Aaron Rowand got his five-year contract.Much more on this in tomorrow's 50-center, but as I've written here, Rowand agreed today to a five-year, $60 million contract with the Giants. The Phillies are left with Pat Burrell, Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth in their outfield. They will receive two compensatory draft picks in exchange for losing Rowand, a Type A free agent.
In a conference call a few moments ago, Rowand said he was involved in serious negotiations with at least four teams and said the offers were "similar." It's believed the Phillies were willing to pay $13 million annually to keep Rowand, but they would guarantee only three years with a vesting option for a fourth. Last week, it appeared Rowand's options were dwindling. Phillies GM Pat Gillick called it a "long shot" that Rowand would return, and the White Sox, Dodgers and several other potential suitors refused to offer a five-year contract to Rowand, who is a daredevil in center field.
The Giants had no such fears.
"It was obviously very important in my decision process," Rowand said during the conference call. "I've been traded [in 2005 by the White Sox] and not had another contract option offered to me [last year by the Phillies]. Every player tries to get into a place long-term where you can not only feel comfortable, but also be able to get involved in the community and the charities and do a lot of things I did in chicago before i got traded.
"Bottom line was I wanted to get into a place and situation where I knew I wasn't going to be there short-term and bounce around from one organization to another. You know in today's day and age, that's kind of the commonplace. I was never a fan of that. If I felt like I was going to be there the rest of my career, that was the thing I was looking forward to most."
The Giants finished last in the NL West last season with a 71-91 record.
More later.
10 comments:
"Bottom line was I wanted to get into a place and situation where I knew I wasn't going to be there short-term and bounce around from one organization to another."
With a 3 year contract plus a 4th year option he would have been in philly for up to 6 years... is that short term?? And at which point he would be in his 11th season and on his way to finding a DH or backup position somewhere. What does he think he's getting by moving from a world series contender to the worst offense in the game? Although a good financial move by Rowand, it looks like a poor move in terms of playoff potential!
worst part of this signing is that the phillies dont get an additional 1st round pick because the giants 5th overall pick is protected. Scott, whats the compensation for losing a type A free agent and not being able to get a first round pick?
Anon, we'll get there second round pick to go along with a sandwich pick.
*their*
Scott,
Why do you think free-agents don't want to sign in Philadelphia?
No Fukudome, no Kuroda, no Rowand, no Lowell, no Soriano, nobody.
Something's gotta be going on, doesn't it?
So Lauber, oh thoughful one, do you think Tony Tarasco or Grant Roberts will be named in the Mitchell report?
Aaron Rowand can give any reason he wants for why he left the Phillies. The bottom line for Rowand is it was all about getting the most money and the most years. The Giants were the only team willing to give him a 5 year deal so the reason he is gone is pretty simple - He wanted to get paid for as long as possible and San Fran was the team that would give him that.
I know my feelings are in the minority on this, but the Phillies made the right move here in not giving him that 5th year he wanted. I know all the fans wanted the Phillies to give him the money and years he wanted. But, the first reason people give for wanting him back is leadership. I believe this is greatly exaggerated. I know Scott disagrees with me on this but the stats don't lie. Rowand had a career year this year in a contract year, which is when guys tend to have career years. The bottom line in my mind is Rowand will revert back to 14 HR and 75 RBI and that is just not good enough for a guy getting paid $12 million a year. I still refuse to buy the argument that Rowand is worth $12-13 million based solely on leadership.
Rob - I don't believe that free agents (particularly hitters) don't want to come here. My opinion is that Pat Gillick is very set in what he wants to do. For example, he was willing to give Rowand 3 years at $13 million with an option for the fourth. The Giants were willing to give him $60 million over 5 years and that is all guaranteed money. The same case holds for Kuroda. Gillick believed Kuroda was only worth a particular amount. Several teams, including Seattle, were willing to pay him significantly more, so Gillick bowed out. The same thing happened last year with Soriano. The Phillies are very set in what they want to do and how they want to do it.
Everyone wants this team to increase payroll and go out and spend, spend, spend. But, the bottom line is that someone with the track record that Gillick has should be able to get the job done with the 9th highest payroll in baseball. He has made some flat out horrible decisions (Freddy Garcia, Wes Helms, Adam Eaton, Ryan Franklin, Abe Nunez) and to a lesser extent (Arthur Rhodes, Justin Germano, Gio Gonzalez) that have really burned this team.
Matt, you are not alone in your thinking. I will paste my comment from the main article....
5 years and 60 million dollars for Aaron Rowand is absolute insanity. And, I really like him as a player. The Phillies would have been kicking themselves in the a$$ when he would be half way through the contract and batting .240.
And, every single person complaining about the Phillies not signing him now would be the very first ones moaning and groaning about that huge Rowand contract.
People just want to b**ch about something. Saying things like 'typical Philly' stuff and all of that garbage because it takes absolutely no thought whatsoever to do so. Well, they are certainly entitled to their mindlessness.
Sad to see him go. I think his role in the success of last season was mildly underrated. I would've paid him the money, but it's hard to argue with PGs stance on length of contract when you look at the Burrell scenario.
Truth is, in my opinion, is that many of the GMs in this league will say and pay to the tune of "a one good year a player make" type of thinking.
But Aaron was a good guy, a Philly guy, and the type of pro athlete you can take home to your children. I hope he does well for himself.
But now what the hell are we gonna do?
I really didn't think Aaron was going to get 5 years, and to be honest I'm disappointed in his decision. Part of why he was a fan favorite is because we all knew he liked winning and WANTED to win.
He now is on a team that will be in last place these next few seasons in the best division in the National League. The way I see it, he's the one that will be losing out.
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