I drafted Colt Keith last year in my Fantasy Baseball League farm draft.OT but interesting. You know how some on this board have called for the Mets to extend Francisco Alvarez right now? And folks like me have responded, nah, way too early.
Well the Detroit Tigers have gone one better. They have locked up Colt Keith, their #1 prospect (#22 overall) for six years at $28M before he has even played an MLB game. Comes out to a little over $4.5M per year. They have bought out his three pre-arb years and his three arb years.
Why would the Tigers do that, you may ask? Because their real payoff is that they are getting three club option years. THREE! That is unheard of. The club gets no-strings-attached control for years seven through nine, presumably his peak earning years.
The player now has financial security, but at the cost of a shit-ton of foregone upside. If he develops as the Tigers hope, he will easily be the most underpaid player in the game in years 7-9.
Or he could be a bust and be the most overpaid player in years 1-6. Or somewhere in between.
Seems to me young Mr. Keith is betting against himself. But easy for me to say, as no one is offering me $28M.
Great pickup I must say !
Kid looks like a star !
Should be up this year with Tigers and will be their starting 3B next year if not sooner !