I'm well aware of that. I still would have thought the return would be comparable, if not better that what Detroit got for trading away a, at the time, 34 yr old pitcher who was owed around $85 million in Verlander. 3 years for a pretty good pitcher is a risk, but won't cripple your franchise. They also didn't take on all $85 million, which is why they gave up some prospects. Verlander's likely was only $56 million (and I think they got $16 back from Detroit making it $40). I think the final year only vests if Verlander is a top 5 Cy Young candidate, which is possible, but he'll be quite a bit older then and he seems to really sandbag half of the regular season these days. If Stanton's play declines over the next 3 years, they'll still have 8 years left to pay him. Much, much bigger risk. Exactly. Miami essentially killed Stanton's trade value (and arguably diminished the franchise value at the time of sale) by giving him that long of an extension coupled with a full no-trade clause.