Brian Roberts, signed nearly a month ago, finally has a place on the roster now that Alex Rodriguez has been suspended. The Yankees were going through a roster crunch that led to Vernon Wells being designated for assignment to finally get Matt Thornton onto the roster, while Roberts continued to sit in limbo. Now Roberts' deal is finally official and he will take A-Rod's place on the 40-man roster.
In 2014 he will make a base salary of $2 million, but as expected, his contract is also heavily laden with incentives. The Yankees seem to like giving out these types of contracts. Brett Gardner and Travis Hafner were just some of the more recent players that have been given milestone bonuses contingent on their health. Roberts will be given the same type of deal in 2014. This way, if he's injured again, the Yankees only lose out on $2 million, but if he stays healthy, Roberts gets a better deal.
With his contract official, the milestone bonuses have now been made public.
Roberts bonuses: $175G for 250pa, 300pa; $250G for 350pa, 400 pa. $300G for 450pa, 500pa; $350G for 550pa $400G for 600pa, 650 pa #Yankees
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) January 13, 2014So, when it's all said and done, if Brian Roberts actually magically manages to reach 650 plate appearances, a level he has reached exactly once, in 2004, he could more than double his 2014 salary. He can make up to $2.3 million in incentive money, for a total salary of $4.3 million. Unfortunately for him, that's entirely unrealistic, just based off of what we've seen from him over the last few years. The most he's managed in the last four seasons is 296 plate appearances, which he reached just this past year. The most he would have made from these bonuses is $175,000, the lowest level of incentives. Between 2012 and 2011 he wouldn't have even made that much.
Brian Roberts is officially here, but how long will that be for? History tells us he's going to get hurt if they let him play every day. If they platoon him then there's no chance he makes it to even 600 plate appearances anyway.
