MLB Opt-Out Clauses Increasing Popularity Among Players And Teams
By Jeff Schafer
MLB Opt-Out Clauses Continues To Pop Up
The opt-out option within contacts has been the new craze in the MLB. This past week we saw Yoenis Cespedes join the club as he signed a three-year deal with the New York Mets…but after the first year, he can opt-out of his contract and re-hit the free agent market.
Cespedes joins David Price, Jason Heyward, Justin Upton, Johnny Cueto and Scott Kazmir as players who negotiated opt-out clauses within the contract during this offseason. Ryan Howard, Josh Hamilton, Giancarlo Stanton all have these clauses already in their deals.
Will this hot new trend continue? It’s very possible since it could benefit the players and/or the teams.
Questioning Why The Players Like This?
See Greinke, Zack Greinke.
During the 2013 offseason, Greinke signed a six-year $147 million deal with the LA Dodgers…with an opt-out clause after three years. With the three years he pitched for the Dodgers, he made $70 million. Greinke decided to use his opt-out instead of pitching in LA for another three years and receiving another $77 million.
Instead, Greinke hit the free agent market and signed a deal worth $206.5 million for the next six-years with the Diamondbacks. Let’s add up these ridiculous numbers. Within the next three years, Greinke will now make $34 million a year and $102 in the next three. $25 million more for making this move…plus he’s signed for another three years. Pretty sure he made a smart move…can he spare some cash?
Questioning Why The Teams Like This?
This offseason, Jason Heyward signed an eight-year $184 million deal with the Chicago Cubs. After his third season with the Cubs, he can opt-out of his contract. The Cubs have Jake Arrieta, Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber who would also like to be paid for their services. If Heyward opts-out after three years, the Cubs could sign these homegrown talents.
Should this new contract tendency continue, it will make it very confusing for fans to keep up with. Not only will a player have a year amount attached to his name, but we’ll also have to factor in an opt-out. Try explaining this one to other non-baseball fans.
As the Braves move towards the 2017 season, (the year they’ll have lots of money to spend on players) it will be interesting to see what John Coppolella does with contracts. The opt-out clause sounds like something John Hart and Coppolella would have came up with.