Bang for your Buck: Seattle Mariners

2009 Projected Lineup

C- Kenji Johjima
'09 Salary: $8.0 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $1.4 Million
1B- Russell Branyan
'09 Salary: $1.4 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $5.3 Million (50 Games)
2B- Jose Lopez
'09 Salary: $1.6 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $10.4 Million
3B- Adrian Beltre
'09 Salary: $12.0 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $18.8 Million
SS- Yuniesky Betancourt
'09 Salary: $2.0 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $0.9 Million
LF- Ken Griffey Jr.
'09 Salary: $2.0 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $0.7 Million
CF- Franklin Gutierrez
'09 Salary: $0.4 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $10.3 Million
RF- Ichiro Suzuki
'09 Salary: $17.0 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $17.5 Million
DH- Jeff Clement
'09 Salary: $0.4 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $0.9 Million (66 Games)
SP- Felix Hernandez
'09 Salary: $3.8 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $17.1 Million
SP- Erik Bedard
'09 Salary: $7.75 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $4.7 Million (81 Inn)
SP- Jarrod Washburn
'09 Salary: $10.35 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $5.7 Million
SP- Carlos Silva
'09 Salary: $11.0 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $6.6 Million
SP- Ryan Rowland-Smith
'09 Salary: $0.4 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $3.6 Million
CL- Mark Lowe
'09 Salary: $0.4 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $0.5 Million

-Of These 15 Players-
Total Player Salaries: $78.5 Million
Total Player Dollar Value: $104.4 Million

Best Contract
Jose Lopez- 4 years/$6.07M (2007-10)
It was a little tougher to find a "best" contract on this team, per se. Adrian Beltre and Ichiro Suzuki both have good contracts, but in both cases they're isn't really much of a disparity between their real intrinsic value and what they are being paid. Lopez, on the other hand, is making a total of about $6 million over four years when just this past season he was worth $10.4 million. What he does over these next couple seasons will prove whether this contract merited any kind of significance at all, but given the fact that he's young and plays second base with above average power, it seems reasonable to believe that he'll at least be considerably more valuable than the $1.52 million average annual salary given his contract. His OBP needs some obvious work, though.

Worst Contract
Carlos Silva- 4 years/$48M (2008-11)
Contrary to popular belief, Silva's '07 season was pretty decent and ended up being worth roughly $13.4 million. So the Mariners weren't completely insane for giving him such a lucrative deal. However, if 2008 was any indication, the remainder of this contract isn't going to be a very fun ride for Seattle. He finished 28th in the AL in FIP and was worth about $6.6 million. He's due to receive about $11 million annually over the next three years. He's only been worth that much once in his career, and he turns 30 next month. I definitely wouldn't put this as one of the worst contracts in baseball. There's certainly many more out there that make this actually look like a good deal. On Seattle's ballclub, though, this is probably the worst one you'll find.

2009 Outlook
It's a small sample size, but so far the Mariners easily have the worst discrepancy as far as salaries and dollar value. Whereas the Angels and Rangers both saw their clubs being worth about twice as much they're bing paid, the Mariners don't come close to matching that same mark. According to '08 production and dollar values, the Mariners players will produce roughly $26 million more than what they're being paid. I guess you can say that as long as the disparity is positive, it's good. But you must also keep in mind that this includes players (such as "King Felix") who are under control and getting drastically underpaid. So to only be $26 million ahead while considering facts like that puts things in perspective a bit. As far as "bang for your buck" goes, it looks like the Mariners will be giving out plenty of the latter without receiving much of the former.

Next up: Skye's Oakland Athletics!