To be presented shortly: some statements, all of them more or le s inarguable.
The Tampa Bay Rays are among the best teams in baseball. Earlier this season, they lost within the ALDS to the Red Sox. Theyve won a minimum of 90 games four years in a row, theyve won a minimum of 84 games six years in a row, and in 2008 they advanced to the World Series. When it comes to sustaining succe s, the Rays really are a model organization.
The Rays are considered likely to part with ace David Price this offseason, not because hes a totally free agent, speculate hell be under expensive team control. In short, Prices are likely to cost more compared to Rays want to pay any one player, so the probability is the fact that theyll exchange their ace for youth, as they did with James Shields
Tevin Mitchel Jersey .
This coming season, the Rays, by choice, pays several huge amount of money to outfielder David DeJesus. It seems exactly the same might be said for 2015 as well. One of the most financially strapped organizations in the league is opening the wallet for a guy they acquired in exchange for a PTBNL at the end of August.
Heres the deal: the Rays held an option for 2014, plus they chose to exercise it. Now theyre about done with a multi-year contract which will keep DeJesus signed for two years, having a third-year option. DeJesus turns 34 inside a month and a half. Its unknown exactly what the contract extension will definitely cost, however the 2014 option the Rays exercised is worth $6.5 million, so that should act as an estimate. Because of the way DeJesus was shipped around late this past year, and given the Rays limited resources, this may on its face seem like a strange relative overpay.
But there are two considerations, one of them small, one of these le s small. Firstly, the Rays $6.5 million choice for DeJesus included a $1.5 million buyout, meaning the effective cost of keeping DeJesus for 2014 is $5 million given that they wouldve needed to spend $1.5 million
Frankie Williams Jersey anyway. In your mind, you'll probably still consider $5 million as representing a lofty sum, but in baseball dollars thats almost nothing, somewhere in the neighborhood of being the value of one win. There are disagreements on how to calculate exactly what a win may be worth on the open market, but nothing deviates too far from $5 million right now, and also the Rays are in this type of location on the win curve that wins to them mean a hell of the lot more than wins to, say, Miami.
And then, more to the point, theres the matter of David DeJesus being a fine baseball player, even still. This mightve been easy to forget, considering his August treatment through the Nationals, but DeJesus is in probably the most boring po sible way.
Offense? Over the last 3 years, DeJesus has posted a combined 101 wRC+. League average, of course, a minimum of for non-pitchers, is 100.
Baserunning? During the last three years, DeJesus, by our estimates, continues to be worth +1.5 runs over average, or perhaps a fraction of the operate a year. A negligible difference if Ive seen one.
Defense? Again, during the last three years, DeJesus has set up a defensive value of -2.3 runs. This accounts and adjusts for his amount of time in both center and also the corner outfields, and also the impre sion you get rightly is the fact that DeJesus is versatile within the field without being a standout.
Walks? Strikeouts? Power? Hits on balls in play? Steals? DeJesus is average, incredibly average, almost impo sibly average. Theres nobody area where he stands out, and just what he emits as a result is a distinct fourth-outfielder vibe. DeJesus will make for any good fourth outfielder, but he also creates a fine third outfielder for any team with a few flexibility. You may be fine if youre not efficient at anything, provided youre also not awful at anything. DeJesus is awful at one thing, but it could be controlled.
The guy cant really hit lefties. Its difficult to say where his true talent is, at this time. Through 2010, he wasnt good against lefties, but he could hold their own. Since then, over 308 plate appearances, lefties have held DeJesus to some league-worst 29 wRC+. The next-worst, among players with 300 plate appearances, is Justin Morneau, at 41. DeJesus appears like he ought to be platooned, and where youd think most likely the Rays would see his platoon i sues as more of the sample-size thing than anything, they platooned him heavily themselves after picking him up, plus they are in position to platoon him moving forward. Because DeJesus is a platoon outfielder, its misleading and wrong to simply extrapolate his WAR totals to bigger sample sizes.
For example, Steamer projects DeJesus to have as much value per 600 plate appearances pick up as
Malik Hooker Jersey Torii Hunter. Thats not fair, because Hunter can enjoy every single day, and if DeJesus did that hed be exposed more regularly against southpaws. But DeJesus can still play a lot, even if its not all day, and average is efficacious. Flexibility is efficacious, out of the box a willingne s to sit down around the bench sometimes. If it seems weird for the Rays to commit a lot money to DeJesus, its not the Rays whore doing a problem its on you for not yet appreciating how much money there is in baseball right now. What seems like a lot of money isnt.
Its fun to find information about some DeJesus comparables, by finding adequate offensive outfielders who've played center, but who've not played center primarily. The Padres po se s a couple candidates in Will Venable and Chris Denorfia, although Venable may have broken finished the bat just last season.
Mike Miller Jersey Michael Brantley seems precisely the type. Theres Gregor Blanco, theres Nate McLouth, theres Brian Bogusevic and Reed Johnson and Ryan Sweeney and Casper Wells and..directly on their email list, you find Alex Rios. Next season, the Rangers pays Rios $13 million, or about twice exactly what the Rays pays DeJesus. The last 3 years, Rios has been worth one more WAR, in about 350 more plate appearances. Theyve been offensive equals, and Rios edge over the bases has been negated by DeJesus advantage in the field. What Rios does is hit more dingers and steal more bases. Rios may be the flashier player, but hes not the conclusively better player, and DeJesus will definitely cost a lot le s. The Rangers can afford Rios just fine, but the Rays should be pleased with their very own cheaper approximation.
Granted, last summer, Dave already highlighted the differences and similarities between Rios and DeJesus. But everything still applies today, with the Rays making to DeJesus a longer-term commitment. Theyre rewarding him for being boring, consistently and reliably boring, which boringne s keeps a player like DeJesus inside the Rays tight budget. After this sentence, I dont wish to type market inefficiency again, but perhaps boring is a little undervalued. Simply by WAR, DeJesus seems worth a bit more than hell really be paid. Its not a ma sive savings, however it seldom is. Its about the little savings that add up, and the Rays have demonstrated many times over that they have a great grasp of these principles.
