The reviews are in! The reviews are in! Ryan Vogelsong was one of the worst pitchers in baseball history until he was an All-Star with an ERA under 3.00. You know, one of those stories. He was also scheduled to be a free agent after being one of the most interesting arbitration cases of the year, so the San Francisco Giants avoided both by signing him to a two year, $8.3 million contract with a team option for a third year.
Reviews Of The Vogelsong Extension
So, while the Giants lined up some potential cost savings, they also are taking a risk that Vogelsong’s performance wasn’t just a monumental fluke.And from Getting Blanked:
The contract figures that the two sides agreed to would be good on the free agent market, but with one year of arbitration eligibility remaining, it becomes an overpay. Overall, I think it’s another example of the Giants’ unintelligent willingness to pay for past performance rather than future. Aubrey Huff, anyone?Vogelsong was scheduled to get about $2 million to $3 million for 2012, so the extension is essentially a one year, $5.5 million contract to make sure that he doesn’t test the free-agent market after the season.
It’s a risk. If Vogelsong pitches as well as he did last year, the new contract will cost him millions, I’d wager. If he pitches as well in 2012 as his FiP from 2011, his new contract will prevent him getting a two-year deal for something more than the two year, $9 million contract Bruce Chen received.
If he reverts to the Ryan Vogelsong that was released from the Angels’ AAA team in 2010, his guaranteed money would take the place spring training invitation somewhere. That’s the risk. We’re mere months away from that Ryan Vogelsong.
The important thing to remember is that we’re here discussing the merits of giving Ryan Vogelsong millions of guaranteed dollars. Put that in a letter, mail it back to last January, and you’d have a scarier controlled substance than PCP.
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