Cracks are going on in the ‘unbreakable wall’ that firmly guarded Stove League of the American professional baseball Major League (MLB). There are a total of 7 cases in MLB history where a contract was signed after the age of 40 with an annual average of over $20 million. Three of them came out this season.
The start was Justin Verlander (39). After winning the American League Cy Young Award as a member of World Series champion Houston, he obtained the qualification as a free agent (FA) and signed a contract with the New York Mets for 2 years and 86.6 million dollars (approximately 113.2 billion won). In doing so, Verlander tied for first place in next year’s season salary ($43.3 million) with teammate Max Scherzer (38), a year younger. Scherzer also signed a three-year contract with the Mets last year and was guaranteed to play until the age of 40.
Shortstop Trey Turner (29), who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, also signed an 11-year, $300 million contract with Philadelphia. After all, in the last year of the contract, he will be 40 years old. San Diego, which failed in its attempt to recruit Turner, also recruited Sander Bohartz (30), who was a regular Boston player, for 280 million dollars (approximately 366.4 billion won) in 11 years. Bohartz is the first player in his 30s to sign an 11-year contract.
Aaron Judge (30), who hit 62 home runs this season and set the record for the most home runs in the American League, also stayed with the New York Yankees, agreeing to receive a total of 360 million dollars (approximately 471.1 billion won) for nine years until 2031. Jacob deGrom (34), who won the National League Cy Young Award in 2018 and 2019 as a member of the New York Mets, also moved to Texas with a five-year, $185 million contract. Judge and deGrom will also be in Korean age in the final year of their contract.
Previously, it was not easy to be guaranteed a career as a player until the age of 40 unless it was a special case like Barry Bonds (58) or Alex Rodriguez (47). Superstars such as Mike Trout (31, LA Angels) and Mookie Betts (30, LA Dodgers) only extended contracts until the age of 39. In addition, even Bonds, who has the most home runs in MLB history (762), had to reduce his annual salary ahead of his 40s. Verlander, on the other hand, will receive the highest salary of his career in his 40s. 토토
It is thanks to the development of ‘sports science’ that the stereotype that ‘veteran players should not be given large amounts of money’ has disappeared in the MLB world. Mets general manager Billy Eppler said, “Ahead of the contract, we asked Verlander how he manages his body and how well he understands his diet. There was a unique know-how acquired over a long period of time. He’s the perfect pro. Even as he gets older, there has been no change at all in the way he takes care of his body or trains.”
David Dombrowski, president of Philadelphia, also responded to the question, “Isn’t it too long to sign with Turner?”, “There is no perfect crystal ball to see the future. But I think there is a difference between a really good big leaguer among big leaguers. They perform longer than the average player.”