Alright, I re-did the Buxton contract and he accepted 10.2 for each of the 5 years, so you saved me 5 mil. Thanks.
Like I said, I felt like I was more than meeting his demands, and could have very well paid him less if I let arbitration play out for a couple years.
I wasn't trying to circumvent fair play in anyway, fwiw. This was my first off-season with any real money to spend and I must have missed some of the details about contract no-no's. I remember one of you guys mentioning not to do 25 year deals or some such obvious nonsense long ago, but I didn't realize that high option years were an issue. I was only thinking in terms of my role as GM- not in terms of the way the game itself functions, and I didn't realize that players don't process those options properly, as ez mentioned.
Fwiw, I anticipated paying Buxton that final team option year. I'm expecting good things from him, but I understand why it's an issue.
In the interest of full disclosure, the Gordon contract I did earlier in the off-season also has a high final team option year, so if you want me to rework that one too, let me know.