Note: For the 2007 pre-season. (Other Seasons.)
Assuming 4 million of free agent dollars per marginal win, player in a decline phase (at 0.5 wins per year), and inflation rate of 10%, here is how a player's perceived talent level, number of contract years, and total contract payments correspond.
Take for example Alfonso Soriano, who signed an 8/136 deal. Go to column numbered "8", and look for the closest dollar figure to "$136" you can find. In this case, we see "$137", which corresponds to row "5.0", meaning 5 wins above replacement (3 wins above average, for a full-time player). Alfonso Soriano is being paid with an evaluation of 5.0 wins above replacement, with a 0.5 wins per year decline, and baseball payrolls increasing at 10% every year.
Gary Matthews' 5/50 means he's evaluated as somewhere between 3.0 and 3.5 wins above replacement.
Note: a full-time league-average player would be worth +2.0 wins above replacement. Therefore, a league-average player should get an 8 million$, 1-yr contract, or 22 million$, 4-yr contract.
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| Years | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WAR | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 0.5 | $2 | |||||||||
| 1.0 | $4 | $6 | ||||||||
| 1.5 | $6 | $10 | $13 | |||||||
| 2.0 | $8 | $15 | $19 | $22 | ||||||
| 2.5 | $10 | $19 | $26 | $31 | $34 | |||||
| 3.0 | $12 | $23 | $33 | $41 | $47 | $50 | ||||
| 3.5 | $14 | $27 | $39 | $50 | $59 | $65 | $69 | |||
| 4.0 | $16 | $31 | $46 | $59 | $71 | $81 | $88 | $92 | ||
| 4.5 | $18 | $36 | $53 | $69 | $83 | $96 | $107 | $114 | $119 | |
| 5.0 | $20 | $40 | $59 | $78 | $95 | $111 | $126 | $137 | $146 | $151 |
| 5.5 | $22 | $44 | $66 | $87 | $108 | $127 | $145 | $160 | $173 | $182 |
| 6.0 | $24 | $48 | $72 | $96 | $120 | $142 | $164 | $183 | $200 | $214 |
| 6.5 | $26 | $52 | $79 | $106 | $132 | $158 | $183 | $206 | $227 | $246 |
| 7.0 | $28 | $57 | $86 | $115 | $144 | $173 | $202 | $229 | $255 | $278 |