Cardinals’ solution? Lock ’em up young

contract worth a guaranteed US$26 million represents the biggest ever signed by a player with less than a full year of major league service time — US$1 million more than the one signed last year by Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson.

The other unusual aspect of the DeJong deal is the fact this one comes amid what appears to be an industrywide rethinking of the concept of free agency — a shift that resulted in an unprecedented number of veteran players being unsigned less than a month before opening day.

Given that every groundbreaking contract resets the precedent for other deals, and given the larger context of this off-season’s strange free-agent market, it is worth wondering whether the DeJong deal could be seen as a template for a bridge over the growing chasm between what clubs and players are looking for.

Like all deals of this sort, DeJong’s contract with the Cardinals gives both sides a sense of security. DeJong will earn a life-changing amount of money no matter what happens in his career, and the Cardinals get cost certainty on an asset that could appreciate in value.

The six years of the deal include all three of DeJong’s arbitration-eligible seasons, while the Cardinals hold two additional club options that cover his first two free agent seasons, when he will be 29 and 30 years old, that reportedly could push the total value to US$51.5 million.

One of the reasons for this winter’s free agent slowdown is the growing belief in analytics-driven front offices that signing free agents to long-term deals well into their 30s is generally a losing bet, as players typically have begun to decline by then, or fall off soon after.

But the Cardinals, in locking up DeJong’s services through the age of 30, get the entirety of his prime — at what will likely be bargain prices if he performs as expected — without having to pay for his decline phase. Of course, depending on DeJong’s performance and value at the end of this deal — and perhaps more important, the state of the free agent market at that point — he could still strike it rich again.

Not surprisingly, none of the principal parties wanted to read into the deal beyond what it signifies about the relationship between one team and one player.

“The situation between a player’s desires and a team’s desires is so personal, it can only be seen in individual terms,” Burton Rocks, DeJong’s agent, said. “There was a strong desire here on both sides to make something happen. You can’t predict trends (in free agency).”

“Every case depends on both sides being motivated to find common ground,” Cardinals general manager Mike Girsch told reporters. “In this case, we wanted Paul around and he wanted to be around. I’m not sure if this is the tipping point for some change in the industry.”

“I don’t think (DeJong) was looking at the free agent market and worrying about where he was going to be in six years. That’s a really tough crystal ball,” said John Mozeliak, the Cardinals’ president of baseball operations. “Now, if you’re looking at it from the 50,000-foot view, could we see more players being incentivized to do this? I don’t know the answer.”

Mozeliak did not deny the lure of getting a player for the entirety of his prime, but none of his decline.

“This type of deal typically gives a player that security and gives the team protection from (the question of ) where is that cliff ?” he said. “Small-market teams have always been incentivized to secure their homegrown talent because the free agent market has never been a great place for small- or midmarket teams to survive.”