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Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: altair19 who wrote (186237)	2/4/2010 9:35:02 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 361538

Major league executives say Justin Verlander's deal with Tigers is good for baseball ______________________________________________________________ By Steve Kornacki Booth Newspapers February 04, 2010, 8:30PM DETROIT -- John Westhoff, the Detroit Tigers' vice president and legal counsel who did much of the negotiating on starting pitcher Justin Verlander's five-year contract for $80 million, was pleased Thursday. He was smiling for two other clubs, too. The Seattle Mariners recently signed ace Felix Hernandez for five years at $78 million and the rival Minnesota Twins are reportedly close to a long-term deal with catcher Joe Mauer. "It's good that Felix Hernandez stays with Seattle and Justin Verlander stays in Detroit," Westhoff said. "That's good for baseball, and it will also be good when Joe Mauer stays with Minnesota. "The Mets and the Yankees don't have to sign everybody. These are win-win deals." Two major league executives, both requesting anonymity, agreed with Westhoff that the deal is fair to the Tigers and Verlander, who will average $16 million a year after going 65-43 in four seasons. "Look at what the other No. 1 starters in the game make and it is very comparable," an American League source said. "Look at what CC Sabathia, Felix Hernandez, Jake Peavy, Josh Beckett and those kinds of pitchers make. Justin Verlander is in that group. So. compare it and he's getting the going rate." Peavy, the 2007 Cy Young Award winner with the San Diego Padres, will make $15 million this season with the Chicago White Sox. He gets $16 million in 2011, $17 million in 2012 and either $22 million or a $4 million buyout in 2013. Sabathia, the 2007 Cy Young Award winner for the Cleveland Indians, got a six-year, $161 million contract from the New York Yankees beginning last season. He was 117-73 in eight years before joining the Yankees. Beckett has been a bargain for the Boston Red Sox, making $40 million for four seasons with a contract ending after 2010. He is 106-68 in nine seasons and was the 2003 World Series MVP for the Florida Marlins and 2007 ALCS MVP for Boston. Verlander's deal is a near match to the ones free agent John Lackey just got from the Red Sox and A.J. Burnett received from the Yankees last season. Both are for $82.5 million over five years. Lackey is 102-71 but has exceeded 14 wins only once in eight seasons, going 19-9 in 2007. Burnett was 87-76 when New York signed him. But he was coming off a career-best 18-10 with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2008, when he had a puffy 4.07 ERA. The Lackey and Burnett deals exhibit what a productive pitcher can make as a true free agent. Verlander could have made much more on the open market in two years had he pitched anything close to last season. But he also could have made much less had he declined or gotten hurt. A National League source said, "To me, it all depends on if he stays healthy. Time will tell, but right now, it looks good for the Tigers and the pitcher."