Dave Cameron FanGraphs Chat – 11/15/17

12:02
Dave Cameron: Happy Wednesday, everyone.

12:03
Dave Cameron: Since it comes up from time to time, a book recommendation for others with toddlers: Ella and Penguin is our current favorite book. Definitely worth checking out. Dragons Love Tacos is a close second.

12:03
Dave Cameron: And on that note, let’s talk some baseball!

12:03
Ned Yost: I understand the hype behind Ohtani. But let’s be real: even the surest of sure things in baseball go bust. I haven’t seen one person even suggest there is any possibility that he turns into merely, say, a number 4 starter rather than a franchise changing mega-star. Listen, there is nothing wrong with being a number 4 starter! Nothing! That’s still a good outcome. But why does it seem like everyone has predetermined stardom for a kid who is coming off an injury riddled season in a completely different atmosphere in Japan?

12:04
Dave Cameron: Maybe we’re reading different things, but I haven’t seen anyone say there’s no risk here. People are talking about him passing up a $200M contract if he were a free agent; $200M free agents still come with downside, as J.D. Martinez currently illustrates.

12:04
Dave Cameron: Of course there’s a chance he’s not as good as the hype. I think there’s a real chance the two-way thing doesn’t work and he’s just a pitcher in a few years.

12:05
glt4dc: What would a Stanton trade to the Phillies look like where neither side hangs up?  Is there such a trade?

12:05
Dave Cameron: If I’m the Phillies, I’m not prematurely taking myself out of the Harper/Machado running, and I’m eyeing a pitch to Trout in a few years.

12:06
Dave Cameron: Trading for Stanton could screw all of that up. So they should just pass.

12:07
Drew: Two questions: (1) Is Jay Bruce a viable option for the Astros? (2) Read Heyman say that they could be in on Lucroy. If so, would that mean they see Gattis as full-time DH or expendable?

12:07
Dave Cameron: Bruce is a pretty decent fit for HOU, I think. Price will have to come way down though. The Lucroy rumor doesn’t make much sense to me; effectively fills DH with another RH hitter, and not a great one. McCann more valuable as a C than a DH, so unless they have a trade for him lined up, I don’t see the point.

12:08
Bubby Brewstaff: Hosmer will be valued at _____ WAR over the length of his contract

12:08
Dave Cameron: I’d guess ~10. I think he could have a few solid enough seasons, but end up totally worthless by the time it ends.

12:09
Murdoc: Marlins have been very transparent about slashing payroll. Does it hurt their negotiating power with other teams? Is the main incentive to be honest with the fan base?

12:09
Dave Cameron: Not really. As long as you have the threat of “if you don’t trade for him, someone else will”, the leverage of “I’ll just keep him” doesn’t matter much.

12:09
Dave Cameron: So you don’t need the I’ll just keep him leverage if you have multiple buyers.

12:10
Cliff: What is Profar worth, both on the field and as trade bait for the Rangers?

12:10
Dave Cameron: Not much, squared.

12:10
YDG: I know every team is theoretically in the discussion, but are their any teams you’re comfortable giving a 0 – 1 % chance of signing Ohtani?

12:11
Dave Cameron: The Royals? I can’t imagine him going to middle America to play for a team that is going to be bad for a while.

12:11
J: I still don’t understand how Wade Davis is going to get a higher contract than a guy that was just a 5 win SS or how he’s even a better FA than Morrow.

12:11
Dave Cameron: You seem to be weighting 2017 performance a wee bit too heavily…

12:11
Mike: If the Cardinals were to acquire Stanton, how close would that put them to the Dodgers/Nats/Cubs tier?

12:12
Dave Cameron: Depends what they give up. If they have to subtract from the MLB roster, not that close.

12:12
Brian: Where does “the Mets are CONSIDERING pursuing Ohtani” rank among saddest baseball offseason rumors? Is there anything to consider?

12:13
Dave Cameron: Any team that doesn’t have, at minimum, an intern putting together a powerpoint to send to the agent just in case should be embarrassed.

12:13
Dave Cameron: It’s a free lottery ticket.

12:13
Dave Cameron: All 30 teams should make a bare minimum “we’re interested if you are!” pitch

12:13
IsBrittonInYet: Hi Dave. When evaluating outfield defense, how much stock do you put in Statcast’s numbers (ex. outs above average, number of 5 star catches) compared to DRS/UZR? Kevin Pillar had a DRS/UZR of 15/6 in 2017 but was -2 outs above average with no 5 star catches in 34 chances.

12:15
Dave Cameron: It’s not about “stock”; it’s about what the information is telling you. So, for instance, Pillar’s value could come from positioning, which would mean that he doesn’t make as many plays where he has to run a long way in a short amount of time, but he’s still catching balls other worse-positioned CFs wouldn’t get to.

12:15
Dave Cameron: Also, it’s important to keep in mind that Statcast is just measuring range right now, so you don’t want to compare that measure to total DRS/UZR, which include errors and throwing arm.

12:16
Dave Cameron: If you just look at the range portion of UZR, Pillar is at +1; his +6 came from throwing and not making many errors.

12:17
Bebop: if you were the Cubs, UNLESS you were completely blown away, wouldn’t it make more sense to hold onto Russell, Baez, Happ and Almora? what are the odds of all four of them staying healthy, plus with the aging Zobrist and uninspiring work of Heyward, wouldn’t it be turning a plus (depth) unto a huge deficit?

12:18
Dave Cameron: Hanging on to them all increases your chances of winning 85-90 games, but probably doesn’t maximize your chances of winning 90+. The Cubs are in a position where they probably need to take some risks, and thinning out depth to improve the frontline group is a risk worth taking.

12:18
TKDC: If the Braves were to trade for Donaldson, sign Cobb, and dump Kemp for Acuna, would they be playoff contenders?

12:18
Dave Cameron: That’s probably, what, a 10 win improvement? We have them as a 75-ish win team right now, so sure, they’d be in the second wild card spot.

12:19
Dave Cameron: But you don’t get Donaldson for free.

12:19
dominik: regarding Otani: there is a lot of talks about him fitting with the cubs or dodgers but while that is true both teams are in the penalty box and can’t exceed 300K. now otani probably prioritizes other things but will he be OK with only making 800K the first year and 500K the next 2? that combined is less than he makes in one year in japan. aren’t those teams who have money having a big edge?

12:20
Dave Cameron: By “have money”, you’re talking about up to $3.5 million for the bonus, and everyone’s salary will be the same. So would Otani pick his final destination over a $3.2M difference in up front payment when he’s walking away from hundreds of millions in guaranteed money by coming over now?

12:20
Nelson: Would “record in close games” be a suitable way to vote for manager fo the year?

12:21
Dave Cameron: Not unless you like rewarding luck.

12:21
Jstodola : Are the Dodgers now the top contender to get Stanton?

12:21
Dave Cameron: No, they’re probably just trying to make sure the Giants don’t get him cheap.

12:22
Jack: Does Ohtani, Darvish and a Rougie turnaround make the Rangers contenders?

12:22
Dave Cameron: Probably still behind Houston, but they’d be wild card contenders.

12:22
Hal McRae: Should the Rays blow it up? If so, why?

12:22
Dave Cameron: I don’t know if I’d blow it up, but I’d probably trade Archer and Colome.

12:23
RMR: Is a borderline top 100 guy (i.e. Jorge Mateo from the A’s) a reasonable expectation for an Avi Garcia trade centerpiece?

12:23
Dave Cameron: If they can get a top 100 guy for Garcia, they should do it in a heartbeat.

12:23
Jeremy: What is your estimate for $/WAR for the offseason?

12:24
Dave Cameron: ~$9M, but with some stratification. I think the rising reliever prices and across the board demand for bullpen depth will mean there are some bargains to be had when shopping for SPs.

12:24
Brian: Dave, lots of tweets about Marlins asking price on stanton being way too high…i want more details.  Can you provide them?  Pretty please?

12:24
Dave Cameron: Pretty sure they’re trying to get talent and move all the money, and will have to eventually decide which of those two is the real priority.

12:25
Dave Cameron: They’re not going to dump the whole contract and get a big return, but they might be able to do a Verlander-type deal where they get a good return for eating a bit of it.

12:26
Andy: Hi, Dave.  I’m wondering what you think Ohtani’s best landing spot from a purely non-partisan and utilitarian Fan Of The Game standpoint.  I think it might be Seattle — a market that deserves a win, a team that will be a lot more fun to watch, a good community for him.  But if you were the God of Good Outcomes, where would you send him?

12:27
Dave Cameron: If we’re just maximizing value to MLB, it’s probably an east coast team so more people see him play. If he ends up on the west coast, a good chunk of people won’t see a lot of him live. So maybe Toronto?

12:28
Gavin: Walker Buehler for Schoop, Who says no?

12:28
Dave Cameron: Dodgers.

12:28
santiagofish: Hey there Dave, when do you think Stanton gets traded (if at all)? Will teams wait to see what happens with him, or does he have virtually no effect on the free-agent market? tx

12:28
Dave Cameron: I think Cardinals will want an answer on if they’re the destination or not this week, so they can pursue other options if not. So if it’s an STL deal, could happen soon. If it’s not STL, might drag out til the winter meetings.

12:29
RMR: The valuation of bat only players seems to be moving back toward valuing them a little more than the last couple of years (at least if rumors are to be believed).  Do you think teams would see Jose Abreu as a legitimate improvement on most of the available FA 1B/DH types?  Or an unnecessary overpay when they could get someone as good (or almost as good) in FA for just dollars?

12:29
Dave Cameron: I think there are too many 1Bs on the market to get a big haul for him.

12:29
Dave Cameron: I’d hold him until the deadline.

12:29
Ed in Iowa: Where would you put the value of Dinelson Lamet and Brad Hand as compared with Addison Russell? In terms of need, it seems like a fit; but I don’t know enough about Lamet to know whether that’s a ridiculous suggestion or not.

12:30
Dave Cameron: Don’t think the Cubs give up Russell for Lamet+.

12:30
Andrew: What would you do this offseason if you were the Blue Jays? Patch things together and take another run in 2018, or trade Donaldson?

12:31
Dave Cameron: I’d trade Donaldson, try to get a decent MLB player back (PIscotty or Grichuk, someone like that), re-allocate Donaldson’s money to some FAs, and hope Vlad Jr was ready by June.

12:31
Andrew: Mike Petriello posted this on twitter yesterday:

Let’s hot-take some “what team is Stanton on to start 2018” odds:

-70% Marlins
-15% Cards
-10% Red Sox
-5% other?

14 Nov 2017
12:32
Dave Cameron: I’d go 40% STL, 35% SFG, 15% BOS, 5% MIA, 5% Other

12:33
Colin : Would you do Ender Inciarte for Ian Happ straight up?

12:33
Dave Cameron: No

12:33
James: The history of hitters coming over from Japan isn’t spectacular. Even Ichiro has never produced at quite the level he did in Japan. Is Otani really taken that seriously as an offensive threat over here?

12:33
Dave Cameron: Ichiro put up +23 WAR in his first four years in MLB.

12:34
Dave Cameron: I think the opposite of what you claim is actually true; Japanese hitters have mostly been better than expected, not worse.

12:34
Canada is pretty good: Hypothetical price tag: Clint Frazier for Stanton (and yankees pick up the whole salary), is that the kind of value Stanton has?

12:34
Dave Cameron: I think if the Marlins could make that trade, they already would have.

12:34
Dave Cameron: If they’re dumping the whole salary, they’re not getting a Frazier type.

12:35
stever20: what are your thoughts on the Cy Youngs tonight, especially the NL one?  Do the extra 25 innings for Scherzer give him the edge?

12:35
Dave Cameron: I think Scherzer wins, yeah.

12:35
Ryan: All day every day Boston media members are talking about willingness to trade Benintendi for Stanton, this is ludicrous and insane, right?

12:35
Dave Cameron: Yes

12:36
A cat: Is Jose Bautista a good comp for JD Martinez, given the late development due to a shift in mechanics? Does JDM stay as effective for as long or was Bautista a better hitter in approach before the change?

12:36
Dave Cameron: Bautista was a low-K, high-BB guy who ran low BABIPs. Martinez is a high-K, moderate-BB guy who runs very high BABIPs. They are very different.

12:37
Andy J.: Where does your gut say Ohtani lands?

12:37
Dave Cameron: LA.

12:37
Dan: Thoughts on the Anthopoulos hire?

12:37
Dave Cameron: Pretty good outcome for ATL. Probably the best kind of guy they were going to get to come into that situation right now.

12:38
Tarik: Do you think Tanaka could have gotten more than 3/67 in the market?

12:38
Dave Cameron: Total, yes. Per year, no.

12:40
Sterling Malory Chris Archer: Would anyone object to MLB making an exception to the international free agent rules for Ohtani?

12:41
Dave Cameron: The owners, every other international player in a similar situation.

12:41
Tea Leoni for Third: What do you remember about the first MLB game you attended?

12:42
Dave Cameron: I went to a Mariners-Red Sox game where Oil Can Boyd was starting, and we made a “kick the can” sign that I was very proud of.

12:42
Josh: For Otani, might it make sense for an MLB team to pitch him less often, say 1 time per week, so that he can play ~3 days per week in the field. If we assume he needs the day before a start, the day after a start and 1 extra day between starts, this might be a creative way to maximize his value

12:42
Dave Cameron: Problem is it shuffles everyone else’s routine.

12:43
Dave Cameron: This is one of the reasons I think an NL team is a better fit.

12:43
Dave Cameron: Let him pinch hit for the other P every day.

12:43
Dave Cameron: And hit for himself when he does pitch.

12:43
Dave Cameron: He’ll get ~200 PAs and not have to play in any games when he’s not starting.

12:43
Jim Nantz: Over/under wRC+ of 100 for Ohtani? I think he’ll struggle at the plate.

12:44
Dave Cameron: Yeah, I’d probably go under. Maybe he turns into a good hitter with more reps, but most 23 year olds aren’t big league average hitters, and that’s just focusing on hitting.

12:46
Hunky Dory: If Trout were a FA this winter (no extension), would he break $600MM?  $700MM?

12:46
Dave Cameron: Depends on opt-outs and such. But yeah, over $600M.

12:47
jim: Profar was #1 prospect in baseball in 2013 and is still only 25.  Please elaborate on why you believe he is not worth much, squared.

12:47
Dave Cameron: The last four years happened.

12:48
Frank: Is there a database of pitchf/x data with the unit of observation being the pitch, where I can example find all the pitches for a particular pitcher’s start or season?

12:48
Dave Cameron: Baseball Savant

12:48
andrew: which team would be more appalled about a Betances for Matt Carpenter trade proposal?

12:48
Dave Cameron: The Cardinals

12:48
Woad Raider: What is the weirdest offseason trade rumor you’ve heard that ended up being true? Any memorable ones?

12:49
Dave Cameron: That Jake McGee/Corey Dickerson one, probably.

12:50
Hunky Dory: Who has the higher current trade value – David Robertson or Zach Britton?  Both paid ~13M next year, Britton higher ceiling but now an injury risk

12:50
Dave Cameron: Britton.

12:50
Matt: Otani argument: he’s coming now because he wants the money. If he stays in Japan, he runs the risk of getting hurt in the next two years. Instead, he is coming over now and can immediately sign an extension that was negotiated under the table.

12:50
Dave Cameron: No, he can’t.

12:50
Dave Cameron: MLB would void any immediate extension.

12:51
botchatheny: if you were trying to sell someone on a deal, would you wear a bow tie?

12:51
Dave Cameron: Is that person Ken Rosenthal?

12:52
Guest: Any good tips for parents with a toddler entering the Terrible 2s? What’s your strategy for getting them to want to go to sleep at night, for instance?

12:53
Dave Cameron: I will preface this with our kid didn’t really have terrible 2s, so maybe we just got really lucky, or our lives are about to crash down upon us when he’s a terrible 3 instead. But so far, I’ve found that incentive-based parenting actually works pretty well with our little guy. Rather than forcing him to do things or threatening to take things away/punish him, he will do what we want if he knows it gets him something he wants later.

12:54
Dave Cameron: There’s a decent amount of research about incentive-based parenting and it seems pretty effective, in general. As a guy with an econ degree, I’m an easy sell, but I’m happy we’ve gone that way so far.

12:54
Aladdin Sane: The Cubs and Rays have been rumored to match up in trade forever, and this offseason I have a pet proposal centered on Happ and Faria.  Of course the Rays aren’t looking to move league minimum players, but getting back a power hitter in the same contract situation could motivate it, considering their pitching depth.  Crazy or possible?  I do think each side would have to add some more to account for Happ’s somewhat higher value due to pedigree

12:54
Dave Cameron: I doubt CHC wants to move Happ for a guy who looks like a probable back-end starter.

12:55
Dave Cameron: I’d expect they’d put Happ in an Archer deal.

12:55
LegallyEagle: Re: your assessment about potential bargins for SPs this off-season, will teams be actively considering middling SPs as potential converts to the pen to be potentially useful relievers (example being “good” Bud Norris)

12:55
Dave Cameron: Yeah, probably.

12:55
I am the walrus: Agree or not?  The Cubs will likely sign a lower FA pitcher (Cobb), sign a lower end closer (Reed), sign a middle rp (Mcgee) or two, send a regular (Happ) for a fairly high ceiling young pitcher and spend around $30M of there $70 salary they have to spend.

12:56
Dave Cameron: I think they’ll go bigger on the closer.

12:56
Dave Cameron: If I had to guess, it’d be more like sign Cobb, trade Russell+ for Archer/Colome, sign Reed or Morrow or whoever, call it a winter.

12:57
Batman: Stanton is, and always has been going to the Dodgers. Why is this still ongoing? He wants to play on the coast. He has a no trade.

12:57
Dave Cameron: A no-trade isn’t a must-trade. He can’t compel Andrew Friedman to trade for him.

12:58
Dooduh: Why shouldn’t 2017 be weighed most heavily?  Are you suggesting a paradigm shift away from weighing the most recent data most heavily??

12:59
Dave Cameron: Obviously it should be weighted more heavily than past data, but a conclusion where Morrow > Wade Davis means that weighting has been skewed.

12:59
CamdenWarehouse: Can we have a moratorium on “who says no”/”who hangs up first” questions?

12:59
Dave Cameron: I’m hanging up on this question.

1:00
Matt: What do you think of the old addage that Greg Bird and Brad Hand are worth Matt Bush?

1:00
Dave Cameron: I laughed.

1:01
Hello Dave: So you’re going to have to explain to me the Wade Davis thing. 33 year old 1 WAR RP who has lost 2 full mph on his fastball the last 2 years worth 17M/year?

1:02
Dave Cameron: Davis has allowed a .239 wOBA since start of 2015 season, the same mark as Zach Britton, one point behind Chapman, five points behind Kimbrel. This “actually Wade Davis isn’t good” narrative is super weird.

1:03
Dooduh: Piscotty for Donaldson?!  What are you smoking?  Piscotty was awful this year.  Gaaaahhh…

1:03
Dave Cameron: I didn’t say you trade Donaldson for PIscotty 1-1. I said you try to get a guy like that in the trade.

1:04
Bald Bull: Hi Dave, in the never ending quest to get Chris Archer away from Tampa, would Kyle Schwarber, Addy Russell, Victor Caratini, and Thomas Hatch do the trick?  Cubs could then look to sign Zack Cozart for 3 years at SS?

1:04
Dave Cameron: Rays would do that in a heartbeat.

1:04
Dave Cameron: Cubs would balk.

1:05
Craner: How much do you think the Blue Jays lose by trading JD at the deadline opposed to this offseason? Is it substantial enough to make a move now or just let things play out in the season?

1:05
Dave Cameron: Did you see what JD Martinez just got at the deadline?

1:05
Dave Cameron: Donaldson is better, but you can’t guarantee there’s going to be a team in need of a 3B rental in July.

1:05
Anthony: Thanks for the great work as always, Dave. I was wondering if you’d elaborate on your Gomez comments from your Top 50 Free Agents piece in which you say he has “a very weird mix of skills, and he doesn’t obviously profile as any kind of player a team is accustomed to having.” Am I missing something with him? Seems like he’s a poor man’s LoCain in that he can give you some speed, some power and some defense…wouldn’t this make him a bargain signing for a team (say the Mets) who can get about 60-70% of Cain’s production at roughly 1/4 the cost?

1:06
Dave Cameron: He’s a guy who still gets a decent amount of value from his defense, but also hits homers and strikes out a lot. There aren’t that many high-HR-high-K-high-UZR guys out there.

1:07
Dave Cameron: A lot of teams still want their defense-first guys to be slap-hitting OBP types.

1:07
Dave Cameron: And Gomez’s baserunning values have never lined up with the perception that he’s actually a terrible runner who makes a lot of outs.

1:07
Dave Cameron: So he’s just a weird player.

1:08
Dub: who has most trade value Billy Hamilton, Odubel Herrera, Ender Inciarte?

1:08
Dave Cameron: Inciarte by a lot.

1:08
Robert: Over under 110 wRC+ for Acuña in 2018? (Assuming he’s up of course)

1:08
Dave Cameron: Under

1:09
Dominik: Are  hitter with extreme batted ball profiles (pull, FB especially) more likely to post low babips?

1:09
Dave Cameron: Yep. Pull-heavy lefties who hit the ball in the air all the time are going to sustain low BABIPs.

1:09
Dan: If Ohtani had the exact situation you describe for an NL team, how much WAR could he add with his bat, reasonably?

1:10
Dave Cameron: +1 to +2, depending on how good he is at the plate.

1:10
Lawrence Summers: Trout gets more than $50m/12 years? Man I dunno…

1:10
Dave Cameron: More like 40 for 15.

1:11
Matt: Regarding Otani extension – let’s say he comes over and pitches 175 IP, sub 3.5 ERA, 30% K rate…or something along those lines. How much strength would the MLB have to stop an extension at that point?

1:11
Dave Cameron: Their stance is it would have to be in line with other contracts signed by players of similar service times. So they’d probably point to the Bumgarner/Sale extensions and say “something like this is fine”, which isn’t a good deal for Otani.

1:12
Dave Cameron: But no one really knows.

1:12
Dave Cameron: If his team gives him 8/$150M in 12 months, could MLB really void it? We don’t know.

1:12
Pope: Oil Can Boyd? Dave my man, you are older than I thought

1:12
Dave Cameron: Turn 37 next week.

1:13
Dave Cameron: I’m well into my decline phase.

1:13
Batman: RE: Parenting Tips. It depends on what you’re giving him later though. “Son, if you don’t put your pants on you’re not getting that ice cream sandwich later.” If this is your strategy, you’re creating a monster.

1:13
Dave Cameron: That’s bribery. Incentives aren’t the same thing.

1:13
Dave Cameron: We’ve found we can get our kid to go along with things he doesn’t want to do by reminding him of things he can get that he would already get anyway.

1:15
Eric CT: Dave, good luck with that as yours gets older…Incentives get pricey as they get older

1:15
Dave Cameron: I do plan on parenting differently as the kid becomes more rational.

1:15
Dave Cameron: But for us, so far, this has worked well for a two year old that can’t reason for himself that well.

1:16
CamdenWarehouse: I don’t think it’s a Wade Davis isn’t good narrative as much as a relief pitching isn’t worth 17m narrative

1:17
Dave Cameron: $17M isn’t that much money in MLB these days.

1:18
Hizouse: My 2-year-old went poop in the potty this morning. He was excited to get a piece of candy after breakfast.

1:18
Dave Cameron: We did M&Ms for potty training, worked great.

1:19
Dave Cameron: And they’re tiny, so who cares if he gets two M&Ms twice a day.

1:19
Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe: So…what happens when all of this tv money evaporates?

1:19
Dave Cameron: MLB sells their product directly to fans, builds own advertising network, does just fine.

1:20
Dave Cameron: Okay, ran 20 minutes over today, but I’ve got work to do.

1:20
Dave Cameron: Thanks for hanging out, everyone.

1:20
Dave Cameron: We’ll do it again next week.





Dave is the Managing Editor of FanGraphs.

11 Comments
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soddingjunkmailmember
6 years ago

RE: “$17M isn’t that much money in MLB these days.”

The average opening day payroll was just under 130M.

$17M is 1/8th of that, give or take. I guess we can quibble about what not that much means, but 1/8th of an average team payroll feels like it’s north of not that much to me.

stever20member
6 years ago

53 guys this year made at least 17 million. 60 made at least 16 million. And considering the entire market is going to get reset after next years fa class- it really won’t be anything at that point.. Total of 3,805,818,532 in salary

now 5 years ago- maybe.. 2012 only 23 guys made at least 17 million. only 53 guys made over 12 million that year. total of 2,802,549,065 in salary

10 years ago- only 5 guys made 17 million. 52 guys made over 10.5 million that year. total of 2,438,926,331 in salary

soddingjunkmailmember
6 years ago
Reply to  stever20

I feel like you’re unintentionally making my point.

53 guys is less than 2 per team. Even if we round up to 2, would you want one of the two highest paid guys on your team to be Wade Davis?

And yes, the money isn’t the same to all teams. $17M isn’t that much for the Yankees or Dodgers. But it’s a whole heck of a lot for many teams, and not to be casually hand waived aside, IMO.

stever20member
6 years ago

21 teams had at least 1 guy making 17 million. 8 teams with at least 3 guys making that. Mets added to that group before the season(they had a guy traded midseason who made that). To the top teams- 17 million isn’t much. 13 teams had over 150 million in salary this year. 17 million for that is about 11.3%. 34 of the 51 guys making that much money started with those 13 teams.
(all numbers from BR)

KJL
6 years ago

@soddingjunkmail

While $17 mil may be 1/8 of the average payroll, pre-arb players are all making close to league minimum, which in MLB terms is basically nothing.

CamdenWarehouse
6 years ago
Reply to  KJL

But is that an amount that, almost by definition, your 6th best pitcher should make?

KJL
6 years ago

Ideally, no. Personally, I wouldn’t get in the habit of paying old relief pitchers.

But I can see how a team, in the current RP market, would overpay for a 1 year deal if they had a glaring need.