Big contract players do not necessarily mean that they’ll produce monstrous numbers that reflect their salaries.
In the landmark baseball film Moneyball, Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) described his team as the kind that is situated well beneath tons of crap. Of course, he’s talking about the dire financial situation of the Oakland A’s. So what did they do? They got players who aren’t expensive home run hitters but rather cheap players who effectively get on base. Cheap as it may be, it worked well for Oakland.
What it also shows is that money does not always constitute success. You know, like how
Carl Crawford fared after the Boston Red Sox gifted him a contract big enough to fund his own space program.
Conversely, there are also bargain guys whose salaries can easily be mistaken as A-Rod’s tip to the bartender but deliver the goods in a true bang-for-the-buck manner.
MOFOBALLERS
Carl Crawford
2012 Season Numbers
Salary: $19M | Home Runs: 3 | Cost per Home Run: $6.5M
Back in 2010, many were surprised when the Boston Red Sox signed free agent Carl Crawford in a seven-year, $142 million contract. The former Ray wasted no time in frustrating Red Sox Nation by batting .137 in his first 12 games. Fast forward to the 2012regular season, Crawford continued to be a white elephant for the Red Sox by playing only a total of 31 games due to a wrist injury. Moreover, Crawford only managed to hit three home runs that season. Surely not the way Boston’s front office would like to spend $19M that year – an amount of money close enough to pay the entire roster of the Houston Astros this year ($21.6 million).
Vernon Wells
2012 Season Numbers
Salary: $21M | Home Runs: 11 | Cost per Home Run: $1.9M
Vernon Wells owns one of the most talked about, if not infamous, baseball contracts in recent history. That’s after he inked a seven-year agreement to play for the Toronto Blue Jays at a cost of $126 million in 2006. What everyone knows now is that it was a monumental mistake for Toronto and a great heist maneuver by Wells’ agent. In 2011, he was traded to the Los Angeles Angels who then committed into two-years of burdening themselves with Wells’ loaded contract which costs more than $47 million in 2011 and 2012, the year when Wells registered an eyesore line of .230/ .279/ .403 and just 11 homers to complete yet another frustrating season. And did we mention that he made a cool $21 million out of it?
Alex Rodriguez
2012 Season Numbers
Salary: $29M | Home Runs: 18 | Cost per Home Run: $1.6M
The evil empire, the team who have a bottomless bank account, and a General Manager’s name (Brian Cashman) to match it once signed Alex Rodriguez to a hefty and lengthy $275 million, 10-year contract sometime in 2007. To put that into perspective, that is almost equal to the combined payroll of the Pirates, A’s, Rays, Marlins, and Astros this season. After signing that contract, Rodriguez hit 54 home runs with a 1.067 OPS. Sweet! But that was then, nowadays the only things you’ll hear about A-Rod are not the crisp sounds of his bat hitting balls bound for the bleachers but rumors of the Yankees finding possible ways to dump him. Amazingly, he is still yet to play this season and his last two years produced lowly numbers of 16 and 18 home runs for 2011 and 2012, respectively.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Jayson Werth
2012 Season Numbers
Salary: $13M | Home Runs: 5 | Cost per Home Run: $2.6M
Ryan Howard
2012 Season Numbers
Salary: $20M | Home Runs: 14 | Cost per Home Run: $1.4M
MONEYBALLERS
Edwin Encarnacion
2012 Season Numbers
Salary: $3.5M | Home Runs: 42 | Cost per Home Run: $83,333
While the Blue Jays had that big blunder of signing Vernon Wells in 2006, they also have Edwin Encarnacion on the other end of the spectrum. Before Toronto signed Encarnacion to a three-year, $29 million extension last year — which meant paying the slugger $8 million this season – Encarnacion only got $3.5 million in 2012. We say ONLY because the Dominican hit a mind-boggling 42 homers that season. A big surprise since he had not hit more than 30 homers in any season of his then seven-year career. Is it starting to sound a lot like Joey Bautista’s story? Encarnacion’s 42 bombs last season was fourth best in the American League – just behind Miguel Cabrera’s 44 and Josh Hamilton’s and Curtis Granderson’s 43.
Mike Trout
2012 Season Numbers
Salary: $500,000 | Home Runs: 30 | Cost per Home Run: $16,666
Mike Trout’s performance last year was so good that baseball pundits from all over the nation were actually choosing him as the American League MVP instead of Miguel Cabrera, who won MLB’s first Triple Crown since 1967. Under a rookie contract that only paid him $500,000 last season, the rookie sensation topped the AL in WAR (10.7) which was the primary go-to-stat of people arguing his MVP candidacy. Also, he was in the top five of the following statistical categories: Runs (129 -- 1st), Batting Average (.326 – 2nd), and OPS (.963 – 2nd). Don’t forget his 30 homers which tied him for second in the Los Angeles Angels’ home run rankings behind Albert Pujols (32).
Chris Davis
2012 Season Numbers
Salary: $488,000 | Home Runs: 33| Cost per Home Run: $14,787
It’s safe to say that Chris Davis’ performance last year was a preview of what he can do this season. From 2009 to 2011, Davis hit a total of 32 home runs before hulking out 33 homers in 2012. Not bad for a player who got paid a paltry $488,000. For comparison’s sake, Robinson Cano also hit 33 dingers in 2012 but was paid roughly $13.5 million more than Davis!
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Mark Trumbo
2012 Season Numbers
Salary: $500,000 | Home Runs: 32 | Cost per Home Run: $15,625
Josh Reddick
2012 Season Numbers
Salary: $485,000 | Home Runs: 32 | Cost per Home Run: $15,156
Giancarlo Stanton
2012 Season Numbers
Salary: $480,000 | Home Runs: 37 | Cost per Home Run: $12,972
