Shortly after the Braves acquired Dan Uggla we heard that the two sides were discussing an extension. The Marlins had previously failed on that front, as Uggla rejected the team’s four-year, $48 million offer. It took a little more than a month to finish the deal. The two sides finalized it yesterday, agreeing to five years and $62 million. The Braves now have someone to man second or third for the forseeable future, but will Uggla’s production match his price tag?
When Adam Dunn signed with the White Sox earlier this offseason for four years and $56 million dollars, I generally agreed with those like Dave Cameron who saw it as perhaps a slight overpayment, but reasonable given that Dunn will be moving to a park that favors his prodigious power and to a team and league that will finally allow him to spend most of his time at his natural position — designated hitter. I generally still agree with the assessment. However, there are some things worth watching as Dunn begins his in Chicago in relation to his shift in league, position, park, and his recent plate approach. What better to write about on Hall of Fame Announcement Day than a player who signed more than a month ago?
It’s not often that a young player receives a seven-year deal for $80 million before he hits his arbitration years, but Carlos Gonzalez is receiving just that from the Colorado Rockies this week. In his first full big league season, he hit 34 home runs and 117 RBIs batting .336/.376/.598. Gonzalez has shown a brilliant combination of power and speed since his first pro season in A+ ball with the Diamondbacks in 2006, and has exceed expectations this past season. And much of that has to do with his improved plate discipline and performance against particular pitches as well as working the count better.
Roberto Alomar is going to Cooperstown. Barry Larkin is not. I don’t get it.
They are the very definition of contemporaries. Larkin began his career two years earlier, but they both retired at the end of the 2004 season, having their careers almost entirely overlap. They are both middle infielders with essentially the same exact skillset. Their career lines are practically identical. Seriously.
Yesterday in my Fan Projections 2010 recap I reported that fans do a worse job projecting players on their favorite team than other fans do at projecting those players. This is an interesting finding: these fans probably have more information about those players, but in spite of that do a worse job projecting them. Why is that?
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Two months ago, the Blue Jays traded for Miguel Olivo just to decline his option and offer him arbitration. Along with John Buck, Jason Frasor, Scott Downs, and Kevin Gregg, Olivo was just one of the group of players with which Alex Anthopolous was plotting to acquire compensatory draft picks, as outlined in this piece. Yesterday, the last of that quintet signed as Kevin Gregg agreed to a two-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles. Just how many draft picks did they bring back, and how valuable are they?
Over the past two seasons, the biggest factor holding back the New York Mets has been injuries. Apparently undaunted by those injury concerns, the Mets signed a pair of pitchers coming off Tommy John surgery. While both Chris Capuano and Taylor Buchholz pitched in the majors last season, they were only able to accumulate 78 innings combined. The Mets realized the risks involved, however, signing Capuano for only $1.5 million, and Buccholz for $600,000. After another off-season of recovery, will Capuano and Buchholz return to form in 2011?
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The San Francisco Giants
2010 MLB Record: 92-70 (1st in the NL West)
Minor League Power Ranking: 20th (out of 30)
Click for: Last Year’s Top 10 Prospect List
The Prospects
1. Brandon Belt, 1B
Acquired: 2009 5th round (University of Texas)
Pro Experience: 1 season
2010 MiLB Level: A+/AA/AAA
Opening Day Age: 22
Estimated Peak WAR: 5.5
Notes: Belt was a steal as a fifth round pick out of the University of Texas in 2009. He didn’t make his pro debut until 2010 but the left-handed hitter absolutely exploded – despite the lack of experience – and rose to triple-A. Belt posted a .485 wOBA in high-A, .447 in double-A, and .419 in triple-A. At the senior level, he produced a triple-slash line of .229/.393/.563 in 61 plate appearances. He also showed a solid eye at the plate with excellent walk rates and reasonable strikeout rates for a power hitter. Along with ISO rates of .244/.286/.333, Belt showed his value as an all-around player by stealing 22 bases on the season; he succeeded on the base paths due to smart base running as opposed to blazing speed. Belt’s success in pro ball can be linked to mechanical adjustments at the plate. He has a wide, well-balanced stance at the plate. He occasionally gets out on his front foot a bit, which robs him of some power. His swing also gets loopy at times but, when he’s on, Belt shows good bat speed and the barrel carries well through the strike zone.
Yesterday I looked at the 2010 Fan Projections for position players, and specifically how much higher fans of a team projected players on that team compared to non-fans. It turned out to be by about half a win. Commenters to that post wondered which group did a better job projecting the actual performance of the players.
Tango found that the Fan Projections were in the middle of the pack compared to other projection systems: a respectable 10 out of 21, up against the big hitters like CHONE, CAIRO, and Bloomberg. But that was with the Fans as a whole, not split out by the fans’ favorite teams.