Angels Sign OF Kole Calhoun to Extension

[totdprods]

Three years, buying out his remaining arb seasons, with an option for his first FA year. 
Reported first by DiGiovanna.

Fletch with the specifics:

Jeff Fletcher ‏@JeffFletcherOCR  8s8 seconds ago

Angels sign Kole Calhoun to a 3-year $26M extension, with a $14M option for 2020, which would be his first FA year.

[ettin]

Let us see how close I was on my extension guess (I actually did not think the Angels would have the room to do this now but I am glad):

4 years $65M? If less it is value-added for the team.

[totdprods]

1 minute ago, ettin said:

Let us see how close I was on my extension guess (I actually did not think the Angels would have the room to do this now but I am glad):

4 years $65M? If less it is value-added for the team.

Essentially, 4/$40 with the option. Pretty good, if not fantastic, deal. 

[ettin]

Just now, totdprods said:

Essentially, 4/$40 with the option. Pretty good, if not fantastic, deal. 

Sweet! That is really great for the team honestly. Excellent deal!!!! Gives Kole financial security the rest of his life as well! Well DONE EPPLER!

[Docwaukee]

wow!  that seems dirt cheap.  

[Blarg]

He must love playing in Anaheim. 

[Tyler]

This is actually nice of the Angels to do.

[John Smith]

 

Chris Cotillo Verified account ‏@ChrisCotillo

Kole Calhoun gets $26M guaranteed from Angels: $6M in 2017, $8.5M in 2018, $10.5M in 2019. $14M option/$1M buyout in 2020. Max: 4 yr, $39M.

[Angel Dog and Beer]

This is great, good for Kole and the team.  Love the way he plays the game and seems like a great teammate to have. 

[tomsred]

Smart deal for both parties.  Really nice to have him on board for the next few years.  He's a solid contributor.

[Troll Daddy]

 

 

 

[totdprods]

Basically they're paying him pretty close to what he would have made in arbitration anyways. 
It's now just guaranteed for him and the Angels got a potential deal on an extra year. Good deal for all.

[California Cajun]

[Oz27]

I'm a big believer that these pre-FA extensions typically end up working out much better for the signing club than the player. Kole may have got marginally more from his arb years than he otherwise would have, but he now hits the market a year later. He won't be a free agent until he is 33 now and that is late to hit the market. I know it's only one year later than he was previously going to but convincing teams to pay him at 33 is probably going to be a lot harder than it would have been at 32.

The Angels did very well out of this though. For minimal cost/risk, they acquired a cheap extra year of control for Calhoun. If we got to a point of wanting to trade him in the next few years, that has increased his value a lot. But if we are winning by then, we have an affordable player for another year who still should be above average at that point.

[Troll Daddy]

Guaranteed money is a beautiful thing. Smart move for Kole and his family. 

[AngelsLakersFan]

Another player now under control for the entire Trout window.

[Brent Maguire]

Love this deal. You lock up one of your best players through his age 29-32 years and aren't on the hook for some potential albatross. Realistically, they're only saving 5-15 million dollars but that's creating some nice excess value. If the team is competing, they have a good player locked up in his prime for 10 mil a year. If the team is stinking it up, plenty of teams would be calling for Calhoun in a potential trade. With that extra year of control, he's a very valuable commodity. 

[Oz27]

Calhoun was going to get about $6.9 million through arbitration this year, so as long as he wasn't bad enough to get non-tendered he was going to get at least $23 million through the arb process and, if his career didn't fall off a cliff, a lot more ($30 million+ I'd have thought). So he has probably cost himself money in both his arb years and when he hits free agency and potentially quite a lot of it. I could see this reducing his career earnings by $20 million to $30 million. It's his choice, obviously, but it feels like a minimal gain for the sacrifice given there wasn't huge uncertainty surrounding his short-term earnings. Whatever his reason, though, the team has done extremely well out of this.

[aznhockeyguy]

Wow IMO, Kole got robbed as I think he would've received more via arbitration on a per year basis had he not signed the extension.  Likewise, this contract protects him against career-ending injury, but I would think the risk would've been worth it.  Great deal for the Angels.

Edit: Oz27 great write up, my thoughts exactly.

[Bobster7587]

Awesome! 

[Blarg]

2 hours ago, Oz27 said:

Calhoun was going to get about $6.9 million through arbitration this year, so as long as he wasn't bad enough to get non-tendered he was going to get at least $23 million through the arb process and, if his career didn't fall off a cliff, a lot more ($30 million+ I'd have thought). So he has probably cost himself money in both his arb years and when he hits free agency and potentially quite a lot of it. I could see this reducing his career earnings by $20 million to $30 million. It's his choice, obviously, but it feels like a minimal gain for the sacrifice given there wasn't huge uncertainty surrounding his short-term earnings. Whatever his reason, though, the team has done extremely well out of this.

Or he possibly runs into a wall the wrong way,  gets hit by a pitch,  breaks his leg sliding and prematurely ends his career. The guaranteed money is a pretty smart move for an athlete,  that,  like you said, would have otherwise seen free agency only a year sooner if he makes it there in one piece. 

He is a quality player but not a superstar waiting for that huge payday. Taking the money now is his best career choice. 

[ettin]

1 hour ago, aznhockeyguy said:

Wow IMO, Kole got robbed as I think he would've received more via arbitration on a per year basis had he not signed the extension.  Likewise, this contract protects him against career-ending injury, but I would think the risk would've been worth it.  Great deal for the Angels.

Edit: Oz27 great write up, my thoughts exactly.

The reason I projected 4/$65 in the Primer Series was because next year he would have likely received about $10M-11M in 2018 and about $15M-16M in 2019 with about $20M each in his first and second years of free agency. Clearly Eppler wanted to do it this year (cheaper for sure) which reduced the total to about 4/$50 and instead they got 4/$40 which is about a 20% discount. Kudos to Eppler and I really like Kole, glad to see he's locked in to the Trout window. Next up is Richards hopefully.

[ettin]

10 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Or he possibly runs into a wall the wrong way,  gets hit by a pitch,  breaks his leg sliding and prematurely ends his career. The guaranteed money is a pretty smart move for an athlete,  that,  like you said, would have otherwise seen free agency only a year sooner if he makes it there in one piece. 

He is a quality player but not a superstar waiting for that huge payday. Taking the money now is his best career choice. 

Also he can still get a nice payday in free agency for some bonus added dollars on a 2-3 year deal afterwards.

[Second Base]

If I'm Kole Calhoun I take that deal. Yeah, he might've left a little on the table, but guaranteed money is more valuable. Now, he and his family are set for life, regardless of performance.

[Blarg]

43 minutes ago, ettin said:

Also he can still get a nice payday in free agency for some bonus added dollars on a 2-3 year deal afterwards.

Exactly, he was probably not looking at more than that length of contract waiting for free agency at 32. His stock could go either way so if he is still healthy and performing the dollars and years are probably not greatly impinged by one more year wait. GM's are not throwing many long term term deals out there for the second tier players now that data shows regression at the early 30's.