Who to Pay and What to Pay Them

https://redbirdrants.com/2022/09/11/st-louis-cardinals-braves-extensions/ 

    This article, like many others published by Redbird Rants, introduces a unique idea, which in quick summary is what the St. Louis Cardinals should do moving forward in regard to contracts and extensions. While I think this article is rather sensible and packed with high-quality content, I still don't 100% agree with everything that is written. 

    Giving contracts like this to players that are relatively unproven can be a big win or a huge loss. The idea the team has when signing a guy to a contract like this is that they can sign a 22-year-old to a contract now, while he is unproven, for far less than they could sign him for when he is 26 and most likely proven. However, this is not always the case, because not every player who is projected to be good ends up being good. While I do think there is a great possibility that guys like Nolan Gorman and Jordan Walker could live up to a larger contract, I remember that I thought the same thing about Paul DeJong. 

    DeJong had a promising rookie campaign and looked to be heading in the right direction, so he got paid. A 6-year, $26 million contract was signed, and hopes were high. However, DeJong fell apart, as I wrote about here, and never made it to where he was a worthwhile investment. If this downfall did not happen, DeJong would have been on a team-friendly contract, as there are multiple players who make this kind of money in just one season of play. However, the type of production that has been coming from DeJong makes it to where he is being overpaid. 

    DeJong is just one example of this, as there are plenty of teams who have taken a young guy and given them a big contract and have had it work out for them. One of these teams is the Braves, which explains the name of the article, who have been doing this rather often recently and are finding success with the guys whom they reward with these contracts. 

    Overall, I do believe that this is a rather smart tactic if it works in the team's favor, but there are too many cases where it hasn't. Therefore, I would not sign a guy to one of these extensions until they have at least played at a high level for an entire season. 

    However, if the Cardinals were to start handing out these contracts, I’d start by giving one to Jordan Walker, as he is a highly coveted prospect with no true issues. Nolan Gorman has not yet earned a large payday, because he has issues against left-handed pitching, and he strikes out a lot. But I still do believe Gorman could get there. Lars Nootbaar is a guy who may be eligible for a smaller payday than the first two, but I don’t think it should come anytime soon.

    All in all, I like the thought behind the ideas that are presented by Josh Jacobs in this article. However, I don't like the idea of players getting paid before they have proven anything. To me, this just seems like a disaster waiting to happen. However, there is always a possibility, and if the Cardinals do begin to offer these contracts, then only time will be able to tell if the reward is greater than the risk.