Christmas Comes Early To Anaheim, Miami
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.
Read MoreReplacing Reyes
by Tyler Wasserman | @tylerwasserman | tjwasserman@fieldofignorance.com |
$100 million over the next six years.
Analysts have already been dissecting Reyes’ numbers to see if this is a good deal for the Miami Marlins. But let’s take a look at this from another perspective: how do the Mets replace him?
Last year, Reyes produced 98 wRC in 586 plate appearances. He did this with a career high .353 BABIP. This demonstrates a certain amount of luck, as a much higher percentage of the balls that he put in play fell in for hits. However, his line drive percentage also increased by 3.5 percentage points over his 2010 numbers, evidence that it wasn’t all luck; Reyes, in fact, was hitting the ball harder. So let’s call 95 wRC in 600 PA a reasonable estimate of Reyes’ 2012 production.
Read MoreInterview with Jason Martinez
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.
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