Continued: La Velle E. Neal III's Sunday Insider: Locking 'em up early is costly

In the early 1990s, Cleveland began locking up its young stars through their arbitration years, beginning a trend that the Twins and other major league teams followed.

It became a standard practice. Stay out of arbitration battles, where salaries can multiply, and even buy out a year or two of free agency.

Today, the industry breeds eight-figure annual salaries and nine-figure multiyear deals, forcing an evolution of the Indians model.

Look at these recent contracts:

Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, 23, signed a six-year, $31 million contract with an option for 2014 at $15 million.

Cleveland righthander Fausto Carmona, 24, signed a four-year, $15 million deal with three option years that could earn him as much as $48 million.

Arizona outfielder Chris Young, 24, signed a five-year, $28 million deal with an option for 2014 for $11 million.

Each player has less than two years of major league service time. Notice how the teams dangled security in exchange for savings down the road. Clubs can buy out those deals if the player is injured or is no longer productive. If each player maxes out his deal, there's time for another huge payday at age 30-31.

The whopper came just after Tampa Bay left the Metrodome a little more than a week ago. Third baseman Evan Longoria -- who made his major league debut on April 12 -- signed a six-year, $17.5 million deal. He had played in six major league games at the time.

No one is sure how Longoria will handle Carmona's sinker, Mark Buehrle's cutter or even Livan Hernandez's 59-mile-per-hour entertainment pitch.

But the Rays, who paid Longoria a $3 million bonus when they drafted him, have watched him develop and believe he's a core player.

The Twins looked at Longoria's deal and think it's a good move. I'm all for being proactive, but I keep thinking what if the Twins had went all-in like this after Scott Erickson's 20-8 season in 1991.

"There's an element of risk,'' said Twins assistant GM Ron Antony, "but if you have enough confidence in a player and you had him in your system and you know what you have, it's going to be a good deal for them.''

Not locking up a player up can be costly. Look at the Phillies and Ryan Howard.

They tried to sign the 2006 National League MVP before the 2007 season, but failed. They gave him a raise to $900,000 -- tying Albert Pujols for the largest salary given to a player with less than two years of service time.

The sides failed to reach a deal this offseason and had to go to arbitration. That $900,000, meant to be a generous gesture, turned out to be a jumping off point as Howard won a $10 million salary for 2008. Now Philly has a bigger problem after this season, if Howard continues to produce.

I believe teams will remember the Howard fiasco when dealing with the own young stars in the future.

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