Reading a lot of stories about how the Price overpay is the result of last year's Lester low-ball, so I compared their contracts and salary year-by-year. Lester's contract is usually stated as 6/115, but that omits his $30 million signing bonus and option year. I've included those. The asterisks denote option years.
Year......Lester......Price
2015......$30m......
2016......$20m......$30m
2017......$20m......$30m
2018......$25m......$30m
2019......$25m......$31m*
2020......$25m......$32m*
2021......$25m*.....$32m*
2022.....................$32m*
Total......$170m....$217m
So Price's contract is worth $47 million more than Lester's or $6.7 million per year, ignoring option values.
$6 million is the approximate value of 1 WAR. Let's change the dollar values of the contracts to WAR.
Year......Lester......Price
2015......5 war
2016......3.3 war... 5 war
2017......3.3 war... 5 war
2018......4.2 war... 5 war
2019......4.2 war... 5.2 war*
2020......4.2 war... 5.3 war*
2021......4.2 war*...5.3 war*
2022......................5.3 war*
Total.....28.4 war....36.1 war
2015 is water under the bridge. Looking forward, does anyone think Price is unlikely to be 1-1.7 WAR better than Lester over the next three-to-six years? Over the last six years, Price has averaged 5.2 WAR compared to Lester's 3.9.
Doesn't seem like much of an overpay looked at that way.
Year......Lester......Price
2015......$30m......
2016......$20m......$30m
2017......$20m......$30m
2018......$25m......$30m
2019......$25m......$31m*
2020......$25m......$32m*
2021......$25m*.....$32m*
2022.....................$32m*
Total......$170m....$217m
So Price's contract is worth $47 million more than Lester's or $6.7 million per year, ignoring option values.
$6 million is the approximate value of 1 WAR. Let's change the dollar values of the contracts to WAR.
Year......Lester......Price
2015......5 war
2016......3.3 war... 5 war
2017......3.3 war... 5 war
2018......4.2 war... 5 war
2019......4.2 war... 5.2 war*
2020......4.2 war... 5.3 war*
2021......4.2 war*...5.3 war*
2022......................5.3 war*
Total.....28.4 war....36.1 war
2015 is water under the bridge. Looking forward, does anyone think Price is unlikely to be 1-1.7 WAR better than Lester over the next three-to-six years? Over the last six years, Price has averaged 5.2 WAR compared to Lester's 3.9.
Doesn't seem like much of an overpay looked at that way.