Darren Oliver Wants More Money to Play in Toronto
MLB insiders and Darren Oliver’s agent, former Blue Jay Jeff Frye, are reporting that Oliver will either request a trade to the Rangers to be closer to his family in Texas, retire, or come back to Toronto…if there is a raise involved. Oliver, 42, signed a one-year deal worth $4 million for the 2012 season with a $3 million club option for 2013. It’s reported that when he signed the contract, he planned to retire after 2012 so he didn’t care about the option. Now he wants to play, but only for more money.
As much as I hate when players hold out for more when they have already signed a contract, I sort of see Oliver’s perspective. I’m not saying I agree with what he’s doing, but I understand where he is coming from. He’s 42 (not some early 20′s star holding out), coming off the best season of his career, probably only wants to play one more year, and doesn’t want to do it at a pay cut. Especially when other relievers in his category are getting anywhere from $4 -6 million per season.
Then there is the side of me that says, well you shouldn’t have signed the contract with a club option for only $3 million.
But let’s look at this: the Jays bullpen is undoubtably better with Oliver as a part of it. This guy truly is like a fine wine; His ERA for the past six seasons has gotten better every year:
2007 – 3.78
2008 – 2.88
2009 – 2.71
2010 – 2.48
2011 – 2.29
2012 – 2.06
He hasn’t had an ERA higher than 3.78 in seven seasons (was 3.44 in 2006). Even if he regresses a bit from last year (which I would expect), I would expect more an average of the past 5 seasons – which is outstanding.
So these become the questions: how much more does he want? And do the Jays set a precedent if they give in to his demands? I hope either they give him the raise or let him retire. I know he’s played 19 seasons and wants to play his last one with the Rangers near his home, but we are making a push to win it all and could use him this year. I doubt we’d have any leverage with Texas in a trade.
Not giving Oliver a few more dollars is a bit of a risk too. He’s just so good – 2.06 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 52 strikeouts in 56.2 innings last season and only 15 walks. And if this is the Jays year to go for it and a guy like Oliver puts them over the hump in the post season, well, pay the man.
IHRTBJs
No question you pay him. He”s another guy that completely screws with an opposing teams timing. Worst case scenario, the Jays struggle and you can deal him at the deadline. Win-Win.
I think at this point with the other moves and how “all in” the Jays are, they have to pay him. He probably wants an extra 1 – 1.5 million. At this point, that’s nothing. And the Jays should publicly be happy to pay him so they is no bad relationship between Oliver and fans. You are dead on; worse case the Jays struggle and you trade him at the deadline to a playoff contender and he sails into the sunset with a chance at a ring. By staying in Toronto, he might just get one.
I say pay him, but you never know when age or injury catchs up and it turns out to be a bad season. Honestly though if I was him I wouldnt have made it an issue he is on what looks like a very good team
Injuries can happen to anyone and Oliver has been very healthy for a longtime. It’s not like he’s an injury-prone player. Age could catch up, but he has been so good for the last 7 seasons. I don’t see a single season drop off; maybe not another consecutive career year, but he should be extremely solid. So pay him. If you don’t and miss the post season by a couple games or make the playoffs and are booted because the bullpen struggles, fans will remember the Jays wouldn’t shell out an extra 1 or 1.5 million to a guy who deserves it in this market.
Personally, if you sign your name to a contract, you honour it. If you have a bad year a team does not get to ask or force you to take a pay cut. If they open this door it could cause a lot of problems in the future.
I agree 100% with your view. And I think Alex Anthopoulos is on the same page as you. But if I’m running the club, this is different and although there is minimal risk that you set a precedent, Oliver is 42 and is either finished forever or playing one last season. Any other player who holds out or threatens retirement would risk never playing again. Players can only utilize this in their final year of their career. I just think the Jays are better with him and although he signed the contract and should definitely honour it, if it takes a bit more to have him not retire and help the team win in the post season, it’s worth re-working his contract.
The only precedent the Jays need to worry about is the one New York and Boston set: money buys championships.
Your comment got me thinking? If the Jays were willing to take on all this payroll, wouldn’t it have been better to get some of these players last year when they were free agents? The contracts would have been in the same ballpark and we would have kept some of our prospects.
And I hate the Yankees and Red Sox. It’s much more fun when a team can do what Tampa or Oakland does – win through smart trades and player development.