That’s a lotta money…

Is it back-loaded or something?

this is running on the bottom ticker on the bears/seahawks game.

I just don’t see how this is better than going to arb for the Reds. No hurt feelings?

Not that long for that much money.

Votto seems like he wants to go to free agency. Thanks to Ryan Howard, he was probably going to get $45 million if he went to arbitration over the next 3 years, so you save ~$8 million give or take over the 3 years.

So the Reds have a 3 year window to win a title, and Yonder Alonso better learn to like LF for the next 3 years.

He could get another extension next year and take a cut or defer some cash. Either way, This is going to put any arbitration hearings to bed. That is what Jocko wanted for all his players, and now the biggest hurdle is off the table. You know, it’s been said that Jocko doesn’t care much for arbitration hearings. This is proof!

where’s the ten year deal??!!!/111/???

We’re bitching about the dollars here? There are two direct comparables that Votto would have used in his Arbitration hearings – Justin Morneau and Ryan Howard. Howard made more than $45mil for his 6 years under the Reserve Clause, Morneau just over $40mil. Votto’s extension puts him at $39.4 mil for his 6 years. This contract is perfectly in line with the proper value for a player of Votto’s profile. We gain some cost certainty over the next 3 years, and avoid the potential for an ugly arbitration hearing.

Would I have liked to see some FA years bought out? Sure. But, I don’t think we can assume that was on the table. The last year of this extension is his Age 29 season, and he probably only gets one shot at The Big Contract. It’s probably not worth it from his end to wait until he’s 32 to hit the open market. This contract sets him up for life, and doesn’t make him wait until he’s out of his prime to become a Free Agent.

Great deal for both sides. There’s absolutely nothing to bitch about here.

Other than that, there’s no on-field benefit that I can see (plenty of PR benefits for all the morons who don’t understand service time, though), and this extension leaves me somewhat disheartened as I think it confirms my prior suspicions on Joey’s future motivations. I don’t think we have any prayer at keeping him in three years, and that makes me sad.

Huh.

Check this shit.

He says this:

It’s a wise move for the Reds. While certainly not ground breaking, wrapping up young talent through some or all of their salary arbitration years is a cornerstone of many low-to-medium revenue makers in MLB.
…
Votto’s deal also comes when the signing market has been exceptionally high.
…
Overall, the deal can be portrayed as a win for both sides. The Reds lock up Votto through salary arbitration, while Votto gets a salary with AAV higher than some (Fielder, Lincecum, etc).

I still think this is a slightly better deal for Votto than the Reds, but it’s pretty balanced.

Think about how much $$$ the Yanks or Red Sox or Cubs would be willing to pay…

on a CBS board asking who fans think will win the NL-C title.
Six (6) percent are picking the Pirates.

on why three years. He thinks it was just that Votto refused to sign a longer contract.

Here’s what he said at Redsfest when asked about a long-term deal:

"I don’t know as far as beyond three years," he said. "I think that’s a very unfair question to ask. This is not me saying I don’t want to be here. But last year was a difficult year. This year was a better year for me. It’s really hard to think three years ahead, five years ahead, seven years ahead. When (Troy) Tulowitzki signed that 10-year contract or whatever it was, I was blown away. I can’t imagine seeing myself 10 years from now and saying: ‘I want to be here.’ It’s an overwhelming thing to ask a young person like myself and say: ‘Here’s a lot of money be happy with this over 10 years. Deal with it.’ You don’t know where you’re going to be in one, two, three years."

Notice that he mentioned three years, specifically. Interesting.

Sounds like he’s not ruling out staying in Cincinnati, but he’s also thinking that he might want to go home one day.

If we’re lucky, that will entice Votto to sign another contract. If we’re not… well, a World Series victory for our favorite team for the first time in over twenty years isn’t exactly nothing.

Too bad it’s not longer, but I don’t think he wanted to be locked down any longer than he did.
-j

Now it makes it less believable that we actually want him to stick around. That could potentially make teams think of him as a throw-in from the Reds’ side. If they hadn’t extended Votto and made it look like Yonder might be important in the future plans, shipping him out for good value THEN extended Votto, it seems like that would have been more beneficial.

Either way, even though this is expensive I’m glad Votto will be in a Reds uniform for a while.

“It’s one of those scenarios you feel will never happen to you. Nobody thinks they’re going to be the one, whatever, to get in a car wreck to have their, you know, their kids killed in a plane crash, whatever, you don’t think those things are going to happen to you. And I didn’t think that I’d be traded. So.”
— Bronson Arroyo on being traded to the Reds

I had forgotten how much he didn’t want to come here at first. Glad we could change his mind, though, and it provides a little hope we can get Joey to feel the Cincy love too.