ShareThisNo matter how long the playoff chase lasts, many of these Boston Red Sox players have something to shoot for no matter how the season turns out: contract incentives.
Unlike 2009, when Boston signed a number of injured or older players such as Rocco Baldelli and John Smoltz to incentive-laden contracts, in 2010 few players are striving for performance thresholds as the season winds down.
Based on information from Cot's Baseball Contracts, the player with perhaps the most possibilities is Tim Wakefield. Wakefield signed a two-year, $5-million deal before this season, with incentives that could bring it up to about $10 million.
Once he reaches 11 starts, Wakefield gets a bonus for each start he makes. He has earned $400,000 so far in start bonuses, on top of his $3.5-million base salary.
In addition, with 5 2/3 more innings pitched, Wakefield will hit 130 innings for the year. Once he crosses that threshold, his 2011 base salary will rise from $1.5 million to $2 million. If he can pull off the unlikely coup of pitching 160 innings this year, Wakefield will raise his 2011 base to $3.5 million.
Then there is Adrian Beltre, who is almost assured of making a threshold that before the season seemed difficult: 640 plate appearances. If and when he reaches that mark -- he has 534 already with a month to go -- his 2011 player option will rise from $5 million to $10 million.
Beltre signed in 2010 coming off an injury-plagued 2009 campaign, and it wasn't clear whether he'd be able to play every day. But he certainly has, playing through hamstring pain and taking the field every day, while producing. He limped through the team's series at Tampa Bay last weekend, but has continued to play.
"Whether he's banged up or not, he still manages to be productive. It's one thing to go out there, which we appreciate, but to go out there and be productive on top of that is huge," manager Terry Francona said.
That creates a fascinating situation for Beltre. He will have a $10-million offer in hand, but after his excellent 2010, he and agent Scott Boras will certainly want to test the waters elsewhere. Beltre will be seeking a multi-year deal at big dollars, and the Red Sox will surely be a suitor. But if no team offers up the kind of contract he wants, the $10-million option will be an interesting fallback for Beltre to have in his pocket.
A number of Boston players -- David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Victor Martinez, and Jon Lester -- have already earned $50,000 bonuses for making the All-Star Game.
Lester, meanwhile, still has an outside chance of getting into the top three in the Cy Young race. If he does, he'll pick up $50,000 for a third-place finish, $75,000 for a second.
Some are cashing in on multi-year bonuses. Last week, J.D. Drew hit an important contract escalator: the outfielder, who fairly or not is dogged by the perception that he misses too many games, had a provision in his contract that deferred $9 million of his $14-million 2011 salary if he did not play at least 500 games with the Red Sox from 2007-2010. Last week, Drew played in his 500th game in a Boston uniform, meaning he will receive his entire 2011 salary during the season.
Then there are those who won't be padding their wallets this year.
Some of Boston's top performers - pitchers Clay Buchholz and Daniel Bard, for instance -- are still too new to their major-league careers to have signed long-term deals with incentives, and so they do not have contract provisions that reward their strong performance. Rest assured that if they keep performing the way they have, they'll be cashing in before long.
Persistent injuries and poor performance have prevented a number of players from reaching their bonuses: Daisuke Matsuzaka and John Lackey won't realize any of their award-related incentives, while Jonathan Papelbon, with 45 games finished, isn't likely to pitch in the 60 he would need to trigger a $50,000 bonus.
Catcher Jason Varitek also won't reach his incentives, which were based on games played in the event that Varitek had to step in as the starting catcher.
Reliever Hideki Okajima also will not reach his appearance thresholds, which start at 55 appearances and reward him with $50,000 for pitching in 55, 60, 65 and 70 games.
All told, with just these incentives -- there are surely others in some player contracts that have gone unreported -- owner John Henry will be paying out at least an additional $6-plus million to his players this year based on performance.
(Contact Daniel Barbarisi at dbarbari(at)projo.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
Must credit The Providence Journal
