The New York Mets Blogosphere and Twittersphere was buzzing yesterday after Shin-Soo Choo inked a seven-year deal with the Texas Rangers for $130 million.
At face value, it looks like the Mets got an absolute steal when they signed Curtis Granderson for four years at $60 million. The tweets lit up my Tweetdeck, and posts from other sites started rolling out regarding how much better the deal was for the Mets getting Granderson on the cheap in comparison to the Rangers deal for Choo.
The Mets did spend less money, but I questioned whether the contract was such a great deal for the Mets. It boils down to the Rangers paying a couple million more per year, on average, for a better overall player. The length of the contract is the big difference, but is that the reason why this is considered a steal for the Mets?
I’m not sure Choo’s contract any indication that the #Mets got a steal with Granderson
— Mitch Petanick (@FirstPitchMitch) December 22, 2013
And then this morning I stumbled on to a couple of tweets from Christopher D. Long, an analyst for the San Diego Padres and Houston Rockets, which validated my original thoughts. According to his tweets, the Mets are spending approximately $9.6 million per win in their deal with Granderson. The Rangers are spending just shy of $8 million per win for Choo.
Curtis Granderson – $60m, 7 WAR, 4 years, loss of draft pick at about $10m, 1.05 PV discount. That’s about (60/1.05+10)/7 = $9.6m/win.
— Christopher D. Long (@octonion) December 22, 2013
Choo’s contract looks right around $8m/win. Say 17 WAR, $130m + $17m for loss of pick, 1.1 PV discount factor. (130/1.1 + 17)/17 = $7.95m.
— Christopher D. Long (@octonion) December 22, 2013
Who looks like the better deal now?
