Ian Kinsler and Brandon Phillips were similar enough to begin with. With both second basemen getting contract extensions barely a day apart this week -- part of a spring rush to lock up key players across the game -- they can look foward to comparisons for at least another five years.
Phillips' six-year, $72.5 million deal with the Cincinnati Reds starts now and takes him through 2017. Kinsler is locked up throught he same season, thanks to a five-year, $82 million extension that takes effect next season. The Texas Rangers also have a option year on Kinsler for 2018.
Kinsler gets the edge in annual value but is that a measure of ability or market? The Rangers are feeling flush with a new television deal and could explore deals with free-agents-to-be Josh Hamilton, Mike Napoli and Colby Lewis. Kinsler fingered catcher Napoli as next in line, though that could be a close race with outfielder Hamilton.
The Reds might not have the same cash flow but have been just as eager to commit what they have -- locking up first baseman Joey Votto through 2023 with a 10-year, $225 million contract a week ago. Former MVP or not, Votto getting a deal past his 40th birthday raised some eyebrows.
The contracts for Phillips and Kinsler fall into a more comfortable age range --Phillips will be 36 when the '17 season ends, Kinsler 35. And both are athletic with body types likely to hold up. The only concern would be how much wear and tear the acrobatic Phillips and all-out Kinsler inflict on themselves. Then again, and here's the ever-present rub for all these deals, we would have said the same thing about Chase Utley four years ago when he was a similar age.
Neither Kinsler nor Phillips is the best player on his team but each is a pivotal peformer in a good lineup and important parts of their clubhouse cultures. They've spent six seasons as regulars with their current teams and Kinsler has a .276-.272 edge in batting average. Their home run and stolen base totals are nearly identical but Phillips' nearly 1,000 extra at-bats skew that comparison.
It's what they've done for their teams lately that drives the contract extensions anyway, and both are Top 5 second basemen in the majors over the previous two seasons.
Kinsler ranks third and Phillips fifth for 2010-11 in Fangraphs.com's Wins Above Replacement measurement. Robinson Cano of the Yankees and Dustin Pedroia are 1-2, with Tampa Bay's Ben Zobrist sliding in between Kinsler's 11.1 WAR and Phillips' 10.3.
These new deals are good news for Cano and Pedroia, who figure to move up into similar financial territory once it's their turn again. The Yankees picked up Cano's $14 million option for this season, turning his current deal into five years and $44 million. The team has another option for next season at $15 million.
Pedroia will have to exercise a bit more patience. His current contract is six years and $40.5 million through 2014, plus an $11 million club option for 2015 that figures to be a bargain.
For now, though, Kinsler has them all beat for annual dollar value and that could remain the case for awhile. Milwaukee's Rickie Weeks, 29 like Kinsler, signed an extension last spring that includes an option for 2015 that vests at $11.5 million pretty much if he stays healthy and in the lineup. And Zobrist also is locked up through 2015 assuming the Rays pick up a couple of option years that don't go above $7.5 million.
As for value on the field, Fangraphs gives him the advantage over Phillips in hitting and baserunning the past two years. Phillips has been the better defender over that period.
Overall in 2010-11, according to Fangraphs, Kinsler trails Cano, Weeks, Pedroia and Atlanta's Dan Uggla on offense but leads all second baseman running the bases and trails only Pedroia, Zobrist and Phillips on defense. Phillips is eighth on offense, fourth on the basepaths.
In other words -- or in words rather than numnbers -- Phillips and especially Kinsler find themselves in a comfortable economic league for themselves -- and really not so far-fetched for their teams.
USA Today
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