Best and Worst Free Agent Signing of the offseason

[mth123]

With Spring Training right around the corner, thought I'd throw my opinion out there on the best and worst deals of the off-season. I'm sure many will disagree, but most of the highly touted deals of the off-season look the worst from here.

Best

1. Ryan Madson - Basically a one year $6 Million deal for a top closer. If Madson does well, the Reds probably exercise the option and avoid the buy-out, while Madson opts out for a long term deal. If Madson tanks or is injured, the Reds can opt-out for $2.5 Million and avoid long term damage.

2. Aaron Hill - The D-backs get a 2 year $11 Million deal for a decent defender who has 20 HR pop.

3. Josh Willingham - The Twins get a better hitter than the guy he's replacing (Michael Cuddyer) for $10 Million less over the same 3 year period.

4. Hiroki Kuroda - 1 Year for $10 Million for a solid middle of the rotation starter who fits the exact need of the team and won't block the high end kids on the way.

5. Octavio Dotel - Tigers fill the middle of the pen with quality for 1 year at $3 Million.

Worst

1. Yu Darvish - $100 Million+ for a guy who has yet to retire a major league caliber bat.

2. Jonathon Papelbon - $50 Million for a closer in a saturated market. Way too much.

3. Albert Pujols - Will be ok for the first few years, but will look awful in the last few years of the deal.

4. Jimmy Rollins - A really good player who is clearly on the down side. 3 years $33 Million seems about double what he'd be worth.

5. Jose Reyes - 6 years $106 Million for a guy who has trouble staying on the field. Signing a guy with his skillset and his history of leg problems seems a lot like throwing big money at a a pitcher with a bad arm.

Fire away.

[LegallyMinded]

Best

1. Ryan Madson - Basically a one year $6 Million deal for a top closer. If Madson does well, the Reds probably exercise the option and avoid the buy-out, while Madson opts out for a long term deal. If Madson tanks or is injured, the Reds can opt-out for $2.5 Million and avoid long term damage.

4. Hiroki Kuroda - 1 Year for $10 Million for a solid middle of the rotation starter who fits the exact need of the team and won't block the high end kids on the way.


Worst

2. Jonathon Papelbon - $50 Million for a closer in a saturated market. Way too much.

5. Jose Reyes - 6 years $106 Million for a guy who has trouble staying on the field. Signing a guy with his skillset and his history of leg problems seems a lot like throwing big money at a a pitcher with a bad arm.

Agreed on Madson, Kuroda and Papelbon. For best, I'd probably add the Cards' Carlos Beltran signing, and for worst I'd suggest the Rockie's signing Michael Cuddyer.

My biggest disagreement with your list is probably the Reyes deal. Obviously he's had health issues, but he's been on the DL because of a calf injury, a thyroid gland issue and a hamstring injury. It doesn't seem like he's consistently hurting himself the in the same way or that he has a chronic problem with the same body part. As such, it might be premature to think he'll necessarily miss significant time in the coming years. Also, he's only 28 years old, so he's in the prime of his career, and even when he does miss a significant portion of a season-- as in 2011-- he's capable of near MVP-level production. Finally, his contract is fairly back-loaded, so part of the cost to the Marlins will be diminished by inflation. All in all, I wouldn't say it was the best signing of the off season or anything, but I think the Marlins made a great deal.

[mth123]

Agreed on Madson, Kuroda and Papelbon. For best, I'd probably add the Cards' Carlos Beltran signing, and for worst I'd suggest the Rockie's signing Michael Cuddyer.

My biggest disagreement with your list is probably the Reyes deal. Obviously he's had health issues, but he's been on the DL because of a calf injury, a thyroid gland issue and a hamstring injury. It doesn't seem like he's consistently hurting himself the in the same way or that he has a chronic problem with the same body part. As such, it might be premature to think he'll necessarily miss significant time in the coming years. Also, he's only 28 years old, so he's in the prime of his career, and even when he does miss a significant portion of a season-- as in 2011-- he's capable of near MVP-level production. Finally, his contract is fairly back-loaded, so part of the cost to the Marlins will be diminished by inflation. All in all, I wouldn't say it was the best signing of the off season or anything, but I think the Marlins made a great deal.

Calf and hamstring. Leg trouble has begun. His legs are his game the same way a pitcher's arm is his game. Add the whole issue created with HanRam and it seems a bad signing to me. I just don't see Reyes being a top player past age 30. When he loses half a step, he'll be a different player on offense and defense. 6 years is too long. I'd guess he'll spend the last half of his deal as a second baseman who hits in the 7 hole.

Not sold on Beltran either. He's good, but its a lot of money for a guy who has trouble staying on the field. Its OK, since it was Pujols money, but not a great signing IMO.

[Captain Hook]

Calf and hamstring. Leg trouble has begun. His legs are his game the same way a pitcher's arm is his game. Add the whole issue created with HamRam and it seems a bad signing to me. I just don't see Reyes being a top player past age 30. When he loses half a step, he'll be a different player on offense and defense. 6 years is too long. I'd guess he'll spend the last half of his deal as a second baseman who hits in the 7 hole.

Not sold on Beltran either. He's good, but its a lot of money for a guy who has trouble staying on the field. Its OK, since it was Pujols money, but not a great signing IMO.

I agree with your opinion on Beltran but Reyes should be ok.He'll only be a little older then Rollins is right now when his deal is up and he should still be going strong.Injuries are a concern for everyone and while Reyes might have a slightly higher risk I believe his contract reflect it.I think he could've got more but signed early just to get it done.

I also consider Fielders contract one of the worse for the same reasons you gave for Alberts.And also because no one else was going to pay that much.

[mth123]

I agree with your opinion on Beltran but Reyes should be ok.He'll only be a little older then Rollins is right now when his deal is up and he should still be going strong.Injuries are a concern for everyone and while Reyes might have a slightly higher risk I believe his contract reflect it.I think he could've got more but signed early just to get it done.

I also consider Fielders contract one of the worse for the same reasons you gave for Alberts.And also because no one else was going to pay that much.

I considered Fielder, but at his age, I think he'll still be productive when his deal is up. Maybe not elite productin like now, but he shouldn't be cpmpletely over the hill and on the verge of retirement like Albert. Fielder's game doesn't depend on him staying fast like a Reyes. Maybe he'll go the way of Adam Dunn or Richie Sexson in his early 30's, but he's a better all around hitter than those guys.

[RedsBaron]

I considered Fielder, but at his age, I think he'll still be productive when his deal is up. Maybe not elite productin like now, but he shouldn't be cpmpletely over the hill and on the verge of retirement like Albert. Fielder's game doesn't depend on him staying fast like a Reyes. Maybe he'll go the way of Adam Dunn or Richie Sexson in his early 30's, but he's a better all around hitter than those guys.

Fielder is the first contract I thought of as ranking as the worst. We will know how it turns out but it isn't a deal I would have made.

[LegallyMinded]

I considered Fielder, but at his age, I think he'll still be productive when his deal is up. Maybe not elite productin like now, but he shouldn't be cpmpletely over the hill and on the verge of retirement like Albert. Fielder's game doesn't depend on him staying fast like a Reyes. Maybe he'll go the way of Adam Dunn or Richie Sexson in his early 30's, but he's a better all around hitter than those guys.

What really differentiates the Fielder and Pujols signings in my opinion is the defensive value the players bring. With Pujols, you get a quality defender, whether you're measuring him with advanced stats like UZR or more traditional qualifications like gold glove voting. Fielder, on the other hand, rates very poorly in the field, and, perhaps even worse, his presence shifts Miguel Cabrera to 3B. The Tigers are giving away a lot of value by putting Prince and Miggy at the corners, and I think that's going to make it much harder for the Fielder contract to work out.

[Captain Hook]

nm

[*BaseClogger*]

1. Yu Darvish - $100 Million+ for a guy who has yet to retire a major league caliber bat.

There are a handful of major league caliber hitters in Japan so this is not exactly accurate...

[mth123]

There are a handful of major league caliber hitters in Japan so this is not exactly accurate...

If they were still major league caliber, they' wouldn't be in Japan.

[GADawg]

If they were still major league caliber, they' wouldn't be in Japan.

now that's funny....and true imo.

just to add my 2 cents I'm not a Fielder fan but I think that was great signing all things considered....especially since it took his big butt out of the NL Central.

[757690]

I would add the D-Back's Jason Kubel signing to a $15M two-year deal, to the worst list, especially when they already have Parra who is better.

[mth123]

I would add the D-Back's Jason Kubel signing to a $15M two-year deal, to the worst list, especially when they already have Parra who is better.

Certainly honorable mention of bad deals. Probably not as bad as the Coco Crisp deal.

[Vottomatic]

Because of their ages, I think the Fielder deal is better than the Pujols deal. Fielder is a Vegan, and despite his size, is fully in tune with his health. I don't see him ballooning up in weight like many expect because of his father.

[Captain Hook]

Because of their ages, I think the Fielder deal is better than the Pujols deal. Fielder is a Vegan, and despite his size, is fully in tune with his health. I don't see him ballooning up in weight like many expect because of his father.

Despite Fielder being fully in tune with his health he's already fat!