Polling the fans: What is the most you would give Yadier Molina?

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Yesterday, I told you that the biggest story you should be concerned with from the weekend should be Lance Lynn pitching just one inning in his start, leaving for "precautionary" reasons. There was more news out regarding Lynn on Monday, and pardon me for not believing its particularly inspiring.
Now, to Yadier Molina, who St. Louis Cardinals fans simply can not talking about.  The catcher laid down an ultimatum over the weekend on getting a contract extension done by opening day. Langosch also told Bernie Miklasz (what can I say, she is a busy lady) that Molina wants to be the highest paid catcher in baseball.

So, like any slightly below average sports blog, we polled the fans on Twitter, asking what is the most you would give Molina if you were in general manager John Mozeliak's shoes?  Some fans answers are below, and I will give you my synopsis after you scroll through these wonderful responses.

Now, my initial thought is that most people really are not willing to meet the demands of their star catcher based on the responses above. Buster Posey makes in the $22 million ballpark, so you better get there if Molina really wants to be the highest paid catcher in MLB. Molina holds the leverage here, not the Cardinals. He can test free agency, it is his collectively bargained right.

I'm not sure I really am going to offer enough either, but I'm willing to be creative.

Now, the guys and gals that took an "Intro to Finance" course are going to say that front-loading a contract is dumb. "Don't you understand the time value of money?" Defer, defer, defer and collect the interest.

A couple of issues with that not incorrect thought, but too simple for what we are trying to accomplish. Here is my rationale.

  1. Yadi and his agent likely understand the time value of money, and we are trying to lock him up here, no?
  2. I did defer as well, for 20 years, like Bobby Bonilla's famous Mets deal that is still paying him (I think). I feel a figure like Yadier Molina, who will go down as quite significant in organization history, is well, well worth it. He can be an ambassador to Puerto Rico if anything else, and I'm sure there are other things in the community he can do to "earn" this deferred money. 
  3. The $35 million at the front is as much about compensating him for what he has done in the past as it is about compensating him for his performance during this deal.
  4. While time value of money is important, so is risk management. This deal aligns Molina's salary with his likely output during the course of this extension. 
  5. Basically, I am giving Molina a total of $90 million to play four more years and retire a St. Louis Cardinal. That average annual value over four years basically matches the deals of Posey and Joe Mauer (gulp). 
  6. This rewards Molina but does not handcuff Mozeliak, although you are stuck trying to figure out what to really do to maximize Carson Kelly's value, whether it is here in St. Louis or via trade. 

Thoughts? Do you like my offer? Would Molina take it? How far would you go to keep Molina?

Thanks for reading, @CoreyRudd

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