In 2011, the Pirates received 2.5 WAR and a 92 wRC+ out of their catchers, mostly because Ryan Doumit and Chris Snyder spent most of the summer on the DL. Pittsburgh declined the duo’s expensive options after the season, and today they brought in a new backstop via free agency, former Dodger Rod Barajas. The damage: one-year and $4 million with a club option for 2013 worth $3.5 million. It’s not often you see an option worth less than money than the guaranteed years, but I digress.

At 36 years old, Barajas is a known quantity. He’s managed to match or exceed a .307 wOBA in three of the last four years, though his on-base percentage hasn’t been able to crack .295 since 2007 – he’s had to make up for it by providing power, which is exactly what he’s done. Barajas is a Grade-A hacker that can punish mistakes, hitting at least 11 homers in his seven seasons with 300 or more plate appearances. He’s gone deep at least 16 times in each of the last three seasons, something accomplished by exactly one catcher in the long history of the Pirates franchise: Jim Pagliaroni in 1965, who hit 17.

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The Washington Nationals finalized a one-year contract with Chien-Ming Wang yesterday, agreeing to pay the sinkerball specialist $4 million with various incentives in 2012. The move helps shore up a starting staff that finished 20th in the game with 10.7 WAR last season, or at least that’s the plan.

Wang, 32 in March, returned to the mound late last June after recovering from a torn shoulder capsule, an injury that kept him on the shelf for basically two full calendar years. He pitched to a 4.57 FIP with a 53.4% ground ball rate in eleven starts and 62.1 IP, finishing strong with 16 strikeouts and zero walks in his final four outings. Wang never has been and never will be a strikeout pitcher, owning a career 4.11 K/9 and 5.1% whiff rate. He limits walks (2.58 BB/9) and gets his grounders (59.5%), that’s pretty much it.

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Draft picks are going to bust far more often than not in this game — even highly-touted first rounders. The further away you get from the top of the first round, though, the more the bust potential increases. Few first rounders have busted as hard as Andrew Brackman, not just in terms of his failure to contribute to the team that drafted him, but also in terms of how much he cost.

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CC Sabathia is back with the Yankees, even though he never left in the first place. With the deadline for his opt-out clause looming last night, the big left-hander and the team got together to hammer out a new contract extension that has a pretty good chance to keep him in pinstripes for the rest of his career. In the simplest of terms, here’s the money breakdown…

2012-2015: $23M per season
2016: $25M
2017: $25M vesting option with $5M buyout

The first four years are still covered by the original seven-year, $161M contract Sabathia signed with New York prior to the 2009 season. The 2016 season starts the new extension, and the 2017 vesting option is dependent on the health of his prized left shoulder. If shoulder problems cause him to a) finish the season on the DL, b) spend 45 days on the DL, or c) shift to a relief role during the 2016 season, the option is null and void. All told, the total package is worth five years and $122M, or $2M more than buddy Cliff Lee got from the Phillies last winter.

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