Jeff Blair writes that the Jays have offered a contract to Vernon Wells that would place Wells among the "top-10 highest-paid players in the major
leagues and likely exceed the average annual value of the free-agent
deal Alfonso Soriano signed with the Chicago Cubs this winter."
"We have made a formal offer," Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi said Tuesday.
Soriano received a contract for 8 years and $136 million, an average of $17 million/year. An article at Yahoo suggested that the Jays "floated to Wells a proposal of seven years and $126 million", an average of $18 million year.
Well, so much for not being willing to offer Wells 'Beltran money' (7 years, $119 million).
Given the offseason it's apparent that if the Jays do indeed want to sign Wells beyond 2007 it's going to cost at least as much as Soriano got.
It's certainly possible that Wells could get more money next offseason, perhaps as much as $20 million/year. It's also possible that Wells could have a bad year or have an injury that could hurt his value. If you're in Wells' shoes and you're with a team you like and they offer you over $100 million I imagine it would be pretty tough to turn that down when you're only guaranteed $5.6 million more. It certainly didn't work out for Juan Gonzalez.
If Wells doesn't sign an extension now it'll be fairly apparent that he's looking to play somewhere else. I can't see how he would risk giving up $100+ million today to try and squeeze out another $10-15 million a year from now.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20061213081217900