Being a Yankees fan, I joined this publication to write about the Yankees.  I mean, I am not even sure I know half the players in the National League!  But every now and then, I like to see what else is going on in baseball.  I might be a little late to the game, but I want to talk about a player with one of the coolest names in baseball, Roman Anthony.  Whenever I hear that name, I just want to “acknowledge him.”  I also love the historical ring to his name.  Solid player, but do you know what I don’t like about him, other than his clam chowder-based team?  His contract!

In August 2025, Roman Anthony signed an 8-year deal that will pay him $130 million over that span.  For the math folks, that is $16.25 million a year.  So, what has he done to deserve the deal?  Well, he did play well his rookie year with a .292/.396/.463 slash line and a 140 OPS+ in 303 plate appearances.  That is an impressive almost for a half-season, but is it worth a contract like that?  I decided to do some digging in the Yankees’ recent past and tried to find people with an impressive half of a rookie season like the Roman God, and here is what I found …

Kevin Maas (1990)

Let’s go all the way back to the days when the Yankees sucked.  Mattingly’s back hurt worse than mine at 47, and his career was rapidly expiring.  In that summer, the Yankees ran with Kevin Maas at first base, and he was really good.  In 1990, in 300 plate appearances, he had a .252/.367/.535 slash line, which was good for a 150 OPS+.  He had more power than Anthony, but wasn’t quite the contact hitter.  Imagine if the Yankees gave him an 8-year deal of $60 million (trying to adjust for inflation).  How would he have performed over 8 years?  Well, he did spend 4 seasons in pinstripes and 1 with the Twins, and accumulated 0.3 WAR total.  So to call that a disaster would be an understatement.

Gary Sanchez (2015)

I loved it when the Kracken first came up, and man, was Sanchez good.  In his rookie season, he finished 2nd in the rookie of the year vote with a .299/.376/.657 slash line in 229 plate appearances, good for a scalding 166 OPS+.  The Yankees had their catcher of the future (pay attention, Baltimore Orioles fans), so imagine if they gave him an 8-year $130 million deal.  Well, unlike Maas, he did have two good seasons, but he was inconsistent with the Yankees.  He played another 5 seasons in pinstripes and accumulated an 11.7 WAR for the Yankees.  Now he is moving around the league, generally providing a net negative in terms of production.  That deal wouldn’t have been a complete disaster, but a partial one.

Greg Bird (2015)

Also, in 2015, the future looked bright as Bird was the word.  The Yankees had a black hole at first base, and Bird is the Word was there to take over the position and become the next Mattingly.  He was good his rookie season in 178 plate appearances with a slash line of .261/.343/.529 with a 135 OPS+, so a little worse than Roman, in less time.  Imagine if the Yankees rewarded him with an 8-year, $120 million deal.  Well, he got hurt right after the season (same as Anthony) that caused him to miss 2016.  He played three crappy injury-filled seasons for the Yankees, accumulating a negative WAR in over 500 plate appearances.  Signing him to a long-term 8-year deal would have been a “Maas” level disappointment.

So what have we learned from all this?  Well, aren’t we glad the Yankees didn’t adopt the Boston Red Sox strategy (and in fairness, this is a new trend in the majors)? I get the desire for price control and certainty, but rookies don’t always pan out.  The average MLB player doesn’t even play six seasons in the big leagues.  Giving a deal for eight years to someone without even a full year of major league experience is nuts.  Sometimes, it might work out, but more often than not, you end up feeling like you drank a whole bottle of “kracken,” getting flipped the “bird” by your girlfriend, and crying out “No Mas.”