Archive for Jason Bartlett

After destroying the internets with the title on my last post about Jason Bartlett (Break the Reimold as it were), it’s only fitting that I follow it up with a title just as putrid. That’s not to say, however, that I don’t think the Padres were acting rationally when they signed their new shortstop to a two-year, $11 million contract that buys out his last year of arbitration and his first year of free agency. It may not have been a big-red-letter signing – instead, it could possibly be as solid as this title was bad.

Year one should come at about a 20% discount given the structure of salary arbitration, so this contract is sort of the same as valuing Bartlett as about a $12.2 million player over two years. Look at Bartlett’s six-year career, and you’ll see that only once has he failed to live up to being a player worth about six million a year. He’s managed better than 1.8 WAR every year… except last year.

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It’s looking like the Rays will trade Jason Bartlett to the Orioles for Nolan Reimold, and judging from RJ Anderson’s early tweets, the reception in Tampa will be positive.

The reasons for trading Bartlett are clear. This will be his last year of team control, his defense seems to be fading, and he’s coming off of his worst season since he became a regular. Even if one of those things weren’t true, the team also has Reid Brignac coming up behind him. Brignac’s defensive numbers get an incomplete, his plate discipline stats (6.1% walk rate, 25.6% strikeout rate) aren’t very impressive, and the knock is that he can’t hit lefties. Then again, his .214 wOBA against lefties has only come in 74 major league PAs, his defense seemed strong in 2010, and there’s a chance for more power with Brignac. All of this may be moot – Brignac is under team control for another five years and if his defense can be scratch or better, he’s a valuable piece.

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With the Tampa Bay Rays facing a budget crunch and possessing a home-grown prospect (Reid Brignac) capable of similar production at a fraction of the cost, shortstop Jason Bartlett figures to open the 2011 season in a new city. It’s possible that the Rays non-tender the 31-year-old, but it’s more likely that Tampa finds a trade partner. Bartlett’s name has been tied at various times to the Orioles, Nationals, Giants, Cardinals and Padres. What sort of trade value does Bartlett have?

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