Money questions, e.g. Frank Thomas

by the Tewk on Apr 20, 2008 10:40 PM EDT Comment 5 comments

first off, no jumping on me... I am not suggesting we pick him up; I'm just curious how the money is handled when a high-dollar contract player like Thomas gets released.

The situation as I understand it:

Thomas may have cooked his own goose (with Toronto, in any case) by getting a two-year contract ('07-'08) which stipulated that if he had 1,000 plate appearances over '07 and '08 combined, it would guarantee him a third year ('09) at 10 million.

Since he did surprisingly well in '07 (95 RBIs) and therefore had a lot of AB's, the pressure was on for him to justify the looming '09 obligation by producing again in '08. He's off to a slow start. And tho' the Blue Jays deny the '09 thing as being a factor... in any case he was released, with 8 million still guaranteed for '08.

My basic questions are these:

1. If Thomas is picked up by another team, does that new team have to pay ANY of his '08 salary, or is Toronto completely obligated for the remainder of the 8 mil for this year?

2. Is that new team obligated to the part of his deal with Toronto, re. possible guarantee for '09.? That is, if Thomas does well enough to get the 350-some plate appearances he needs to combine for 1,000, will they be obligated to honor the '09 part? Or... is the slate wiped clean, except for the money already guaranteed for '08?

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if i understand correctly

it will depend on how long it takes someone to claim him. other guys who were dfa’d, if picked up within a certain amount of time (15 days, maybe?), had their contracts transferred over to the new team. if no one picked them up, then the original team was on the hook for the whole contract, while the player was free to sign with any team for league minimum.

Rabid Redbird

by gthedamned on Apr 21, 2008 8:26 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

and now that i look closer

he was released, not dfa’d (like we did with speizio), so i think the jays just have to pay him.

Rabid Redbird

by gthedamned on Apr 21, 2008 8:35 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's right

He was released. He will get his whole contract paid and he is free to sign with any other team. The new team signs him as a free agent with no concessions to the Blue Jays.

We did the same thing with Scott Speizio. He’s been released again, and good grief he could theoretically sign with another team.

Here's the deal, I'm the best there is, plain and simple, I mean I wake up every morning and I kiss excellence, and nobody can hang with my stuff, uh, you know I'm just a, just a big hairy American winning machine.....

by Schnake on Apr 21, 2008 9:38 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Back to the 3rd year guaranteed...

If he signs elsewhere, is that option picked up and paid for by the Blue Jays because the Blue Jays would still owe him the remainder of that contract?
If that’s the case, the Orioles/Rays should sign him just to stick it to a division foe.

by Jumsy on Apr 21, 2008 1:54 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

no...

He was released…the contract stipulated that he had to have 1000 PA’s combined, WITH THE JAYS, in order for that option to be picked up.

He could then sign with any other team and negotiate a contract with them.

P.S. Is is possible that Hank Steinbrenner is waiting in the wings? Considering the start that Giambi is off to, Frank has to be a possibility for them doesn’t he? I’d love to see a Giambi/Thomas platoon at 1B for the Yanks just because of the horrific defense that can be expected and Thomas realizing his lifelong dream to live out his role from the movie Mr. Baseball, where he supplants a left-handed hitting former All-Star who looks washed up.

"I just wish that the late Harry Caray were still around so I could hear him mispronounce 'Kosuke Fukudome' every fukun' night" -- Dennis Miller

by fourstick on Apr 21, 2008 2:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs