Saturday, December 21, 2013

Hot Stove Update: Choo Choo Stops in Texas

In a not terribly surprising development, Shin-Soo Choo signed a contract to play for the Texas Rangers for 7 years/$130 M.  Perhaps the most interesting thing about this contract is it is for $10 M less than he reportedly turned down from the Yankees.  Just for fun, let's look at the contracts for the top 3 FA OF's this offseason:

Hunter Pence 5 years/$90 M.  Pence has accumulated a total of 24.5 WAR over his last 7 MLB seasons for an average of 3.5 WAR/Season. 2013 WAR 5.4.

Jacoby Ellsbury 7 years/$140 M.  Ellsbury has accumulated a total of 22.4 WAR over his last 6 MLB seasons for an average of 3.8 WAR although he had that one stupendous year of 9.1 WAR which accounts for almost half the total.  2013 WAR 5.8.

Shin-Soo Choo  7 years/$130 M.  Choo has accumulated a total of 22.8 WAR over his 6 full MLB seasons for an average of 3.8 WAR.  2013 WAR 5.2

All 3 players had very similar production over the course of their careers and in their most recent season.  The Giants signed Hunter Pence for 2 years/$50 M less than Ellsbury and for 2 years/$40 M less than Choo.

I do not expect ballpark change to be a factor with Choo as the stadiums in both Texas and Cincinnati are quite hitter friendly.

Cincinnati GM Walt Jocketty reiterated that Billy Hamilton is the Reds projected starting CF for 2014 which has major fantasy implications as he will be an elite base-stealing threat, but may be a liability in other offensive categories.

10 comments:

  1. choo turned down the yanks...good for him

    if im hamilton, i just drag bunt....a bunt single is as good as a double or triple for the kid

    he is gonna be fun to watch on the base paths...should get lots of air time on cnn...total personality

    where is the discussion about the home plate rule changes and the messed up way they wanna roll out instant replay?

    bacci

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    1. Can't bunt all the time. They might bring the OF's in to cover the bags and with the IF's about 40 ft away from the plate.

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  2. oh, balfour did not pass his physical, so o's deal dead

    beane is a frickin genius

    bacci

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    1. Not sure how that proves anything at all about Billy Beane. Seems like Balfour might have a pretty good case for claiming damages here. I'm pretty sure you can find evidence of damage to just about every pitcher's arm. Glad I'm not a sports medicine doc!

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    2. Yet he still cannot get past the first round. Again. And that was the point that Hudson made, not directly, but did say that he wanted to go deeper, which he had not before in his career. Genius.

      Yeah, I do not see the players union allowing the Os to cancel a signed contract like that without punishment, they got too much power that they use all the time to the detriment of the game, but hey, good for the players.

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  3. Giants are looking mighty good in the OF musical chairs. That platoon split of Choo's is a huge worry, and the defensive metrics, confused by CF play, ain't good either. We'll have to see it play out but I have to like where the Greybeards put their chips. And wow, the OBP crowd refuses to look under the hood much.

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  4. Since Ellsbury, Pence, and Choo are all about the same age, 30-31, the extra two years of commitment to E and C make a difference in expected performance per year toward the tail end of the contract periods; and of course the Giants gave up no first-round draft picks. For me, a side benefit of the E and C contracts is that they help put a stopper into vacuous fan palaver about "overpay," if only by resetting the dollar-per-WAR calculations, especially when one figures in the added risk of longer-term commitments.

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    1. All excellent points, Campanari. I have to say, you are on fire lately!

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  5. Nice rundown of what a great deal the Giants got with Pence. I did not know exactly how good until I saw this post. Go Giants!

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