Branyan's Second Year, 2
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Q. Maybe Branyan won't play at all.
A. Then we wouldn't be hearing about Branyan getting one solid guaranteed year.
Looks to me like we're talking about trying to pay $6M for one season that will be worth either $9 or $15M, one of the two.
Like I say, that's great for M's fans. It sounds like Jack is going to save so much money at SS and 1B that he'll be able to go after Lackey and Bay together, or who knows what he's thinking.
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Q. Do the M's owe Branyan anything?
A. I think so, yes.
Russell Branyan produced $12M worth of performance in 2009 for $2M, and Russell Branyan never said one word about the zeroes on Erik Bedard's paycheck.
Branyan far outperformed his contract in 2009, and never complained. He didn't pull a Shawn Kemp and convince everybody in the locker room that the club should treat him better; Branyan outperformed his contract and he did it with a great attitude. That should count for something with Zduriencik.
If it's me, I'd like to send a message that the boss and the employees are in it to win-win together. Not a message that the front office will exploit its employees if it gets the chance.
Look, I'm not saying that the front office is evil here. It's big business, big dollars at stake, and I admire all the players in this opera. But I think that when your employees do exactly what you ask them to do, then you reward them for it.
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Q. Do you think any other team might offer Branyan two years?
A. I'd be surprised if nobody else offered him $12M total guaranteed. He just earned that in 70% of one season.
29 other teams will be aware of the same thing you are: that even if Branyan is injured a lot, he'll still be worth a lot. But, still, Abreu took 1/$5M last year and Branyan has health questions. Both the M's and Branyan are shooting in the dark for another month (when RB will hear the offers from other teams).
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Branyan is hardly asking for charity. His value is >$100,000 per game. If Zduriencik passes, I expect Branyan to get fairer money elsewhere.
And we're not talking about an absurd reward, for being a good soldier. Branyan wants a second year, at what, 50% of fangraphs value. I've got to side with Russell on this one.
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Q. What do you think will happen? What do you make of the agent being "confident"?
A. I think we all know that the M's can vest 2011 at certain health scenarios in 2010. That's very common, and that's what's appropriate here.
A vested 2011, assuming that Branyan is fine in 2010, is the least the Mariners can do for Branyan. Loyalty works two ways, Cap'n.
If Zduriencik drew the line in the sand and wouldn't even vest Branyan, I'd call that Theory X, 1970's management style. But I'm sure that won't be the case.
The M's need those bombs. Git R Done.
My $0.02,
Dr D