Christmas Comes Early To Anaheim, Miami

Posted by Stransky on Dec 9, 2011 in Featured Story

AP Photo

by Jan Stransky | @janstransky | jstransky@fieldofignorance.com |

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

1B Albert Pujols: $254 million over 10 years
RHP C.J. Wilson: $77.5 million over 5 years

Let’s start with the Angels. Undoubtedly, their most recent signing instantly pushes the franchise into title contention. However, is Albert Pujols worth the approximately $25 million per year that the Angels are paying him? His career average is .328. He averages 123 R, 600 AB, 42 HR, 126 RBI, an OBP of .420, and .617 SLG. It doesn’t take much explaining to understand that Pujols, and his career stats over 11 years, make him one of the greatest players to date. However, when considering the contracts of other high-caliber players, the Angels overspent on Pujols, and are taking a considerable risk.

The Market For Relief

Posted by Wasserman on Dec 9, 2011 in Blurbs

by Tyler Wasserman | @tylerwasserman | tjwasserman@fieldofignorance.com |

During the Winter Meetings, we saw both Heath Bell and Frank Francisco sign free agent deals to close games in new cities, although these moves were overshadowed by the Pujols and Reyes signings. Let’s take a look at the overall condition of the relief pitcher market.

Obviously, closers are being paid quite a large premium over setup men. But is this warranted? It seems as if many GMs are paying for saves; a very misleading stat. Rafael Soriano got a three-year deal in excess of $30 million last year because he had the brand name of an elite closer. However, as the Yankees experienced in 2011, relievers are very volatile, and even “elite closers” like Soriano tend to have sub-par years. Francisco Rodriguez, who recently accepted arbitration from the Brewers, will also be paid at least $12 million to be a setup man in 2012.

Interview with Jason Martinez

Posted by Behr on Dec 4, 2011 in Featured Story, Interviews

MLBDepthCharts.com is the creation of baseball junkie Jason Martinez, who has been intrigued by the construction of rosters since childhood. The website, and a soon-to-be-released digital magazine, allows readers to follow along as he deconstructs and rebuilds the pieces to the roster puzzle for all 30 major league organizations. The website has become a valuable resource for baseball fans, fantasy geeks, beat writers, reporters, scouts, and front office executives. In July 2011, MLBDepthCharts was named to SI.com’s inaugural Twitter 100, a list honoring the most essential twitter feeds in the sports world.  

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Jesse Behr: Since the story is hot off the press, what’s your reaction to the Marlins reeling in Heath Bell?

Jason Martinez: I understand the concerns people are going to have. Giving a 34-year-old with a declining strikeout rate a three-year, $27 million deal is risky for obvious reasons. But let me put a positive spin on this, since I’ve watched him on a daily basis here in San Diego. His stuff is still there. I couldn’t tell you the reason why his K rate is down, but the mid-90′s heater and sharp breaking ball haven’t gone away. He’s been one of the best relievers in baseball for the past five seasons, first as a setup man to Trevor Hoffman, then as the Padres’ closer. Bell will be fine for the first two years in Miami. I’d worry how effective he’ll be in year three of the deal when he’s 36 years old. But that’s less of a concern for a team that has a sense of urgency to compete in 2012.