Eaton had a track record of getting injured and was not very consistent with the Padres. Blanton has been a workhorse since getting here.

3/24 is basically the same as 2/16. It averages out to a mil a year.

Actually, if you just take the two FA years—his age 30 and 31 seasons—for 2011 and 2012, it looks even better by comparison to Marquis and Piniero. 2 years/$17m (which is probably something like $16.5m now, depending on how inflation goes)

Agree w/r/t Amaro’s strengths, though I think perennial playoff contenders do have a slight negotiation edge in that they can get guys at the core or on the margins of the roster probably for less because there’s more FA interest in playing here. All by way of saying that it’s much tougher to be a GM in a position like Ed Wade.

Credit too to Blanton, who had experience playing in baseball’s economic netherworld in Oakland. He didn’t get too too crazy like Chan Ho Park and look a good situation in the mouth.

I wonder if folks would feel different if the deal came out to $9M a year

Not sure if you’re asking that question or paraphrasing the concerns at ESPN.com (and yeah, the low quality of posts over there was what drove me to this side of the world, specifically TGP’s antecedent site Philliesphans.com, way back in 2002[!]).

But one way to think of it (as someone posted on BackSheGoes.com, where some of us also spend too much time) is this: Blanton for $8.5 million in 2011-12, or Lee for $20 million over those same years and more. Remember also that if Halladay, no Lee, and that Clifton is older than Cupcakes.

Lee’s a better pitcher, but he isn’t twice as good, and he’d cost more than twice as much. (Yeah, I know that this is a question of marginal value, so the math is somewhat misleading, but still.)

Pretty shocking that El Sid started an opener for us (in a season where we weren’t even all that bad). Also surprising that neither Wolf nor Padilla ever did it.

yea, i agree. i am very pleased with the deal. great signing (or re-signing).

I have a feeling that there’s a section of the fanbase(who listens to a lot of sports radio) that will respond to every dime spent by the organization by saying "but you couldn’t have kept Cliff Lee for 9 mil?!

a shocking inability to (a) do simple arithmetic and (b) understand the need to plan for anything beyond the immediate future.

apt description of Howard Eskin’s prime demographic.

Now, might I interest you in a Vermont teddy bear?

Just because teams weren’t willing to surrender prospects for him doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t have signed him for an average of $8 million per year.

We are bidding against every other team in MLB who want a durable pitcher in his prime, with postseason experience, for less than or equal to market value.

Ok, so there’s the worst comment of the week…

3 year, 22mm.

to be fair, some of us are not men.

We are DEVO.