OT: Jered Weaver & Angels Agree To 5 Year Deal

[Captain Obvious]

Jered Weaver agrees to five-year, $85-million extension with Angels - latimes.com

Angels on Sunday reached agreement on a five-year, $85-million contract extension with Jered Weaver, extinguishing fears among the team's fans that the ace right-hander would leave as a free agent after the 2012 season.

The deal, which will be officially announced Tuesday in a 2 p.m. news conference, reportedly includes a full no-trade clause and will keep Weaver, who was entering his final year of arbitration this winter, in Anaheim through 2016.

The deal, with an average annual value of $17 million, will make Weaver, 28, the highest-paid pitcher in franchise history.

It will be the second-largest contract the team has ever awarded, just under the five-year, $90-meal deal outfielder Torii Hunter got before 2008.

Weaver, a two-time All-Star, is 14-6 with an American League-leading 2.10 earned-run average, and he is among the leading candidates for the AL Cy Young Award.

Though Weaver grew up in Simi Valley and pitched at Long Beach State, Angels fans were skeptical Weaver would remain in Anaheim after he became a free agent.

The reasons: Weaver's agent, Scott Boras, prefers his clients go to free agency, where they can earn maximum dollars, and the relationship between Boras and Angels owner Arte Moreno has been strained since negotiations with free-agent first baseman Mark Teixeira broke down before 2009.

There was also a concern that Weaver might have hard feelings toward the Angels after losing last winter's arbitration case with them and settling for $7.365 million this season.

But Boras has maintained he has no problems dealing with the Angels' front office, and the Weaver deal is clearly an indication the sides can cooperate for the good of a player and the team.

Weaver, in his sixth big league season, has a 78-45 record with a 3.30 ERA and 937 strikeouts in 1,0841/3 innings. He led the major leagues with 233 strikeouts last season.

His new contract is in line with the five-year, $80-million deal Justin Verlander signed with Detroit and the five-year, $78-million deal Felix Hernandez signed with Seattle before 2010. But both those pitchers signed with two arbitration years remaining.

Weaver's deal will also be more than the five-year, $82.5-million contract former Angels ace John Lackey signed with Boston before 2010.

The Angels offered Lackey four years and $60 million.

 

[2SeamHeat]

Yeah, I was hoping he'd be available in a couple of years. Would have been nice to sign CJ Wilson this winter ... then sign Jared Weaver after next season to go with Garza.

 

[USCChiFan]

Yeah, I was hoping he'd be available in a couple of years. Would have been nice to sign CJ Wilson this winter ... then sign Jared Weaver after next season to go with Garza.

This isn't fantasy baseball....
There's no way in hell they could ever afford Garza, Weaver, and Wilson if Weaver became a FA. I doubt the Cubs are gonna sign Wilson w/ this deal being the baseline for negotiations.

 

[nwfisch]

This isn't fantasy baseball....
There's no way in hell they could ever afford Garza, Weaver, and Wilson if Weaver became a FA. I doubt the Cubs are gonna sign Wilson w/ this deal being the baseline for negotiations.

 

[dabynsky]

Good deal for the Angels and just one of the many big names that are likely to get locked up prior to the potential 2012 free agent starting pitching bonzana.

And I was told that Wilson wasn't going to get anywhere near 15 million a year. Weaver got 17 million, and while he is a better pitcher you also have to factor in the Angels were getting a discount by buying out the last year of arbitration.

 

[2SeamHeat]

This isn't fantasy baseball....
There's no way in hell they could ever afford Garza, Weaver, and Wilson if Weaver became a FA. I doubt the Cubs are gonna sign Wilson w/ this deal being the baseline for negotiations.

Really? How much is Zambo getting paid? Hmmm $18M. What is the average pay for Weaver's extension? $17.5M..... interesting as to how Weaver would have been a FA the same time Zambo's contract ran out... guess it's not possible to replace $18M with $17.5M. I mean, who can afford a 500K drop in the payroll they dish out?

Dempster, and Silva getting paid again? $13M and $11.5M... that's what... a total of $24.5M.... so I guess that wouldn't be enough to cover a potential $17-18M pitcher. I mean, we're talking $6.5-7 mil in reduction here... no one can possibly afford that! Decline Dempster's option... and you have more than enough money right there to afford Wilson... with a lot left over. But hey... that's... logical.

And... by the time Garza's turn for negotiations come around... guess who will be close to coming off the payroll... our precious $18M LF Soriano. Guess his former wages wouldn't be able to cover Garza's future wages... huh. Even if Garza gets Weaver money... which is so very unlikely... this is a wash at the current payroll rate. Guess keeping the same payroll level that's already been said to be EXPANDABLE isn't affordable.

 

[2SeamHeat]

Oh, and before you go on the tangent of "Well Weaver would get more in the open market..." No, I don't really think he would, at least not so much more that would make him unreachable. He might have gotten another $500K-1.5M, but that doesn't put him out of signing range for the Cubs... especially when you actually take a look to see what contracts would be cleared from the Cubs' payroll at that time.

 

[dabynsky]

If Weaver put up another season like this and was on the open market, his price would be more in the 20 million range at the minimum. Also Dempster has a player option so the Cubs can't decline that.

 

[2SeamHeat]

If Weaver put up another season like this and was on the open market, his price would be more in the 20 million range at the minimum. Also Dempster has a player option so the Cubs can't decline that.

Player option? I thought it was a team option with a buyout. Well, no matter. His contract will end the next season.

And no, I don't think he'd hit the $20M range.... and I don't think he'll have another sub 2 ERA (for most of the year) either. He's a great pitcher, but he's also having a bit of a fluke season. If he returned to a 3.5 or ERA next season, then I think you see him get paid somewhere between $17M and $19M.

 

[dabynsky]

I think it depends if CC opts out. Right now he is being paid 23 million, but after this season he might opt out to get an even bigger payday. If the price of the top pitchers moves into the 25 million range the whole market gets shifted up even more than it already is.