In case anyone is out of the loop. SB Nation Reacts emails surveys to those who sign up for them, on the assumption that these are more knowledgeable fans than the hoi polloi. They're more or less weekly during the season, less so during the off-season.

Usually the questions are pretty general, nothing requiring too much thought. Today's survey's first question was like that: "What's the oldest age you'd want a contract to last through on your favorite team?"

Then there's the second the second question....

"If your favorite team wins one World Series is it worth a contract that would look terrible by its end?

But they didn't ask who your favorite team IS. Without that, I expect the data is going to be completely meaningless. With it, I expect the data to be seriously bimodal.

For fans of teams like the Yankees, or the Dodgers, or the Giants, or any team that's won a World Series in the last decade or so, the answer is going to be a resounding no. While a terrible contract would guarantee the team one World Series, it quite probably could cost them the 2 or 3 Series they could realistically win in foreseeable years without that hanging over their heads. It would be a bad tradeoff.

But I'm a Rockies Fan. Would I take that deal? You betcha. In a hot second. So fast it would your head swim. (Feel free to insert other cliches indicating speed here.) The Rockies have been around 30 years. They have NEVER won a World Series. They only made it that far once. So what if that horrible, terrible, no-good contract prevents winning for 5 or 10 years? That's business as usual for the Rockies. Instead of going through continual dark years, there would be that one Guaranteed World Series - a beautiful, anomalous, shining beam of joy.

Historically, the Rockies' problem has been terrible contracts that DIDN'T take them to the World Series.

That's the problem with questionable contracts - when they're signed, you don't know if they're going to get you the final prize or not. So the question remains purely hypothetical. I am in no way recommending the Rockies go out and offer more of their infamous "What were they THINKING?" contracts. There's no such thing as a Guaranteed World Series.

But it's kind of nice to dream.