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Originally Posted by REDREAD
That's a good point. However, you can argue that many of those 3.5% of at bats occur in critical situations. Late in the game, often with runners on base. I know people make fun of LaRussa, but there's a reason why he tries to have 3 very effective lefty relievers every year.
A lefty reliever that can consistently get the big out is worth 2 million/year, IMO. Hopefully Merck isn't too old to get the job done, but he's a very welcome addition to the club.
Let me ask you this.. How do you feel about Weathers getting about 1.5 million? If you think that is fair (and I don't recall how you felt), isn't 2 million for a good lefty reliever fair by comparison, as they are certainly more scarce than respectable RH relievers. If you want to argue that Mercker is over the hill, that's a different point.. but let's assume Merck is a good bet to repeat his numbers last year. IMO, that's worth 2 million/year.
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Weathers at 1.5 comes to around $4400 a batter, half of Mercker at 2 million.
Weathers also will appear in 20-25 more games than Mercker.