21
2011
Good Stuff From ESPN’s Mark Simon On The Virtues Of Frugality
An article by Craig Lerner
Statistical maven Mark Simon of ESPN New York, has another solid post today, this one looks at a true Mets rarity; being frugal. Let him explain,
This will be the lowest potential payout that the Mets have put forth to free agents in an offseason since committing to only $8.6 million in potential payouts in the 1997-98 offseason.
Since that one, the Mets have made at least one big free agent signing every offseason. From the 1998-99 offseason to the 2009-10 offseason, they signed players to contracts guaranteeing them nearly $800 million, whether it be from the Mets or another team to which they were later dealt (in some cases, for another big contract).
This year will end a streak of 12 straight offseasons in which the Mets signed at least one free agent to a contract with a total value of at least $10 million.
Honestly, that’s a streak I don’t mind breaking after four straight years of some really bad contracts being doled out.
In the following chart, Mark lists each offseason’s top grab for the last 14 years. More often than not, the Mets have gotten burned either because the player was simply not worth it, or because the length of the deal was far too long. The Mets have gotten very little bang for some big-time bucks. Thankfully, we’ll be putting this sorry trend to an end.
Contracts listed are the largest for each season, based on total value at time of the signing.
| Year | Name | Yrs-$ |
|---|---|---|
| 2010-11 | D.J. Carrasco | 2-$2.5M |
| 2009-10 | Jason Bay | 4-$66.0M |
| 2008-09 | Francisco Rodriguez | 3-$37.0M |
| 2007-08 | Luis Castillo | 4-$25.0 |
| 2006-07 | Orlando Hernandez | 2-$12.0M |
| 2005-06 | Billy Wagner | 4-$43.0M |
| 2004-05 | Carlos Beltran | 7-$119.0M |
| 2003-04 | Kaz Matsui | 3-$20.1M |
| 2002-03 | Tom Glavine | 3-$35.0M |
| 2001-02 | Roger Cedeno | 4-$18.0M |
| 2000-01 | Kevin Appier | 4-$42.0M |
| 1999-00 | Todd Zeile | 3-$18.0M |
| 1998-99 | Robin Ventura | 4-$32.0M |
| 1997-98 | John Olerud | 2-$8.0M |
With the continued escalation of out of control salaries in baseball, it’s hard to imagine that our highest paid acquisition will make less than $1.5 million annually. But that’s the price you pay for too many years of the checkbook style of team building. That’s what got us into this mess in the first place. Thanks Omar.
You can also follow Mark Simon on Twitter.
* * * * * * * * * *
Hey on another note, interesting article in Spinner about the Top 50 Guitar Rifts in rock. A real treasure trove of classics, but I totally disagree with their number one. However, I was glad to see this one ranked up near the top. Enjoy!
About the Author: Craig Lerner
I'm a data analyst and researcher for a leading news agency who loves life and is hooked on the Mets. I love following the Amateur Draft and have a particular fondness for the Mets Minor Leagues who I follow each day. Give me a cold beer, a summer day, and a Mets game, and I'm good to go.
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Here is my lesson on the virtues of blowing your load.
Yanks
Bosox
Phillies
Thank you
The greatest thing is that with all of their spending (and all the times they’ve been used by commenters on how a team SHOULD operate), the Yankees rotation is currently CC Sabbathia, AJ (snicker) Burnett (Pffftaahaahahah), Phil Hughes, SERGIO MITRE and some other dude.
Now THAT is a rotation for a $200 million/year team.
(yes I know they will pick up another pitcher)
(YES it will still be a sad sad rotation for MLB’s biggest spenders.)
It might even be worse than you are speculating, if CC pitches like a 300# guy coming off knee surgery, AJ is as bad as last year (and he ain’t no spring chicken) and Mitre pitches like, himself, and the other dude isn’t a stud.
they may be in a worse boat than the Mets, with having to pile up runs if they expect to win! Better equipped to do it of course, but still, fun to see.
yeah, but by spending crazy money every year, they eventually hit enough paydirt to be in contention all of the time and win about 1 in 10 championships. that’s not only a winning formula, it also pays for itself in revenue.
and even if they have a lousy rotation this year ( much better than ours by the way), that lineup still dominates, and they have the best setup closer combo in the game.
Actually Francis the Phillies have not spent on Free Agents until after they had already won the world series.
Before that they built a core of homegrown talent that included 7 players that came up in their system.
It has really only been the last two years where they went out and signed big money players. The rest of their Salary is money spent on keeping guys like Howard, Rollins and the rest of those Home Grown players!
The Yankee spending ways had failed until Steinbrenner got suspended and Gene Michaels was allowed to rebuild the farm system that Steinbrenner had given away like candy to get the Free Agent All Stars he wanted.
Once he got suspended they managed to build a similar young CORE of players that included Jeter, Posada, Pettite. Williams and Rivera. It wasn’t until those guys came up that the free spending ways started working for them again!
Most of their Salary now is tied up in keeping that core (Both Jeter and Rivera were FA this year) In the last few years the Yankees have not bought a team so much as bought a pitching staff. And if you look at that staff as it was listed by Berb you see that Buying a pitching staff isn’t as effective as you might think. I also think the Phillies are going to find this out real soon as well!
Boston also rebuilt the Minors before they started spending. And while their salary is high it also is a product of keeping the guys they developed. They make a big move now and then but you can hardly call what Boston did as Checkbook GMing!
People need to get over the coincidence of Salary and performance. How much you spend does not translate to wins!
How much you WIN though does translate into how much you have to spend to keep that winning team together!
Every year some portion of your roster is going to be a free agent. If you are a winning team then other teams will try to take those players from you by offerring big money. If you want to keep that player you will have to pay him more than you wanted. Your Salary goes up and other players on the team will also want more of the profits that WINNING has brought in!
You need to look no further than the Met years with Bonilla to see that just because you paid for everyone else’s stars doesn’t mean your going to win something!
All the big spenders and winners all built from within before their current successful run!
And as a result they paid more to keep and aquire new players to stay there.
You spend money to MAINTAIN a winning team but it does not work to change a losing team into a winner!
You need that young and productive CORE to build around and we do not appear to have that unless Beltran Reyes, Wright Davis and Pelfrey can play to championship level. And neither has shown they can yet!
I keep hoping this is the year but it may be a year too late. Even if they have a good season Reyes and Beltran will probably be trade bait unless they come out of the gate running and leading the division!
i agree with your quote …
You spend money to MAINTAIN a winning team but it does not work to change a losing team into a winner!
that was actually omar’s strategy from 2007-2010, but it didn’t pan out for him. i guess he spent on the wrong guys.
i know there are plenty of examples of low budget winners out there, but i’m pretty sure that the top 5 spenders are more likely to make the playoffs than the rest of the league.
Two ways you can look at what Omar did.
One way to view it is he didn’t spend enough in any one year except maybe his first. He pretty much bought himself into competition that first year but did not have enough pitching! He then added batting (Delgado) but never went and got that HOT ARM to complement his Ace. He relied on Aces who had injury issues and those issues bit him in the ass. What was the common problem with both Pedro and Johan? Getting on the field healthy!
Phillies were in a similar position, making the playoffs and not winning a WS until they realized this and went after a guy like Lee! Then with two top starters they managed to win! They have four now I think the simple law of averages will turn one or two of those 4 into Mortals!
The other side of the coin is Omar spent too much and didn’t rebuild first. And it is very valid since the only core we had was two players or three if you include Pelfrey. That is really not enough you need to have at least 3 or 4 everyday starters in your core. One or two pitchers on top of that!
Omar didn’t have that so tried to buy himself some time. And it wasn’t enough.
You can’t really say he did not develop the farm though. Davis, Thole, Neise, Gee, and Mejia when added to Reyes and Wright has the potential to be the next great CORE if Neise takes the next step and Gee and Mejia can learn to be consistent ML Pitchers.
He just ran out of time because of two injury plagued years that resulted in disaster and a desire to let some of those purchases expire to make room for the young core to replace them.
Omar believed in those kids but many here do not. I believe they could be good with proper coaching and opportunity but time will tell.
Bottomline is that you could not afford to buy a team without that young core of players to keep the rest of payroll down. And just because a guy is going to get a contract worth 200 Mil doesn’t mean he is going to make you a winner or that he is really even worth that amount!
And even when the players available ARE worth the money, There will never be enough to change the fortunes of a team that can’t compete already on it’s own.
There was only one major ace available in FA this year. I don’t think there were any really Big Bats available either, some good hitters but Werth is no where near the league of an A-Rod yet he got paid like he was!
You want to buy All Stars you can do it without hurting the Farm but it will cost money. The REALLY good guys though require a trade. Lee and Halliday were both TRADED for. But you can’t go doing that until you already developed and promoted the core you need for that to work!
small point, but the Phils went to and won the WS with only 1 good SP, and that was a young guy (hamels). they added Lee for the 2009 run. Made the series, just didn’t win it.
it’s a very valid point. the 2008 phils are a great example of being able to win it all without a killer staff. the 2005 white sox and 2006 cards were also kind of weak. so were the 2002 angels. i’m sure i could go on.
i bet this kind of talk is rampant on yankee chatrooms.
the 2010 giants show that you don’t need a good lineup, either. but if one area is weak, you have to compensate with something.
i keep telling myself that omar’s #1 problems were jerry and hojo.
if i’m right, playoffs here we come !!!
This team isn’t a mess. Why does everyone keep saying that?
I think this team can compeat for the wildcard, everyone just has to stay healthy and I think we have a very good shot. I wish they would have spent just a little more money on free agents but this is still a GOOD team.
Vinny you’re right,
In hindsight and I know this sounds like a second guess but at the time they didn’t sign Takahashi I agreed with it figuring they’d sign some better players.
Looking back they could have signed Taka for that 8 milllion by borrowing 4 million against next year, using 4 million from this year to keep him then give him more save opportunities so K-Rod did not have that vesting option of 17.5 million kick in.
Takahashi did a very good job in relief last year and can start too. The Mets jobs is to win games and not give K-Rod “his work” he so falsely claims he needs. Now I know why.
By spending an extra 4 million this year they save 13.5 million but preventing the vesting option from kicking in – and they get some left handed starts in to boot too. Just a theory.
there is a major flaw in the logic. At the time the Mets could sign Taka, he was asking for 3 years (and I believe more money). He did not end up getting that much, but he couldn’t know that until he hit the open market (meaning the mets wre shut out).
Now, would he have signed for 2/8 if the mets put it on the table? Maybe, but no way we can know that.
But this is not the case of the Mets refusing to meet or beat an offer on the table.
as to K rod, if they want to parcel out save ops, they can find someone else to do it. Not like Taka was a known closer! Give Parnell a couple, or someone else that (like taka did) rises to the top.
the real key is to only use K Rod in save ops. Not to finish games to get work. If he needs that, let him have the 7th inning of a blow out!
That’s true too always – maybe Parnell shows he can do the job and the Mets can save 13.5 million that way.
we need ST to start.
right now, all this discussion is based on last year results. But, no guarantee that guys will have as good (or bad) of a year, and we don’t know who will step up now.
going into last ST, no one ever heard of Taka, or expected anything out of him. So who knows which guys has that kind of impact this year?
As a matter of fact we haven’t been talking much about Parnell lately, at least I haven’t seen much of him mentioned recently.
I’m very interested in seeing ANY kid with untapped potential who throws 100mph. He’s another very interesting player to watch come spring training!
fans always like to talk about the new guys at this point of th eyear. The carry overs? Old news!
parnell blows everyone away for about a week, and then his velocity drops to 95 and he gets beaten to a pulp. maybe he just needs more rest between outings, i really don’t know.
Or maybe because he’s…..kind of new and hasn’t developed yet?
That could be a reason.
I agree. A lot of the whining stems from a lot of the media types that love to bash the Mets, and can’t bother to do any real in depth analysis (or hell, think for themselves). After the last couple of years, it is just too easy for them to pile on the Mets. And keep in mind, most of them are about generating traffic, and riling up Met fans is a good way to do that.
still, looking at the overall roster objectively, certainly they have the talent potential to be a playoff (at least WC) contender. No, the rotation is not as “sexy” as Phillies, but they have what could be on of, if not the, best offenses in the league. Combine that with a rotation that should be at minimum servicable, and possibly quite good, and they can stay in the hunt even without Johan.
of course it will require a reasonable amount of good health, and guys playing up to their potential and/or career norms. But, you can say that about every tema in the league. You think the Braves are some kind of unstoppable dynamo with endless depth?
You know why they are saying that?
because they don’t do more than a arbtrary glance at the record and didn’t bother to look at WHY they had that record.
The team has been awful because it hasn’t been on the field and in the trainers room!
We did not start our entire starting roster even ONCE last year.
Our starting roster consists of:
Reyes (out early)
Beltran (Out first half)
Wright (only uninjured major starter!)
Bay (Out second half of season)
Those 4 guys never made it into a single game together!
If Beltran is truly healthy,
If Reyes is too
If Bay is as well and hits to average
If Wright cuts down on the Ks
If Davis hits
If Thole hits too
If Pagan continues his performance
If 2B manages more than mendoza line
If Pelfrey doesn’t crumble under the Ace pressure
If Neise stays consistent
If Dickey repeats
If Mejia learns how to be a starter
There is no reaon why this team can’t win it all….
IF!
Thats why people are so down on the team because of all those Ifs.
Sandy is looking at all those IFs as well and decided to let it play while he gets the franchise in order.
If those Ifs don’t pan out then he will start making those trades to get as much as he can and let walk some who are not tradeable.
And then everyone will see what a truly BAD team looks like even when it is all healthy and on the field!
The rebuild will begin!
look at what the red sox did with their injuries last year.
if i had to guess why they were able to do it, i’d say because they had a real manager, and a real pitching staff. but that’s just me.
It looks like from this list Orelud was underpaid for those two years. Ventura and Beltran about right and every one else overpaid slightly to never should have gotten a contract offer.
The scarty thing about that list is that contracts like Rodriguez and Wagner hide other horrendous deals like Ollie P.
I have no problem giving Rodriguez his contract than Perez his contract. NEVER should have resigned Ollie. At least Rodriguez was giving us something good until he hurt himself.
and he still has to earn the big payday.
2 great guitar riffs not on that list are:
The Cult of Personality by Living Colour – the solo is KILLER and reeks of intensity and attitude – quite possibly my favorite ever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xxgRUyzgs0
Also Billy Squier’s Lonely is the Night is KICK A$$ to the ultimate! Rock at it’s funkiest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKlu3A3BBgE
Neither are mentioned and both are better than most on that list
Great call on Living Colour. That song blows me away every time. I’m also a pretty big fan of anything John Petrucci does. If anyone digs epic guitar work, Dream Theater is the band to enjoy. Dig this riff http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgKHimdfNrY. It really kicks in at 1:26. Great musicians with time signatures that mathematicians haven’t discovered yet.
Oh, I’ve been familiar with Dream Theater since around 2003. I like some of their stuff, my fav being Fatal Tragedy and I know they have outstanding musicanship and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE odd time signatures too (thus why my favorite music is Gabriel/Hackett Genesis of the 70s) and songs like Robbery, Assault, & Battery
But I never clicked with Dream Theater’s writing that’s why i didn’t really get into them too much.
I forgot to say I think sometimes they would get TOO crazy with guitar solos and while the musician ship and talent is amazing I would have preferred they stay more within a song instead of going off on long tangents. I actually feel Fatal Tragedy could have been better if they cut down the guitar solo.
As lyricists, they leave a lot to be desired. But I’m more of a musician than a poet, anyway, so I couldn’t really care less. So long as the voice isn’t irritating and obtrusive, they can say whatever they want. The long tangents is a matter of personal preference, I guess. They’re so good, they can play however long they want, as far as I’m concerned. But I know of others with your opinion. It’s valid.
There were quite a few on that lis that did not belong. As far as guitar rifts go they should have also included Blue Oyster Cult – Dont Fear The Reaper and Tull – Aqualung. I would not have included Le Freak and would have thrown in an oldie like Summertime Blues by Eddie Cochran. This purely my opinon, but if you’re only gonna pick one Zep song for its rift, it should have been Whole Lotta Love.
agreed on whole lotta love.
Not one Dimebag Darrel mention in that list?
Pantera got robbed! lol