"Let Us Come To Praise Ceasar....."

Well, no sooner had my Opening Day post that excoriated the Pirates for their skinflint ways been published in the blogosphere than the news arrived that the team had reached a contract agreement with one of their young hope-to-be-star players, third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes, for $70 million over eight years, with a team option for a ninth year.  It is the largest guaranteed contract that the Pirates have ever given a player, surpassing the $60 million contract that they gave to Jason Kendall in 2000.  It took the team twenty-two years to surpass the amount of that contract, make of that what you will.

So, while we have been rightfully critical of the team for their penurious ways, it is only fair to give them an "Attaboy" for this one.  If over the life of this contract Hayes becomes merely a good and consistent player, never mind a superstar, the team has fallen into an incredible bargain with this deal.   By comparison, Cardinals third sacker Nolan Arenado will make $34 million this season, just about half of what Hayes will make over the next eight years.  The real mystery here is why Hayes agreed to this deal.  He obviously is not betting on himself  to become the superstar who will command Arenado-type money down the road.  Of course, that seventy mill will insure that several generations of Hayes descendants will never have to punch a time clock in their lives, so I won't feel too bad for him.

It should be noted that Hayes left the game yesterday with what appeared to be a wrist injury in the second inning.  You will recall that he was injured in the second game of last season, missed two months, and ended up hitting in the .250 range for the season.  Reports are that Hayes is okay and his removal from the game yesterday was purely precautionary.  However, should Hayes turn out to be a china doll and hurt all the time, that will once again fall into an "only the Pirates" stroke of disastrous luck.  Let's all hope that that doesn't become the case.

For a better analysis of this deal, I refer you to Joe Starkey's column in today's Post-Gazette.  You can read it HERE.

One more thing.  What are the odds that Hayes spends the entirety of that eight year contract with the Buccos?   God willing, I'll still be around in 2030 when that contract expires, but I wouldn't bet the mortgage, or even the car payment, on him still being a Pirate when it does.