Zimmerman the Short-Timer
One-year deal could lead to an extension
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Hopefully, only Zimmerman's agent is skimming off the top of this one-year contract.
It's no long-term deal, but Ryan Zimmerman's sure to take it.
The Nats third baseman signed an arbitration-avoiding one-year deal last night. He's set to make $3.325 million, which is enough to buy nearly 2.5 fake Dominican prospects. Now, perhaps, he'll stop having to eat ramen noodles five nights a week.
Zimmerman's deal includes up to $175,000 in incentives. For his sake, he better not be penalized for grounding into double plays.
Had the former Wahoo not signed, he'd have been ripped apart by the team at a hearing.
No doubt they'd point out his too-frequent throwing errors, his strikeouts, his lack of walks, his bad breath, and how someone once think they might've seen him kick a puppy -- all to convince the arbiter that their dollar figure ($2.75 million) was right.
Zimmerman's side would've countered with all his clutch hits, the gold gloves he should've won, his consistent play, how much the team relies on him, the grandmothers he helps cross the street, and his ability to turn baseball bats into solid gold bars just with the power of his thoughts.
Arbitration is a process that produces nothing but bad feelings on both sides, and it's probably good that everyone avoided it.
It's especially true because it probably helps keep everyone happy as they work toward a long-term extension.
The Orioles' recent extension of outfielder Nick Markakis for six years and $66 million is a decent framework. They both have similar levels of service time, and roughly similar value on the field. Nick's proven to be a more consistent hitter; Zimmerman plays a more demanding position.
Ryan will now show up to camp, and even if he doesn't sign an extension soon, that's certainly news that'll make a Nats fan smile.
Chris Needham used to write Capitol Punishment, but has not yet made $3 million in his career.
