Meche
Yrs: Same
$$$: Under

Schmidt
Yrs: Under
$$$: Over

*I think he gets 3Y guaranteed with a 4y option so I don't know how that will be counted.

Meche: years- same
       money- same

Schmidt: years- over
         money- over

Gilberto: Years same, Money over
I remember Fairly saying during a game this year, "Gil's problem is he's just got too good a stuff." The implication being if he ever truly hones his command, he'll be an unstoppable helldemon of a pitcher, exhaling streams of fire out his nostrils and striking out 27 a game. Crazy as it sounds, I think there are GMs out there who actually agree with him.

Schmidt: Years under, Money over
I have to give the GMs (particularly those with alliterative names) at least a little bit of credit.  They SHOULD know better than to give a rapidly aging power pitcher a 4+ year deal. Should, of course, being the operative word here. The money's a different story altogether.

Meche will get 3 years, totally agree on that, but he'll probably get 8.5-9 million per year. Just a feeling I get with the insane bids for Dice-K, and the numbers thrown around for Zito, that when they go, some team will overpay Meche so they aren't "left out".

Schmidt will most likely only get 4 years, but some GM may actually give him a 5th year option that vests based on innings. Money is going to get nuts, probably in the 13-15 million range because salaries are starting to skyrocket again after a tiny bit of "fiscal responsibility" the last couple years.

The way the market is shaping up, I'd be SHOCKED if the M's picked up anyone of interest through free agency. I'm hoping for a decent trade, but I wouldn't be surprised if our lineup now stays virtually the same, and the rotation gets only someone like Eaton and replacement level guys like Johnson. A big splash for Bavasi would be getting Padilla, and they'd make a big "OMFG what a huge signing" deal out of it. I'm so pessimistic on the team right now, it's not even funny. If this team finishes one-win better next year, they'd say, "look, we improved, everybody stays!" Sometimes, I wish I wasn't addicted to baseball. It only disappoints me in the end.

Meche:
Years:  right on
Money:  under
($18M/3)

Schmidt:
Years:  right on
Money:  over
($50+M/4)

Meche:
Years:  Even
Money:  Under (Clubs are dumb)

Schmidt:
Years:  Even
Money:  Under

Boras didn't have drew give up 11m to make one more per...in fact, I think they know something about his health that no one else does...

Meche is one of those guys a GM will take a chance on...let them.  He'll go right back to being a shitty pitcher.

Schmidt will get big money because of the limited pool of talent.  I think he'll average closer to 15m per, which is scary, particularly if the M's are the idiots who sign him for that...

Meche:  Same on years, Over on money
Mine:  Some schmuck is going to give Gil 3 years / 8 million per.

Schmidt:  Same on years, Same on money
Mine:  A 4 year 50 million dollar contract is probably going to be low, but we'll see.

over/over

I think that Boras is going to be looking for 5 years.  I would guess $13 mil on the per year.

Gil Meche: 3 years, $7.5m per

yup/over

Meche is going to get overpaid this year.  I see him getting 8-9 per year.  

Jason Schmidt: 4 years, $12m per

yup/???

This is an intesting case.  I think that Schmidt will probably be looking at 4 years and $13 mil on the open market.  But I have a feeling that he could be one of those rare guys that would except a bit less to play in Seattle or San Fran, or at least another west coast club.  If Baltimore and the NY clubs aren't real options, that could push his value down to 4 years, $12 mil or so.  

It will be interesting to see how serious his desire to stay on the west coast is.  

Drew:
same years/over salary ($12.5 m)

Meche:
same years/over salary ($8 m)

Schmidt:
same years/under salary ($11.25 m -- turns down a little more elsewhere to stay on the west coast)

I think teams will make Drew pay for his disloyalty. It's not like he is such a great player that everyone will be fighting over him.

The good news is that the subject of so many of our annoyances (Meche) will not hit the bonanza he thinks he is about to come into. The bad news is that I believe the team who is going to get him for that "bargain" will be the Mariners. He'll end up getting $20mil over 3 years -- and we'll all get 20 million ulcers.

The extra money the FO makes by re-signing Meche will be spent on Schmidt.