Right-handed pitcher, and 3-time ALL-Star, Zack Grienke (32) opted out of the last three years of his contract with the LA Dodgers, to become a free agent...By opting out, Grienke left $71 million of guaranteed money on the table...
This past season Greinke had a 19-3 record and a MLB best ERA of 1.66...He registered 200 strike outs in 222.2 innings...
Yes, Greinke is going to get some crazy offers...He's going to make a ton of money, on top of the tons he's already made...I'm just blown away seeing a guy walk away from another $71 million guaranteed...
As of now there are 151 MLB free agents...Can't wait to see the absurd amounts of money flying around...
Just hours before they were set to have their arbitration hearing, the New York Rangers and restricted free-agent center, Derek Stepan agreed on terms of a 6 year deal...$39 million for six years...$6.5 million...Not a bad agreement since Stepan (25) was heading into the arbitration looking for $7.25 million yearly, and the Rangers were offering $5.2 million...
Besides being a key member to the Rangers lineup, it was the ridiculous contract that Buffalo gave Ryan O'Reilly, that was forcing this to arbitration if the Rangers didn't pay up...Stepan is a solid two-way center, who has better numbers the O'Reilly...
More info backing up this signing...Stepan is the first New York Rangers' to put up 50 or more points in 3 consecutive seasons, since Wayne Gretzky...
This past season Stepan finished 5th or higher in all of the following team stats...Assists, Points, Game-Winning Goals, Plus/Minus rating, Shots on Goal, Power Play Goals, Power Play Assists, Power Play Points, Short-handed Goals, Short-handed Assists, and Short-handed Points...
The only other player to do that was Chicago's Jonathan Toews...
Stepan is a key piece for this team to continue doing what they've been doing...But they have hardly any room under the cap now...I would like to see them move defenseman Dan Boyle, but I'm not sure anyone wants that old man and his contract...An easier contract to move would be defenseman, Kevin Klein who just had his best season of his career, and is cap hit just under $3 million...
Rangers fans are happy we got Stepan locked up, along with other key restricted free agents, JT Miller, Jesper Fast, and Emerson Etem...But a bit of cap wiggle room will help too.
Thursday the Holtby and the Capitals had an arbitration hearing...Today, before the Arbitrator had reached his decision, the Capitals and Holtby agreed a deal that all felt was good for the team, and Holtby...
Five years, $30.5 million...This will make Holtby, 25 years old, a $6.1 million cap hit for the next 5 years...The seventh highest cap hit amongst goalies in the NHL, behind Henrik Lundqvist (NY Ranger), Sergei Bobrosky (Columbus), Tuukka Rask (Boston) , Pekka Rinne (Nashville), Carey Price (Montreal), and Cam Ward (Carolina)...
Last seaon, Holtby had his best season of his career, posting a 2.22 GAA, with a .923 save %...41 victories, with 9 shutouts in 73 games...
Caps GM, Brian MacLellan said, "Braden emerged as a top NHL goaltender and we are pleased to sign him to a long-term contract. We feel Braden is just entering his prime and in his young career has already established himself as one of the best goaltenders in the history of our franchise."
Yep, more Hockey talk...Last week I posted THIS about NHL'ers and the Prime of their careers...That mixed with all THIS free agency and trade news, mixed with an idiot on Sirius XM's NHL Radio has inspired this Monday's post...
The Idiot is Michelle Sturino...And just when I didn't think her god-awful voice couldn't get more annoying, it did! I'm a big fan of NHL Radio, and most of teh hard "O" and "eh" shit doesn't bother me...And actually most of the guys there are professionals, and don't do too much of that shit...But Sturino in her TOrOntO studio is awful...The voice is nauseating...But it's stupidity and horrible topics are just as bad...
Sturino and some fill-in guy were talking Sunday afternoon, and the topic of all the free agents signings was up front, along with the Kessel and Oshie trades...Then they brought up the Brandon Saad trade...Little was said about the trade...Instead they were focused on the contract Saad signed with the Bluejackets after being traded there...
Rumblings came out that Saad, (at the time a restricted free agent) was offered 5 years at an average of $5 million a year, and it was turned down...Saad signed with Columbus for 6 years $36 million....
So Sturino started whining, "How much money is enough? What's more important, winning or money?" She was appalled that Saad would be willing to be moved out of the winning climate of Chicago for money...
Now I think all pro athletes are overpaid, (not talking about players in the minors [baseball and hockey]) but the market is what it is...So...
Hey dummy Sturino, Saad won two Stanley Cups making low money, why the fuck shouldn't he get paid? He's won, and he got moved to an emerging team...Besides that, he just a had a huge playoff performance that showed everyone in the hockey world, that he's just starting to hit his prime at 22 years old...
He's fast, strong, plays physical, plays excellent defense, and has plenty of offensive potential...He plays on the PK and PP...He's the type of player every team wants...Why the hell shouldn't he cash in....But besides that, this is Hockey...His career can end his next shift...Especially based on the way he plays...This isn't tiddlywinks...This is Hockey...If things go bad, this 6 year contract could be his last...These players need to think about the future too, not just winning...
Then this idiot Sturino was whining again..."What happened to the bridge contract? Why is no one doing bridge contracts anymore?"
A Bridge contract is a cheap 1-3 year deals to let players "prove" themselves...When an entry-level contract expires, players generally only have a few years of NHL experience and can be hard to evaluate....The bridge contract allows teams to evaluate their talent with a bigger sample size...
Hey, idiot Derek Stepan's last contract was a bridge contract, because the Rangers overpaid to get Brad Richards, and overpaid Marc Staal and Dan Girardi...So they pushed Stepan towards a bridge deal...Now he has them over a barrel because he's earned what the market says will be a $6-7 million per year deal...T.J. Oshie did a bridge deal before he signed his 5 year deal that averages over $4 million a season...
Teams and players do bridge deals...They aren't there for a guy to take a home town discount, they are there for teams to evaluate talent, and players to out-play their existing contract, and earn more money...
I'm not sure who hire Michelle Sturino, but they should be fired...Please, don't let just any TOrOntO dolt talk hockey because they say OH-ffense...Thay shold have afucking clue too...Stupid stammering, stuttering, bitch!
-Now for something on the lighter side...In the past I posted a video of T.J. Oshie doing some fine charity working and making kids happy...Well, when he was traded this week to Washington, it broke a 5 year old girls heart...And Oshie, with some help from ESPN did his best to try to make her smile...
