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!

Bang for your Buck: Texas Rangers

2009 Projected Lineup

C- Jarrod Saltalamacchia
'09 Salary: $0.410 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $3.8 Million (61 Games)
1B- Chris Davis
'09 Salary: $0.406 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $5.4 Million (80 Games)
2B- Ian Kinsler
'09 Salary: $3.0 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $20.3 Million
3B- Michael Young
'09 Salary: $16.0 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $11.6 Million
SS- Elvis Andrus
'09 Salary: N/A
'08 Dollar Value: N/A
LF- David Murphy
'09 Salary: $0.414 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $7.6 Million
CF- Josh Hamilton
'09 Salary: $0.555 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $18.6 Million
RF- Nelson Cruz
'09 Salary: $0.408 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $7.2 Million (31 Games)
DH- Hank Blalock
'09 Salary: $6.2 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $3.1 Million (65 Games)
SP- Kevin Millwood
'09 Salary: $11.0 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $15.3 Million
SP- Vicente Padilla
'09 Salary: $12.0 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $7.3 Million
SP- Scott Feldman
'09 Salary: $0.434 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $4.2 Million
SP- Matt Harrison
'09 Salary: $0.405 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $3.0 Million
SP- Brandon McCarthy
'09 Salary: $0.650 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $0.7 Million
CL- Frank Francisco
'09 Salary: $1.6 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $6.9 Million

-Of These 15 Players-
'09 Total Player Salaries: $53.44 Million
'08 Total Player Dollar Value: $115.0 Million

Best Contract
Ian Kinsler- 5 years/$22M (2008-12)
This may be a bit premature, but if Kinsler can produce anything close to what he did last year over the course of the next few seasons, he will be overwhelmingly more valuable than the average annual salary of $4.4 million that he's scheduled to make. Through his first three seasons Kinsler has made a combined total of $1.4 million, while being worth more than $30 million.
Another contract that deserves at least an honorable mention is Kevin Millwood's 5 year/$60M deal (2006-2010). To those who just look at ERA this may look like one of the uglier contracts in baseball. In 2008, for example, he ranked 36th in the AL with a 5.07 ERA. However, if you look at more valuable statistics, such as FIP, he ranked 19th (4.03 FIP), right behind Mark Buerhle and ahead of players such as Daisuke Matsuzaka, Joe Saunders, and John Lackey--just to name a few. In the three years he's been with Texas, Millwood has made $28.1 million, while being worth $45.5 million.

Worst Contract
Michael Young- 5 years/$80M (2009-13)
This contract probably isn't quite as bad as some people would make it out to be, but it's still pretty awful. His offensive value has deteriorated rather significantly in each of the last four seasons. It also doesn't help that he's moving to a position (third base) with a much higher demand for offensive production than his previous position. He's 32 years old, he'll be making roughly $16 million each of the next five seasons, and his best season ever as a shortstop saw him being worth about $12.7 million. I take it back, this contract probably is as bad as most people make it out to be. Young was wise in ultimately deciding to accept the move to third base, because chances are that he won't come close to being worth the ridiculous amount their paying him for the next five years.

2009 Outlook
I was a little surprised to see just how well the majority of the Rangers' contracts are structured. Aside from Michael Young, most of these deals are at least reasonable, if not very good. They obviously need some help in the rotation as far as production goes. Padilla hasn't been awful, but he's not really the kind of pitcher you want as your number two. Andrus is a question mark at shortstop as well. He has good speed on the bases (54 SB last year in AA) and decent range at short, but his other offensive numbers are rather suspect. It wouldn't be much of a surprise to see Young back at short before the season's end.
As far as getting the most value out of your players, though, the Rangers will in all likelihood fair extremely well. With players like Hamilton, Davis, and Murphy making next to nothing, your payroll's going to look pretty good. Of the 15 projected regulars, based on '08 production the Rangers will be worth roughly $61.56 million more than what they're getting paid. Not too bad for a ballclub who's payroll isn't very high to begin with.

Next up: Andy's Seattle Mariners!

Bang for your Buck: Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim

Man, I really hate that name. Keep in mind that the values and dollar figures are based off of 2008 production and salaries.

2009 Projected Lineup

C- Mike Napoli
'09 Salary: $2.0 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $14.1 Million
1B- Kenry Morales
'09 Salary: $0.6 Million
'08 Dollar Value: -$1.3 Million
2B- Howie Kendrick
'09 Salary: $0.465 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $6.4 Million
3B- Chone Figgins
'09 Salary: $5.775 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $10.6 Million
SS- Eric Aybar
'09 Salary: $0.46 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $8.0 Million
LF- Bobby Abreu
'09 Salary: $5.0 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $6.8 Million
CF- Torii Hunter
'09 Salary: $17.5 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $10.5 Million
RF- Vladimir Guerrero
'09 Salary: $15.0 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $11.0 Million
DH- Juan Rivera
'09 Salary: $3.25 Million
'08 Dollar Value: -$3.0 Million
SP- John Lackey
'09 Salary: $9.0 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $8.9 Million
SP- Ervin Santana
'09 Salary: $3.8 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $26.1 Million
SP- Joe Saunders
'09 Salary: $0.475 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $12.4 Million
SP- Jered Weaver
'09 Salary: $0.465 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $15.2 Million
SP- Dustin Moseley
'09 Salary: $0.42 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $2.6 Million
CL- Brian Fuentes
'09 Salary: $8.5 Million
'08 Dollar Value: $11.1 Million

-Of These 15 Players-
'09 Player Total Salaries: $72.71 Million
'08 Player Total Dollar Value: $142.4 Million

Best Contract

John Lackey- Even with his down season last year (due to injury, mind you), this is still one of the best contracts in baseball. He signed a 3 year, $17.01 million in 2006. Since then, he has been worth a total of $53.9 million, which comes out to about $37.5 million more than what he has earned. Lackey also had a $9 million club option for '09 that was picked up this offseason, which is the most he's ever made for one season. Although, chances are he will still be worth more.

Worst Contract

Gary Matthews Jr.- Here's the facts:
-5 Years, $50 Million
-Total salary over first two years of contract = $15.0 million
-Total value over first two years of contract = $1.2 million

This guy is going to make $33 million over the next three years, while probably not even being worth half of that. Half would actually be good. Chances are that Matthews won't even have a spot in the Angels lineup anytime soon. Many people wondered what the Halos were thinking when they signed this contract. Luckily, the Angels made up for it with another ill-advised deal the following year with Torii Hunter.

2009 Outlook

As far as getting the most "bang for your buck", the Angels will probably fair pretty decently this year. Other than Guerrero, Hunter, and Matthews Jr., virtually everyone else on the roster is likely to perform better than what they are worth. If the aformentioned players perform as they did in 2008, their projected lineup (15 players) will be worth roughly $69.94 million more than the sum or their total '09 salaries. Obviously, that's assuming that a lot of things go right. And of course, as I finished this post I found out that Ervin Santana just suffered an injury. Oh well.

Next up: Grif's Texas Rangers!

Best Bang for your Buck

I decided that I'm going to take a look at each team's salary and players in order to try and determine how much "bang for their buck" each ballclub receives. The guys over at Fangraphs are smarter than I could ever be, so I will primarily be using their "dollar" win values to gauge the respective value of teams and players.

I'll start it up shortly with the ever so exciting AL West. Enjoy.