Wainwright’s Injury: Key to Signing Pujols?
Adam Wainwright’s date with Tommy John surgery certainly hurts the Cardinals’ chances for success in 2011. But there could be an unexpected benefit: signing Albert Pujols.
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Rickie Weeks, Mystery Man
Apparently, February 16th was International Sign Your Breakout Star And Hope It Wasn’t A Fluke Day. Before the news broke that Jose Bautista cashed in on his power surge with the Blue Jays, the Milwaukee Brewers signed Rickie Weeks to a four-year, $38.5 million contract with an option that could up the deal to five years and $50 million.
Unlike the Jays, the Brewers aren’t gambling on a guy with questions about his ability to hit. Instead, they’ve decided to bet big on a guy with an entirely different problem.
Tony La Russa, Diplomat
Albert Pujols is up for the biggest contract in baseball history. The St. Louis Cardinals and their fans are getting antsier by the minute, petrified their franchise player will bolt at the end of the season. Twenty-nine other teams and their fans fantasize about penciling one of the 10 greatest hitters in the game’s history into their lineup. Pujols’ fate is the biggest story around right now. Nothing else is even close.
How could Tony La Russa not get involved?
AL All-Zero-to-Three Team
Last time, we looked at the top projected National League players with zero-to-three years of service time. Today, the American League.
NL All-Zero-to-Three Team
When an elite player hits the open market, a select few teams have the will, and the wherewithal, to pay top dollar for his services. But the vast majority of teams cannot — or more precisely, will not — ante up for the biggest free-agent stars.
The structure of Major League Baseball’s service time and compensation system thus nudges bargain hunters over to younger players, namely those with zero-to-three years of service time. Players not yet eligible for arbitration are to Albert Pujols as Kiribati’s GDP is to America’s.
Of course, not all pre-arb players are created equal. So with a nod to Dave Cameron’s recent All-Minor-League-Contract Team, and to Carson Cistulli’s Dollar Sign on the Scout, we present the All-Zero-to-Three Teams.
Today, the National League.
Free Brandon Allen!
If there’s one reason baseball analysts (and Baseball Analysts) were put on this Earth, it’s to stump for worthy, but ignored Hall of Fame candidates.
If there’s a second reason, it’s to stump for worthy, but ignored minor league stars to get a shot in the big leagues. Bill James once said that minor league equivalencies were his most important creation. The ability to project a top minor league performer’s performance in the majors has triggered a series of quixotic quests. Some of these quests prove successful: Free Erubiel Durazo! Some don’t: Free Roberto Petagine! But the desire to see the best possible talent on the major league stage burns strong, decades after Bill James first started the movement.
With all that established…Free Brandon Allen!
Jonah Keri FanGraphs Chat – 2/7/11
By popular demand, we’re rolling out a weekly chat with Jonah. He’ll be hanging out and talking baseball (and other things) every Monday at noon. Make sure to ask him about New York bagels, which he’s a huge fan of..
The Yankees Should Trade for Barry Zito
Few contracts in recent baseball history have attracted more ridicule than the seven-year, $126 million deal the Giants gifted to Barry Zito. Apparently still dazzled by Zito’s 23-5 record, 2.75 ERA and Cy Young award four seasons earlier, Brian Sabean ignored Zito’s more pedestrian peripheral stats, threw a mint at him, and instantly became the proud owner of one of the worst contracts in professional sports.
Which is exactly why the Yankees should trade for him.