Thursday, December 14, 2006
40/40/40 = $140 000 000?
I’m not going to sit here and argue against Alfonso Soriano being a solid player...I’ll even go so far as to say that 41 doubles, 46 homeruns, and 41 stolen bases are impressive one-season totals, and the thought of that power letting loose in windy ol’ Wrigley Field has 55 HR written all over it.
However.
There’s the 67 walks, which is just about double his previous career high, and the .351 on-base percentage that’s just a tad higher than his 2003 total of .338, pathetic for a top-of-the-order hitter regardless of his stolen-base total...which, incidentally, doesn’t matter so much as the 70% SB success rate, not nearly as sexy-looking as that big 41 in the SB column. Oh, oh...and there’s the fact that Soriano is 31 in a month, meaning that he’ll be making in and around $17 mil at the age of 39. A 180-lb slugger who relies on incredible bat speed will, I think, have some trouble generating 40+ HR power past, oh, say 35? 34, even? Especially if he forgets how to lay off that outside slider...
Still, here’s the best part: including all of the above downsides to this signing, it’s actually shaping up to be a bargain.
And that's fucked.
Gil Meche, a journeyman for all intents and purposes, somehow got $55 million off the goddamned Royals for five years of service; basically, he got a million dollars for every win he’s ever had. Dude had a WHIP of 1.43 last year, an ERA of 4.48, and all of 11 wins...and, yeah, we all know how little that last stat matters (except maybe the Hall of Fame committee), but it just looks like they’re throwing money off of balconies in Kansas City. Remember when the Jays signed BJ Ryan and AJ Burnett? All that boolcrap about "small-market" teams needing to overspend? Meche, with that whole nothing going for him, will be raking in the same salary as Burnett, a fireballer with talent to spare. Don’t the Jays look like genii now?
Speaking of the hometown heroes, Toronto actually just extended a contract offer to Vernon Wells, to my complete and utter surprise - for something like Alfonso Soriano money. $18 million annually buys a whole lot of superior centerfielder, but it makes me wish that they had at least given Carlos Delgado a sniff at something more than $7 mil when his contract was up...seven million dollars per year, after just finishing up a contract worth $18 mil/year, was like telling a war hero to go work at Taco Bell once he got home.*
I’ll be appalled if Wells turns down the contract. Remember when the thought of Alex Rodriguez making $25 million a year was an unthinkable faux pas? Now it looks like a goddamned steal.
If, of course, you don’t mind paying a weak-willed mama’s boy to hit homeruns for you.
*That’s right; I flat-out compared a sports-athlete to a decorated, war-proven soldier.
What an ASSHOLE. ¶ 10:25 AM 0 Comments
However.
There’s the 67 walks, which is just about double his previous career high, and the .351 on-base percentage that’s just a tad higher than his 2003 total of .338, pathetic for a top-of-the-order hitter regardless of his stolen-base total...which, incidentally, doesn’t matter so much as the 70% SB success rate, not nearly as sexy-looking as that big 41 in the SB column. Oh, oh...and there’s the fact that Soriano is 31 in a month, meaning that he’ll be making in and around $17 mil at the age of 39. A 180-lb slugger who relies on incredible bat speed will, I think, have some trouble generating 40+ HR power past, oh, say 35? 34, even? Especially if he forgets how to lay off that outside slider...
Still, here’s the best part: including all of the above downsides to this signing, it’s actually shaping up to be a bargain.
And that's fucked.
Gil Meche, a journeyman for all intents and purposes, somehow got $55 million off the goddamned Royals for five years of service; basically, he got a million dollars for every win he’s ever had. Dude had a WHIP of 1.43 last year, an ERA of 4.48, and all of 11 wins...and, yeah, we all know how little that last stat matters (except maybe the Hall of Fame committee), but it just looks like they’re throwing money off of balconies in Kansas City. Remember when the Jays signed BJ Ryan and AJ Burnett? All that boolcrap about "small-market" teams needing to overspend? Meche, with that whole nothing going for him, will be raking in the same salary as Burnett, a fireballer with talent to spare. Don’t the Jays look like genii now?
Speaking of the hometown heroes, Toronto actually just extended a contract offer to Vernon Wells, to my complete and utter surprise - for something like Alfonso Soriano money. $18 million annually buys a whole lot of superior centerfielder, but it makes me wish that they had at least given Carlos Delgado a sniff at something more than $7 mil when his contract was up...seven million dollars per year, after just finishing up a contract worth $18 mil/year, was like telling a war hero to go work at Taco Bell once he got home.*
I’ll be appalled if Wells turns down the contract. Remember when the thought of Alex Rodriguez making $25 million a year was an unthinkable faux pas? Now it looks like a goddamned steal.
If, of course, you don’t mind paying a weak-willed mama’s boy to hit homeruns for you.
*That’s right; I flat-out compared a sports-athlete to a decorated, war-proven soldier.
What an ASSHOLE. ¶ 10:25 AM 0 Comments
