After weeks of negotiations the Yankees appear to have come to terms with Jorge Posada on a multi-year contract. On Sunday, Posada agreed to a five-year deal worth $51 million. The structure of the deal is somewhat complicated. He will receive a base salary of $4M in 2002, $5M in 2003, $6M in 2004, $8M in 2005, and $9M in 2006. It also includes a $15M signing bonus that will be paid out in installments: $1.5M in 2002, $2M in 2003, $3M in 2004, $4M in 2005, and $4.5M in 2006. New York holds a club option for 2007 worth $12M. The option will automatically be picked up if Posada compiles a total of 330 games played at catcher in the last three years of the deal. He receives a $4M buyout if it is declined. However, the contract also includes an out clause that if exercised would allow Posada to go to free agency after 2004 with the money he's been paid at that point.

Although the Yankees are never really short of funds, I question the wisdom of this deal. Posada is at the top of the second tier of offensive catchers following Mike Piazza, Ivan Rodriguez, and Jason Kendall. However, he will be thirty this season and that's an age when many such catchers begin to consider moving to new positions to extend their careers at the plate. They do this for good reason as few catchers really stay in the majors much past their 36th birthdays because of the daily wear and tear from working behind the plate. I highly doubt that the Yankees will ever consider moving Posada, as they have many superior options filling the other positions around the diamond and his value lies in the scarcity of his skills at his particular position.

The difference in talent that separates Posada from the aforementioned three really prohibits such a move, so he shouldn't expect any relief in that department. While Posada has had less time on his knees than the others because of his late start, this contract takes him all the way through his 35th birthday and through his 36th if the option is picked up. He's currently recovering from shoulder surgery this off-season after the injury plagued him for most of last season, and while he hopes to start Opening Day, his immediate return is not 100% certain. He could recover from these troubles and be a picture of health through the end of the contract, but the more likely scenario is that they are just a precursor to the normal potpourri of problems a catcher will go through before retirement.

Even if #20 can stay healthy for the duration of the contract, there remains a question as to whether his production levels will hold up. Most batters have peaked by the time they're 30, and while they might see a power spike in their early to mid-30's, it's pretty much all downhill from there. Giving a 30-year-old catcher a 5-year deal is therefore extremely risky. The Texas Rangers gave Ivan Rodriguez a six-year contract extension, but that was in 1997, and he will just be turning 30 in the last year of that contract. I wouldn't recommend any team now give Rodriguez the kind of job security that the Yankees have just given Posada, and IRod is considered to be among the best catchers in history.

Of course the argument is that Posada probably would have taken a three or four year contract from another club when he became a free agent if the Yankees hadn't given him a multi-year deal, and New York doesn't have a back-up that could come close to replacing Posada's production. However if the Yankees had offered him a three-year contract at a slightly higher salary, they should have been able to lock him up through his prime, leaving few remaining teams still interested in awarding him a long-term contract after 2004. New York likely would have been able to outbid those teams on one to two-year deals, insuring that they could continue to hold onto Posada as long as they needed him and replace him when he began to follow the standard pattern of aging catchers.

Given that seemingly more sensible option, I am mystified by the actual length of the contract. As it stands, by the end of this contract the Yankees will likely be paying upwards of $12M a year for little more than the production Greg Myers has provided the last few seasons.

As far as the option year is concerned, I'm afraid it will turn into a catch-22, in that if he is healthy, Posada's large salary will practically mandate that he start at catcher almost regardless of the magnitude of his decline, insuring that the equally large option will be activated. The Yankees are among the few, if not the only, clubs that have the resources to potentially sit Posada, even at that salary, if he is performing poorly. However financial situations are subject to change, so it is extremely disappointing for an organization that is considered to be one of the most intelligent teams in baseball to construct a deal like this one. If Posada allows the Yankees out of this contract after three years, the Jody Reed award will have a new name.

In other news, Doug Creek also agreed to a contract avoiding arbitration on Sunday. The lefty reliever signed a $650K, one-year deal with Tampa Bay. He probably returns as the primary lefty in the Devil Rays' pen. He pitches very well as a specialist, holding left-handers to an OBA of .198 and an OOPS of .291, making him yet another example of why a team need not overpay for lefty relief.

Before we finish for today, I just wanted to note my approval of the Charles Schwab Super Bowl ad featuring Barry Bonds and Hank Aaron. I usually enjoy any ad that uses baseball and baseball players, as it reassures me that they are still an important part of American culture. When the ads are as well done as that one, they're definitely a special treat.