Pay ’em now, don’t worry about it later
By rule, players entering the MLB for the first time get paid the minimum set by the league. After service time is accrued (minimum three years), players have the opportunity to debate for a pay raise and more often than not it leads to a disagreement with the front office.
The pay debate then gets presented to an arbiter who in the end determines how much the player will get paid for the upcoming season. Sometimes, clubs will do this yearly with some players to keep them as long as they can until the player becomes a free agent.
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The Chicago White Sox are saying ‘let’s just avoid that altogether with these guys because we have faith they are going to hold up to their value’ and signing them to extensions that cover their arbitration-eligible years.
But is that really the smart way to go about this?
Another short answer? Absolutely.
This sends a positive message to the player about their abilities and for some, it will be motivation to continue to perform at the highest level. For the front offices, they can structure the contract to make it more back-loaded or front-loaded in order to compensate for certain years at different values. That additionally allows for more spending on players.
Take Moncada’s extension, for example, He’s only making under two million this season. The final year of his deal has him set to make 25 million dollars.
White Sox GM Rick Hahn is proving to be confident in the talent he has brought in by trading away guys like Chris Sale and Jose Quintana. It’s like flushing out a couple of great guys to bring in a whole pool of good guys that outweigh what the team used to be.
Could the way these deals are handled start a trend in the league? Will it affect the CBA when a new one is proposed during the next offseason? There is already assumptions that younger players will get rewarded sooner, and the White Sox are just ahead of the curve.