The 2009 APBMFE Team

One of the most interesting aspects of transactions, for me at least, involves finding out how much money certain teams will give to others in order to unload the player. For instance, the Orioles were realistically only able to get rid of Ramon Hernandez by sending a cool $2 mil to the Reds in addition to his services. We see this sort of thing happen all the time, making it somewhat commonplace in the business of baseball.

Last year, over at StatSpeak, I took a look at the players who would earn a pretty penny from their former employers. With pitchers and catchers due to report in just under two weeks, it seemed appropriate to post the second installment of the series: The 2009 All Paid By My Former Employer Team. Some of the players no longer play major league baseball, but find their way onto the roster to fill up positions.

C:  Ramon Hernandez    $2.0 mil  Orioles
C:  Dave Ross          $375K     Reds
1B: Scott Spezio       $100k     Cardinals
2B: Pablo Ozuna        $200K     White Sox
SS: Juan Castro        $100K     Reds
3B: Mike Lamb          $3.1 mil  Twins
OF: Andruw Jones       $5.0 mil  Dodgers ($16 mil from 2010-14)
OF: Jay Gibbons        $6.2 mil  Orioles

Okay, so we don’t have a perfect alignment, and with just two outfielders, it would be very tough for Jones and Gibbons to succeed defensively. Dave Ross seems like the Russell Branyan-type who can play 1B and 3B, but so far he only has experience behind the plate. Had he been able to play first, Spezio could move to the outfield and we would have a team of eight hitters assembled. They might not compete but that is a whole different story. How about the pitchers?

SP: Jason Marquis      $875K      Cubs
SP: Esteban Loaiza     $375K      Dodgers
SP: Matt Morris        $1.0 mil   Pirates
RP: Oscar Villareal    $1.6 mil   Astros
RP: Scott Schoeneweis  $1.6 mil   Mets
RP: Mike Stanton       $500k      Reds

Interesting to note that the Reds have three players on this list, and the Orioles have two. Jay Gibbons will earn the most money from his former employer next season, at $6.2 mil. Kind of wacky given that he hasn’t played since August 2007. Andruw Jones contract made headlines this offseason but he actually comes in second place to Gibbons at an estimated $5 mil owed this season.

Morris, Stanton, and Loaiza are all done, and in terms of effectiveness, so too is Villareal. Marquis posted slightly below average WAR marks the last two seasons and Schoeneweis is still serviceable as a lefty specialist. This team would not frighten anyone else, but they might be able to give Dave’s Freely Available Talent team a run for its money.