The 2008 All Free Agent Bargain Team
For most of the past week, I’ve been looking at some guys who I would target as potential free agent bargains this winter. Wrapping it up, let’s take a look at the All Free Agent Bargain Team, position by position:
Catcher: Dave Ross
First Base: Ben Broussard
Second Base: Orlando Hudson
Shortstop: Rafael Furcal
Third Base: Joe Crede
Left Field: Rocco Baldelli
Center Field: Ryan Langerhans
Right Field: Juan Rivera
Starting Pitcher: Derek Lowe
Starting Pitcher: Randy Johnson
Relief Pitcher: Jeremy Affeldt
There’s actually a pretty decent crop of buy low opportunities this winter. No matter what your team needs, there’s a couple of options that won’t cost an arm and a leg. From pitchers to put your team over the top, middle infielders to add both offense and defense, or guys with some power who can turn on a fastball, smart GMs will be stocking their roster with these guys over the winter, and reaping the rewards in 2009.
Dave is the Managing Editor of FanGraphs.
The Nationals should just sign all of them and make a new team! They would be better than last year….
It’ll be interesting to see which teams sign those guys and for how much.
I’m not sure how well Lowe fits onto that list. He is coming off a great year but he is going to turn 36 next season, so he could start to decline any time. If he gets a contract that lines up with the numbers he has been putting up, he could get much more than he ends up being worth to a team, especially when he leaves the pitchers haven he has been in the past couple years.
So you’re saying that CC and Tex aren’t going to be bargains?
In all seriousness though, I’ve never understood your love or Jeff Sullivan’s love for Ben Broussard. The man doesn’t walk much, and he might as well have a hamburger for a hand when it comes to fielding. With all the 1b bargains out there, I’m sure there is one better than Broussard.
Sorry if my last comment seemed a bit harsh. After just now seeing the Mike Jacobs thread, the last thing I want to do is start something about first basemen.
Yeah, that Jacobs thread has gotten way out of hand. It’s as if a ton of meatheads joined the site today. I have never seen any of those guys comment on any other articles before today. Anyway, I don’t see Lowe as a bargain. Not that he won’t be good, it’s just that i feel he is going to get some 3-5 year deal at 15 million per. I think he will live up to his contract but not be a bargain. I think Randy Johnson is going to be the biggest bargain on that list. He’s still a damn good pitcher and is worth at least 13-14 million annually.
I thought i remembered reading an article on FanGraphs saying Rafael Furcal was someone teams should avoid. I think he’s a really good player but he put huge #s in a very small sample size this year and i think he might get more money than he deserves as a result
Why is Baldelli considered a bargain? He can’t field a full game because the exhaustion from his mitochondrial disease. He’s essentially a DH and a 5th outfielder, at best. I wish the man the best, though.
Speaking of the Nats, does anyone know of a good sabermetric-centered Nats blog?
Dave, did I miss the article on Hudson?
I think his fielding has declined a bunch. His combined STATS/BIS zone ratings have been mediocre the past couple years (+5 runs last year, -6 runs this year) and Sean has him projected at +3 runs (Utley and Ellis still elite at about +15 runs).
Call his bat average (slightly above OPS+ wise recently, but there’s aging and NL pitching to consider) and his glove average for a 2B and he’s basically average overall. Sure, that’s worth $10MM these days, but I doubt he signs for less than that.
Hudson’s bat at his position is far from average, that cannot be ignored.
Hudson has had a wOBA around .365 the last three years. He had the 6th highest wOBA of all 2B in 2008. As a GM, I’d be more worried about the contract length because he’s 30. I wouldn’t do more than 2 years, because his defense seems to be falling fast.
My mistake, Hudson actually ranks 7th in wOBA if you include Fontenot.
Dave, I’d like to see the dollar/years you think the players will sign (or maybe should sign) for. Esp. in regards to Furcal.
I don’t think all of these guys will be bargains. Lowe is probably going to get 15-16 million per year. He’s already been tied to the Yankees and Red Sox in rumors, so he won’t be cheap.
Crede, Hudson, and Furcal are the best players on the market at their respective positions. Whether any will be a bargain is a good question.
Yes, a Fontenot reference!
Lowe does not equal bargain…Furcal and Hudson won’t be either. Crede could be, and it would be even better if the team could put in the opt out clause if he goes on the DL because of his back again.
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