Under the terms of this deal under discussion earlier in the day, Delgado would get just $4 million this year, another baseball official told The Associated Press, also on condition of anonymity.
Delgado would get $13.5 million in 2006, $14.5 million in 2007 and $16 million in 2008, and the deal would include a $16 million option for 2009 that would become guaranteed based on how Delgado does in MVP voting and whether he earns postseason MVP awards.
Delgado would need to accumulate 30 points in the next four years for the fifth year to kick in. He would get 10 points for winning the NL MVP award and nine for finishing second and so on under a formula that gives him one point for finishing 10th. He would get 20 points if he’s the World Series MVP and 10 if he’s the league championship series MVP.
If the option doesn’t become guaranteed, Florida would have the right to exercise a $12 million option. If the option is declined, Delgado would get a $4 million buyout.
David Sloane, Delgado’s agent, did not seem to be very fond of the Mets. The agent dumped them Sunday night without the courtesy of a phone call, and despite the club’s offseason makeover, Sloane said in an e-mail exchange that the Mets have no better shot at making the playoffs than the Orioles — a team that shares a division with the Yankees and Red Sox.
(keep smiling Carlos, you’ll need a sunny disposition when Jeff Loria can’t make payroll in two years)
Hitting between Mike Lowell and Miguel Cabrera is a nice place to be for Delgado, though signing a long term deal with a team actively looking for a new home strikes me as questionable. As far as the Mets are concerned, get ready for weeks of dull, hourly updates on whether or not Magglio Ordonez wants to be overpaid by Mike Ilitch or Fred Wilpon.