Mariners extend Colt Emerson

[Donn Beach]

It's true they already had him under control for six years but you get into arbitration and those last three years can get very expensive, IE the tigers and Tarik Skubal. If he develops into a star they are spending a lot more than $12 MIL four years from now. There's also a nine year team option. If he develops the way they hope it will be a deal

[Donn Beach]

Another nail in Crawfords casket, not that it was needed but damn.

[Donn Beach]

And really what would have sealed it for the mariners is the defense. They are convinced he's sticking at SS. If he does that, even with a mediocre career he will be worth the contract.

[bpj]

Lol.

Th Mariners are such simpletons.

Good job guaranteeing you have to pay another guy even if he sucks or gets hurt before you even know he'll stick.

An extension to gain one year of service that guarantees the player almost $100M isn't a good idea in my book. Especially when the player's never done anything.

[AT Fresno]

True, I wonder if the M's would like to do this with Sloan and Anderson. having missed the boat with Woo. Gilbert, Kirby, and Miller. It will be tougher and more expensive now to lock up the current rotation. They seem to have more confidence in their talent evaluation and development these days

[Donn Beach]

It's the equivalent of buying an insurance policy. I think it has that sort of impact PR wise. Insurance isn't the most exciting thing to spend money on

[bpj]

They should stop bringing these players up 1-2 years before they're ready and they'll get to keep them longer without extensions.

[Captain 97]

8 years 95 million.
I literally can't believe this. Did Jerry learn nothing from the Evan White debacle. They tried to do a similar deal with Kelenic and thank God he declined.

They already had this dude under control for 6 major league seasons. Even if be becomes a multiple time MVP and maxes out arbitration you would probably wouldn't have to pay him more than 50 Million for those 6 years. If he is just an average to slightly above average player you probably only pay him about 30 Million for those 6 years. So you just handed a dude who has never played in the majors 45-65 Million to get a couple extra years of control. You are basically just betting that he is going to be an allstar and be worth 25-30 Million in year 7 and year 8 of this deal. If he doesn't you come out on the short end of the stick. If he flames out like White and Kelenic you look like a complete fool and you have seriously ham-stringed your payroll moving forward. I also read that there are escalators so in reality if he does become an all-star they will pay him much more than 95 Million. This is asinine and ridiculous. The M's could have gone out and signed an actual contributing player and still had Emerson at the MLB minimum for the next 3 years instead they do garbage like this. Instead of just making the obvious moves to complete the roster Jerry is always trying to prove how smart and innovative he is. If this franchise ever gets over the hump it will be in spite of this clown not because of him.

Every business transaction carries risks.

Under Jerry Dipoto, the Mariners have extended Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh, J.P. Crawford, Andres Munoz, Luis Castillo and, of course, Evan White. Check about the fWAR conversion return on their investments:

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/julio ... ting#value

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/cal-r ... ting#value

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/jp-cr ... ting#value

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/andre ... hing#value

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/luis- ... hing#value

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/evan- ... ting#value

Compare the returns to the contract costs:

https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/seattle-mariners/contracts

With good reasons, Baseball Trade Values ranks the Mariners near the top in team surplus values.

https://www.baseballtradevalues.com/team-rankings

A bust is among a wide range of potential outcomes for Colt Emerson. However, an enterprise that is risk-averse will rarely make significant advancements.

In 10 years the Mariners have gone from a perennial loser to a solid contender with a top farm system ... despite apparent financial contraints. If that's the work of clowns ... then send in the clowns.

Giving an established major league player an extension and giving a guy who has played 9 games above AA an extension are completely different things so whatever you think your proving with those links is irrelevant.

Dipoto has been great at identifying and developing pitching. He has been mediocre at developing position talent and absolutely abysmal at trades and FA acquisitions. Personally I am not impressed with a GM who has 2 playoff appearances in 10 years. The only teams that haven't gone to the playoffs twice in the last 10 years are the Angels, Pirates and Royals. The M's won 86 games in Jerry's first season here. He took a team that won 86 games to team that 90 games in his 10th year. what an amazing improvement.

[Michael K.]

That's the thing though. It doesn't really save money. you are actually paying a lot more money just to get a little extra control. What would save money is having a star player playing for you for three years on 800k contract. They're spending 36 Million for his first 3 years instead of 2.5 Million and just hoping he is good enough that a couple of extra years of control makes it worth it.

True, but that is traditional, and they won't be viewed as innovative if they do that. I guess? Hell, I don't know. It just blows my mind.

[Michael K.]

Dipoto has been great at identifying and developing pitching. He has been mediocre at developing position talent and absolutely abysmal at trades and FA acquisitions. Personally I am not impressed with a GM who has 2 playoff appearances in 10 years. The only teams that haven't gone to the playoffs twice in the last 10 years are the Angels, Pirates and Royals. The M's won 86 games in Jerry's first season here. He took a team that won 86 games to team that 90 games in his 10th year. what an amazing improvement.

This, and if not for striking Gold at the deadline? They wouldn't have made the playoffs last year.

Sure, he is responsible for that, but what if someone else had swooped in and grabbed Naylor, or Suarez, or both?