One Year Does Not a Four Year Contract Make

Doesn't get the credit he deserves, even when we give him credit before he deserves it.

Joe Christensen is a smart guy. I like reading his articles, but I have to respectfully disagree slightly with this one. After another amazing season from Joe Nathan, he says the shiny new contract was a good investment. Not that I don't necessarily agree. I've probably talked about this before, but it's a bad idea to say a deal is good or bad until it's over. Joe Nathan is probably the best closer in the game, at least the top 2 or 3. But he could get hurt two (or one) seasons of the next three, and this deal could look terrible.

It's like the Johan deal (now I'm almost positive I've said this before). From a one year perspective, it looks like a great deal for the Mets. But he could get hurt, decline, or the prospects could all turn into stars (a la Bartolo Colon to the Expos). It's a matter of historical perspective (yay, my major counts for something). You can't judge it while it's occurring. You need to judge it later after its effects can be seen. But we want to judge now, and we need stories. So we judge now and eat our words later.