In an environment in which gambling is so permissible and pervasive, I do find myself thinking more in the genre’s terms.

With each long contract signed this offseason, I wondered where I would set the over/under in terms of the player’s games played.

For example, Xander Bogaerts (Padres) and Trea Turner (Phillies) signed 11-year deals. That is 1,782 potential regular-season games for each if the schedule is not disrupted. What would be the acceptable total played (let alone played well) that would make San Diego and Philadelphia feel these were sage investments?

Would you put it at 1,400 games? That is an average of just under 128 games annually for the lives of the contracts.