Now that the Hot Stove season has come to and end, here are five of the worst signings I believe went down this Winter.
Matt Holliday – Cardinals 7 years, $120MM – Everybody loved this signing, but I laughed my ass off when I first caught wind of it. Already 30-years old and in a 3-year decline (’07 1.012 OPS, ’08 .947 OPS, ’09 .909 OPS), I was overjoyed that the Mets passed on this ticking time-bomb. Can you imagine having to pay him $52 million dollars from ages 34-36?
Brett Myers – Astros 1 year, $5.1MM – Maybe I’m just a little biased for this former Phillie, but what in God’s name would possess the Astros to lay out this kind of dough on this meat-head? Infinitely better pitchers signed for much less this offseason. Batters scorched him for a .869 OPS last season and his velocity has declined for three straight years. I was keeping my fingers crossed that he’d resign with the Phils.
Brandon Lyon – Astros 3 years, $15MM – I don’t know what they put in their water in Houston these days, but the FHA should investigate. Where does Lyon come off getting a sweet commitment like this? This has burn written all over it, and with the latest news that he will be behind in spring training because of a cyst, Houston you have a problem.
Ivan Rodriguez – Nationals 2 years, $6MM – Sorry, I’m not buying into all that jazz about how Pudge was needed because he works so well with pitchers. He’s in steep decline, and is just a stop gap until Flores comes back in May. The 38-year old future Hall of Famer had the lowest OPS (.664) of his career last season and has a .290 OBP over the last three seasons. You don’t pay $6 million bucks for production like that, especially if you’re cash-strapped like the Nats. The worst team in the NL will once again claim that honor in 2010. Exhale, Mets fans.
Ben Sheets – Oakland 1 year, $10MM – I would rather have Kelvim Escobar who is two years removed from surgery than Sheets who is only one year removed from his date with a scalpel. Escobar’s best season of 18 wins in 2007 trumps Sheets who has never won more than 13 games in a season. Take away the AL/NL differential and their career ERA’s are identical. I’d rather have Escobar for $1.2MM and pocket the additional $8.8 million smackeroos.
Other stinkeroos included Jason Kendall ($6MM), Adrian Beltre ($10MM) and Fernando Rodney ($11MM).
Look for my top five signings of the offseason tomorrow. Could a Met be lurking in there somehow? Hmm.. You’ll have to wait and find out…
