Maholm, Hinske and Beam. Oh My!

 

Maholm:

Maholm signed his 3 year deal, with a 4th year club option, totaling $14.5M in guaranteed money.  The breakout is as follows:

$3.5M 2009 ($1.5M of which is a signing bonus)

$4.5M 2010

$5.75M 2011

$9.75M 2012 club option, escalators could raise the option to 11.05M

A buyout for the option of  $750K.

If the option is exercised, the minimum value of the contact is $23.5M.

BTW Take:

This is another good move by the front office to lock up their perceived core of talent.  Some may point to the fact the Pirates will be losing players after 2011 in addition to having a high turnover each year after that. 

Looking at other teams and sports, this is the way of life in professional sports.  One merely needs to compare the rosters of the Boston Red Sox between their two championship years to see more than half the roster changed between championships. 

The key is to have players ready to step in or be willing to spend on free agents to fill the holes left behind. 

This concept isn’t exclusive to only baseball.  The Steelers have 20 players returning from their Super Bowl XL roster to play this year in Super Bowl XLIII.  That is more than half of the XL team gone in three seasons. 

The key is to replace those players and continue to improve.  With baseball, they have the farm system to fall back on.  Building a good pipeline will help this team remain competitive if they can get to that level to begin with.  

 

Hinske:

Hinske signed a deal worth $1.5M with another $1M in bonuses based on plate appearances.  T.J. Beam was designated for assignment.  If Beam clears waivers, he will be assigned to Indianapolis. 

BTW Take:

Beam will likely be claimed off waivers.  Hinske will be adding depth in the event one of the many young players on the team are injured (Moss) or struggle (Andy LaRoche and Nyger Morgan) or traded (Adam LaRoche).

 

Link:

Here is a link to a very entertaining article on the next Pirate uniform suggestions at our friends front office at We Should Be GM’s:

http://pabaseball.blogspot.com/2009/01/new-pirates-uniforms-to-be-proud-of.html

 

Tomorrow:

Neal Huntington was on MLB Live at MLB Home Plate XM 175.  I will try and get a transcript of the interview up tomorrow.  He had some interesting comments that I want to pass on to my friendly readers.

 

Donate:

I will be walking in the MDA Stride and Ride locally. Please sponsor me in my Stride and Ride Walk for MDA at https://www.joinmda.org/srcoralvilleia09/dharr18.  Every dollar is appreciated.