Security trumping cash for young stars

By Phil Rogers | Tribune staff reporter

12:59 AM CDT, May 17, 2008

Not many people ever get the chance to turn down millions, so it must be a hard thing to do.

The wave of big-league players taking assurance over maximum earning power continues, with Florida shortstop Hanley Ramirez the latest superstar to sign away potentially much more lucrative years of salary arbitration and free agency.

In a deal expected to be finalized this weekend, Ramirez is expected to receive $70 million over six years, giving him the largest average annual value for a player with less than three years' service time. He's giving up three years of arbitration and three of free agency.

Ramirez becomes the 25th young player to sign one of these deals since Jan. 1. Those guaranteed contracts total $787 million with Miguel Cabrera, Justin Morneau and Alex Rios joining Ramirez in having new deals worth at least $70 million. Ryan Braun, Curtis Granderson, Troy Tulowitzki and Robinson Cano topped $30 million with their deals.

While these deals buy at least a few years of happiness between players and their clubs, you wonder how productive players are going to feel when they get at the back end of them, when they're out-earned by lesser players who let the market run its course.

The guess here is that a lot of them are going to sound like Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher, who is threatening a training-camp holdout because the going rate has grown past the terms he agreed to years ago.

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