Injuries Galore !

Bautista after injuring his wrist

In multiple games that took place yesterday big stars sustained potential injuries. One of the really big ones is a potential injured achilles to the Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz. After Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford returned from injuries and a loss of David Ortiz would be a devastating blow.

Another potential big loss is to the already banged up Blue Jays. In last night's game Jose Bautista hurt his wrist and had to be taken out of the game. The Blue Jays are in last place in the American League East and without the league leader in home runs, their chances of making the playoffs are done.

Perhaps the biggest blow of the day was Joey Votto's knee injury. Votto will undergo arthroscopic surgery and be out for 3-4 weeks. The Reds are in a very tight race with the Cardinals and Pirates. Without the Reds' top slugger these 3-4 weeks could be a drag.

Extensions, Extensions, Extensions

On Monday Matt Cain and Joey Votto signed extensions with their teams. Joey Votto's extension was colossal, a 10 year 225 million dollar extension. Matt Cain's deal was 5 years 112.5 million dollars with a club option for 2013.

Matt Cain has pitched effectively for The Giants over his 6 complete seasons. He averages 212 innings every season with an average ERA of 3.39. Although he pitches a lot of innings and gives up few runs he has a losing record due to The Giants' ineffective offense. This contract will have Matt Cain signed through the prime of his career. His average war by season is 3.9. If you put 5 million dollars per win Matt Cain is earning just about what he deserves. Through the years where he is expected to be at his best The Giants win with this contract.

Joey Votto will be playing with The Reds for a very long time. Votto has 2 all star appearances an MVP award and a Gold Glove Award in just four full seasons in the MLB. Votto is destined to be a star. With a 152 OPS+ over that time period Votto is in a category with players like Prince Fielder, Albert Pujols, Ryan Howard and Adrian Gonzalez. In recent years Votto's WAR has been through the roof, with a 6.5 WAR last year and a 5.9 WAR in 2010. Votto will be signed until he is in his late 30's. He will be signed through the prime of his career, but also well after that. Will Votto be effective later in his career we don't know, but most likely he wont be. The important part is The Reds have a player locked up for a long time like Barry Larkin.