'A Great Contract For The White Sox'
Last season, Paul Konerko put up MVP-caliber numbers. Today he signed a three-year deal worth $37.5 million, an absolute steal when you considered that it was rumored that Konerko wanted $15 million per season.
The deal gets even better when you consider that Konerko is deferred money from the final year of his contract. The differed money will give the White Sox more flexibility in the final year of the deal. This was similarly done with the new contracts of Adam Dunn and A.J. Pierzynski.
"There's a lot of deferred money [around the league]," former Mets general manager, Steve Phillips said on the Danny Mac Show. "I think Derek Jeter has some odd clauses in his contract. So I think deferred compensation is not uncommon."
LISTEN: Steve Phillips On The Danny Mac Show
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And the deferred money can actually help both side of the contract as well.
"[For players] it's kind of a forced savings program, You put money out into the future, now for a lot of these guys that shouldn't matter. [And] to handle the cash flow for teams its a nice thing to have, to be able to really move your budget a little bit."
Deferred money might be the theme of the White Sox's off-season. The deferred money by Dunn and Pierzynski allowed for the Sox to fit Konerko into the roster. And the deferred money by Konerko could allow the White Sox to make an extra move or two, in Konerko's final year.
"It may allow you to pick up an extra reliever the last year or years after. So it's not uncommon and it's a great move."
Konerko's signing reaffirms what many had already believed, that the White Sox captain always truly wanted to remain in the organization and city.
"This is a great contract for the White Sox," Phillips said. "I think it's a great signing. We heard that it reached in impasse, they found a way to get the deal done and you see some creativity in the contract that show that both sides worked to try and make it work"
Aside from the future gains, the contract will have an immediate for the White Sox.
"With Adam Dunn in the lineup with Konerko, they're a formidable offense to go along with one of the deepest starting rotations in the league."
