Loading ...The Reds have signed Edwin Encarnacion to a two-year contract. The only place I saw numbers was on Lance’s site:
Total deal: $7,600,506
2009: $2,000,000
2010: $4,750,000
Signing bonus – $850,000, payable between March 2009 and November 2009.
Plus: $25,000 for 600 plate appearances
Plus: $25,000 for All Star; $50,000 for LCS/MVP;
$100,000 for WS/MVP; $50,000 for Gold Glove; $50,000 for Silver Slugger.
Edwin will donate 1% of base salaries and signing bonus to Reds Community Fund.
Thoughts?
Why not offer him something like $500,000 for a gold glove award? Outside of that, I like the deal. EE has his faults, but he certainly has things he brings to the table as well.
I was thinking the same thing, Doug. Why not double down on his signing bonus if he wins a gold glove?
I’m fine overall w/ it, and given EE’s age (and the fact that he’s our best right-handed hitter) I think it’s got a good chance of working out well for both parties.
A more general question though – is it really smart to always backload contracts like this? The Reds seem to always do this. Seems pretty short-sighted. Why not smooth out the expenses more?
Dan,
Its not really backloading. He would be due that kind of money because of arbitration unless he falls off the face of the planet.
Joking aside, I would have liked to see $2 and $4m, but double all of his incentives.
I love, love, love this signing.
I like the deal because it gives the team options for next year. It basically amounts to around 3 mil this year, and a 4.75mil salary next year which would be very tradeable if they decide to do that. Funny to me though, all of those playoff bonuses. This front office truly is deluded.
Indeed, the first thing I noticed was all the playoff incentives… I think if he wins World Series MVP he’ll deserve a lot more than an extra $100,000…
Overall though, a good deal.
Where’s the incentive for sacrifice flys?
Where’s the havoc bonus?
These are the important things.
I like this deal a lot.
I think award & playoff incentives (their inclusion, not necessarily the amount) are pretty much standard procedure.
Good signing. That is very good value. Put him in the 4 hole between Votto and Bruce. (Of course, this won’t happen. BP will bat 3rd. EdE will probably bat 6th.) I look for EdE to have a big year w/ the bat.
Come on, Gold Glove!!!
Come one, Batting Title!!!
Come on, Playoffs and World Series!!!
I think this is a pretty okay deal, but I do wonder about a few things. Specifically, what does this say, if anything, about the organization’s regard for certain prospects. What is Francisco or one of the not-a-shortstops really comes on. What do they do next year? Do the trade EE or the prospect? At the very least, this is the closest the Reds have ever come to giving EE their full endorsement, so in that sense, I think it is a good thing.
This deal is a financially sound…I read yesterday that Encarnacion’s line drive percentage dropped to about 15% last year, lowering his career percentage to about 19.5%. I think his BABIP was .267, so if his line drives revert to normalcy, then his Batting average should improve for the year, too, and his power should grow.
I’ve got to say, though….putting a bonus in their for improving his fielding, or even lowering his throwing errors sure seems to make sense.
I’ve been reading that he should be around 7-10 in offensive production among third basemen this year. His contract is still eminently tradeable.
EE could always be an outfield candidate as well. We know that situation is far, far from settled. I think it’s also been proven time and time again that with very few exceptions there is no such thing as a sure thing when we are talking propects. Besides, young trading chips are good things. EE is still young (it just seems like he’s older), so given the going rate for corner infielders this is not a bad move. Should allow him to play without that distraction.
I liked the idea of the move. If he mashes you avoid arb next year. Also, fixed compensation is more attractive in a trade.
deal makes sense from a financial perspective, i guess.
does the union allow negative incentives?
i’d like to see these in his contract:
-$1K for every time you shuffle your feet like an idiot while throwing
-$10K for missing the first baseman
-$25K for every ball thrown into the dugout
-$50K for every ball thrown into the stands
-$150K for every ball thrown into the upper deck of the stands
-$250K for every ball thrown into the river
seriously, if they could just find someone to help him with his footwork when throwing i’m convinced he could be at least an average 3b. he glove isn’t so bad and i think his range might actually be a bit above average.
but seriously, his positioning for a throw after picking up the ball, his throwing mechanics, his footwork – he’s a freakin’ trainwreck at 3b.
Good deal.
One of the articles was speculating that the “backloading” was to leave the Reds room to make another signing this year. Not sure I see the roster spot open, but maybe a mid-season deal if things are breaking right?
For all the talk about moving Encarnacion to the outfield…in my opinion, he doesn’t produce enough to be out there.
I fear a lot of our discussion about this has more to do with how bad our outfield is rather than whether it’s a good move for Edwin.
I dunno. I think EdE is capable of .280/.375/.500. 30 HRs and 100 RBIs (on a good team; probably only 80 on this team). He’s still young and hasn’t hit his prime yet. I’d take that production from a corner OFer. But your implicit point is right on: his production is excellent for a 3Bman. We tend to forget that a lot of team struggle to get any meaningful production from 3B.
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