 2008 economy did that.  And while we – and baseball – are certainly recovering – it seems a valuable lesson has been learned.  Let’s just hope it sticks.