Comments on: In case you forgot how bad Travis Hafner's contract was

By: Joselyn

Joselyn — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:45:30 +0000

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By: Jeff

Jeff — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:04:23 +0000

The Indians should be allowed to void the Hafner contract if they can prove he was juiced up when he signed (this shouldn’t be hard). The guy has dropped a ton of weight and his production is horrible… in the least they should require him to go back on the juice and put up some decent numbers until he gets caught.

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By: SHOE LIFTS

SHOE LIFTS — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:27:06 +0000

Heel lifts are wedge-shaped blocks which are placed in the heel part of a shoe, with the purpose of adding elevation under one or both feet for therapeutic reasons. Those who suffer foot pain when wearing shoes for a long time. Heel lifts can reduce pain. Heel lifts are also great for those who need to increase their height.

By: SHOE LIFTS

SHOE LIFTS — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:12:33 +0000

Being smaller is not a sin, if everybody else around you is taller, it is obvious you would wish to appear taller as well.

By: Eat a Peach

Eat a Peach — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 09:14:32 +0000

This just in, Travis Hafner decapitated whilst pressure-cooking a turkey.
Seriously though, he only signed the deal because he was already hurt and scuffling. He came crawling back to what was perceived at the time as a low-ball offer. My point is that all these yokels screaming about Shapiro after the fact need to take their torches to the next village.

By: Dan Szymborski

Dan Szymborski — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:37:11 +0000

Blecch, don’t remind me! He was always a risk for decline, but the hope was that he’s put in a few more big years and make the back end of the contract at least tolerable. Instead, it took all of 2 months and one of the two big uh-oh injuries for batters (shoulder and wrist – obviously being decapitated in a tragic cooking accident would be worse, but it’s relatively uncommon).

By: Eat a Peach

Eat a Peach — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 07:38:31 +0000

Dan Szymborski, who actually wrote the article for BTF at the time, states in the first sentence of Chuck’s link: “The length of the contract makes this a pretty nice signing for the Indians.”
Chuck – linking to something that says the opposite of what you claim? Especially feeble minded, and that’s not even strong enough.

By: The TC

The TC — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:38:19 +0000

That contract will never be as bad as Vernon Wells’. Not even if Hafner never swings the bat again. Ugh.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:06:58 +0000

But he had a skillset that does not age well and did not have a defensive position. For a team that could not afford to keep Sabathia, Lee or Victor Martinez, an extension for someone like Hafner was a luxury (even if it seemed like a pretty good deal at the time). Small-market teams can’t take on the risk of locking in a DH to a long-term contract. Hell, even big market teams shouldn’t do that (how much is Theo hating the deal with Big Papi right now?). Look at each of the last few off-seasons, there are always aging sluggers to be had at fractions of the price of what Hafner’s making. You can definitely give Shapiro some grief for this.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:31:20 +0000

Feeble-minded is a little strong, no? Check out the mixed reaction at BTF at the time.

By: Eat a Peach

Eat a Peach — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:57:28 +0000

I really hate this kind of knee-jerk revisionist history analysis, by Craig and Chuck in particular. You have to look at the circumstances and history of the deal and also put it in perspective against the financial climate of the times.
Preseason 2007, the economy is robust, David Ortiz just signed a 4 year $52 million dollar extension. Travis Hafner is locked up for $4 million for ’07 and $5 million for ’08. He’s coming off a 42 HR season, and 3 seasons of OPS north of .993 in a row. Shapiro has been trying for months and months to get Hafner locked up for a few more years, but Hafner has all the leverage with those kinds of performances behind him. Hafner slumps early, then with an injured knee and a dinged-up shoulder, he caves and signs this extension in July of 2007, getting him identical to Big Papi money.
It really was a sweetheart deal, and he only agreed to it because he realized he would not be playing healthy anytime soon. To go after Shapiro now for that contract extension is feeble-minded.

By: MarkH

MarkH — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:38:58 +0000

Look at Todd Helton’s remaining contract if you want to see sweet sassy-molassy ugly.
So — just what *are* the odds Colorado picks up his $23 million club option for 2012? And were there ever any realistic circumstances under which they *would* have picked it up?

By: Chuck

Chuck — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:16:31 +0000

I disagree that there many who characterized the Hafner contract extension as a “sweetheart deal”.
When Hanfer signed the deal (which was mid-2007, I believe), many saw the following:
* a once great hitter, at ages 27-29, regressing dramatically at age 30
* an unathletic hitter who can’t run or play defense
* a type of athlete who doesn’t age terribly well
The deal was not what one would have expected from Shapiro, who should have known better. The Indians had possibly the best hitter in baseball for peanuts during his peak, and then decided to pay top dollar to witness his career denouement.

By: Jamie

Jamie — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:13:52 +0000

I’m seeing an opening for a Milton Bradley trade rumor here somewhere…

By: Drew

Drew — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:33:58 +0000

It’s nice to see someone else uses sweet sassy-molassy. I tend to get strange looks for it.

By: Jason @ IIATMS

Jason @ IIATMS — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:19:45 +0000

Except, when the deal was signed, it was lauded as a “sweetheart” deal for the Indians.
Funny the difference a few years makes.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 09:47:41 +0000

Further evidence that small-market teams should NEVER be paying big bucks to guys that cannot play a defensive position!