Good point.da_big_kid_94 wrote: Hey ARC,
In this case, it's not necessarily an attractive contract - Young's 2014 option is 11 mil, Coco's is 7.5 mil. I can't see the A's picking up either of those options at the end of the year. I could see either or both going to a pennant chase team with the idea of the team that traded for them buying out the option at the end of the year.
To further complicate things, you have to weigh the new CBA ... no more offers of arbitration declined get you a draft pick. Now it's the average of the 125 top salaries that must be offered. Last season, that number was $13.3 mil - so you'd have to offer them more than their options would cost to get a draft pick for them - and, of course, they'd have to reject the offer. So offering them that salary could be an even bigger risk to a team with seemingly tight margins. Then add in the circumstances surrounding Kyle Lohse and you run a very real risk of them taking that offer - which is more than their options would cost.
Given that Young's salary jumps from 8.5 to 11 and Crisp's only jumps from 7 to 7.5, I know who I'd want to keep if I were the GM.