Hometown Discount?

He signed. The most coveted free agent of the 2011 class that never actually hit the market is gone. Locked up by his own team. Joe Mauer is now a Minnesota Twin for the next 8 years. I don't know about you but I think 184 million dollars is a lot. I can guarantee that almost all of us will never see that amount of money in our lives. And they call that a "hometown discount"! I mean come on! A hometown discount that just made Mauer the richest person in Twins history? That, to me, is not a hometown discount. 23 million dollars a year, and we're calling this a hometown discount? Now I know Mauer would of got close to 250 million on the open market, but that is still outrageous. Lets look at some more so called "hometown discounts".

Albert Pujols, baseball's chosen one, was drafted by the Cardinals and is still in that uniform. He signed a seven year, 100 million dollar contract back in 2004. This was another of those so called "hometown discount". I know Pujols is amazing, but when it was signed, it was the richest contract in St. Louis history. So my question is why are we calling these hometown discounts if they are the most money ever given to a player in the teams history. It doesn't make any sense.

Derek Jeter is another "hometown discount". He only got 189 million dollars over 10 years. Yeah, discount my ass. Seriously, that's awful. There is no way you can even say that that is a discount. Of course, the Yankees would be the team to dish out that type of money. I know he was probably worth every penny, but its not a discount.

Okay, so now that I have vented about how ridiculous they are, lets look at real discounts. The contract that Justin Upton just signed this off season is a real hometown discount. It was 6-years 51.25 million dollars. Yeah, its a lot of money, but it is a great deal for the D-backs. Its under 10 million a year. Compare that to the deal Mauer has, and its obvious what the "hometown discount" is. Another good discount is the 6-year deal only guaranteed 17.5 million dollars signed by Evan Longoria. The contract has an option for 3 more years and it can reach a total of 44 million dollars. Nine years, and only around 5 million a year? Now that is a hometown discount! The Rays really lucked out.

I love seeing players stick with the team they have grown up in. I think it is awesome because it shows the loyalty and appreciation of that player for that organization. But I also think that everyone has a price limit. I would take the solid player that is willing to take less money to play for me than the superstar that wants 30 million for 10 years. And this is why I will never be a general manager.