{"id":7024,"date":"2024-12-03T03:13:38","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T03:13:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=7024"},"modified":"2024-12-03T03:13:38","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T03:13:38","slug":"breaking-braves-free-agent-defends-dodgers-deferred-money-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=7024","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Braves Free Agent Defends Dodgers Deferred Money Strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The latest free agent moves by the Dodgers have sparks criticism, but one Braves infielder doens’t think its so bad<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Not everyone is upset at how the Dodgers are structuring contracts \/ Brett Davis-Imagn Images\u00a0<\/picture><\/figure>\n
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The court of public opinion hasn\u2019t been afraid to make its thoughts known on how the Los Angeles Dodgers have structured the contracts of their notable free-agent signings.<\/p>\n

First, it was Shohei Ohtani being\u00a0inked to a 10-year, $700 million deal\u00a0with $680 million of it deferred. He\u2019s being paid only $2 million a year until 2033 and then will get $68 million a year until 2043.<\/p>\n

Now, Blake Snell\u2019s contract has catapulted this discussion back into the spotlight. He signed a five-year, $182 million deal. Of that total, $65 million will be deferred,\u00a0according to Spotrac.<\/p>\n

The idea here is that the Dodgers are making splash signings but aren\u2019t making them the big money upfront.<\/p>\n

Some are showing their frustrations over this strategy, but an Atlanta Braves free agent doesn\u2019t think it\u2019s that big of a deal. Whit Merrifield was a guest on Monday\u2019s edition of Foul Territory. When asked about the latest moves, he felt the Dodgers were just being smart with their deals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Dodgers have just gotten creative with how the system is set up,\u201d\u00a0Merrifield said. \u201c…It\u2019s not illegal. It\u2019s not cheating. It\u2019s just creative, and frankly, kudos to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

While a top complaint is how unfair this strategy is, Merrifield quickly pointed out that this is not something only the Dodgers can do. Other teams can try to mimic this in order to get the talent they want.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir playbook it out there for other teams to say, seems to be working for them. Maybe we should think about doing something like this,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

So, gone might be the days when Bobby Bonilla, Ken Griffey Jr. and Chris Davis were special for how long teams are still paying them years after they had retired, let alone were no longer on the team.<\/p>\n

Paying big names over a long period of time could wind up becoming the norm in baseball.<\/p>\n

It’s understandable by Merrifield and the guys who signed these deals like it. It’s more money guaranteed to be coming in over a long time. It doesn’t hurt to have that.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the Braves might look into trying this strategy this offseason. After all, they\u2019re pushing up against the luxury tax bracket but are also looking to make some moves on the free-agent market.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The latest free agent moves by the Dodgers have sparks criticism, but one Braves infielder doens’t think its so bad Not everyone is upset at how the… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7030,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nBREAKING: Braves Free Agent Defends Dodgers Deferred Money Strategy - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=7024\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Braves Free Agent Defends Dodgers Deferred Money Strategy - 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