Thanks to the fine folks at Cot’s Baseball Contracts, we continually have more insight than ever into the contracts and payroll of Major League Baseball.
As such, we can put together a list of the potential bonuses the Cardinals could stand to pay out at the end of the 2010 season to certain players if they win any number of awards or recognition.
Most Valuable Player Award
Matt Holliday – $200k for winning, $100k for second place, $50k for third
Albert Pujols – $200k for winning, $100k for second place, $50k for third
Chris Carpenter – $50k for winning
Cy Young Award
Carpenter – $250k for winning, $100k for second or third place, $50k for fourth or fifth
Adam Wainwright – $250k for winning, $100k for second or third place, $50k for fourth or fifth
World Series MVP
Holliday – $150k
Pujols – $150k
Carpenter – $50k
National League Championship Series MVP
Holliday – $100k
Pujols – $100k
Carpenter – $50k
National League Divisional Series MVP
Holliday – $50k
Carpenter – $50k
All-Star Game
Holliday – $50k if elected by fans, $25k if selected otherwise
Pujols – $50k if elected by fans, $25k if selected otherwise
Yadier Molina – $50k if selected
Carpenter – $50k if selected
Gold Gloves
Holliday – $50k
Pujols – $50k
Molina – $50k
Carpenter – $50k
Silver Slugger Award
Holliday – $50k
Pujols – $50k
Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award
Trever Miller – $100k for winning, $50k for second place, $25k for third (yeah, I know, I was shocked too)
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TOTALS
Add ’em all up, and in the best case scenario (for both team and players really, these bonuses are something I’m sure the team would be happy to pay out on), the Cardinals could pay out a maximum of $1.5 million in award bonuses this season. [Edit: because as pointed out below, the NLDS MVP doesn’t exist – you’d think I would know better!]
That’s assuming one of these players would win each of the awards, and the Cards would also have the runner-up for each, where applicable.
Matt Holliday or Albert Pujols would be the largest possible payout to one player, pulling down $600k if one were to sweep the awards for which he is bonused. Pujols lags behind in possible total haul because according to Cot’s, he doesn’t have the NLDS MVP clause.
Apparently either the players or the team (or maybe it’s a league-wide or MLBPA standard) have a boilerplate for these award bonuses, as you can see, they’re pretty standard across the board for the players who actually have them written into their contract.
Not a real earth-shattering bit of information, but kinda fun to think about nonetheless.
{ 3 comments }
I love those NLDS MVP clauses, since we’re 15 years into the LDS era and the award still doesn’t exist. I bet it’s solely because the owners don’t want to pay these clauses, because it wouldn’t be hard for MLB to find a sponsor for one.
Well color me embarrassed. Post edited.
So does that Albert ahead of the curve 😉
This just makes me wonder what the next Pujols contract will look like in terms of extras. Maybe knock out any more lights, and the Royals have to put up a statue of No. 5?
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