A couple of decent players got big money contract extensions today...
And I'm not sure which is worse. On the one hand, we have the 3 year, $23.25 million contract extension that the San Francisco Giants gave Randy Winn. Winn is a decent defensive centerfielder with okay on base skills, not much power and a career .275 EQA.
The Giants already had him under contract for this season, but apparently fearful that the market for a 32 year old middle-of-the-road tweener outfielder would be out of control this offseason, have now tied themselves to him through 2009, when Winn will be 35.
I have a hard time believing that Winn, even with a great season in 2006, would have commanded that much this offseason.
On the other hand, we have the three year, $20 million deal that the Pittsburgh Pirates gave good-field, no-hit shortstop Jack Wilson. Like Winn, Wilson was already under contract for 2006, so this makes him a Pirate through 2009, with Pittsburgh holding an $8.4 million option for 2010 that has about as much of a chance of being exercised as Ann Coulter does of being a keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention.
No question, Wilson can pick it...but is it really worth committing almost $7 million per year to a guy with a career .235 EQA? Can't you just get Pokey Reese to do the same thing for about $6 million per year less?
I don't get it...