$500 present value is too much IMO. He's asking for more than Ohtani's deal. The tradeoff is he'll be in his prime years for more than Ohtani, but he's not as talented. I don't fully buy into the marketing piece to recoup money but to me to pay a guy who has a propensity to grow large at any time, a 14 year contract, is very selfish thing to do to the franchise long term.
I'm well aware someone will do it, but that mistake should not be us. We should totally be dealing the guy early on. I said it before and will say it again. Anyway, if he falters and does not live up to last years numbers, you can be sure he'll scorn the Jays in free agency anyway, out of bitterness. If he aces, the Jays probably won't match a crazy offer. Not sure what the upside is in waiting it out unless they want to see where they're at in the standings. To me the risk it too significant. Deal him now and tell him we'll negotiate in the off-season. Get the prospects and maybe have a chance at him anyway. Can't let an asset like that walk when we have a terrible prospect base.
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