Thursday, April 21, 2016

Bargain Hunters: Which players have been the best bang for their buck


     It's only been a couple weeks into the season, but lets see which savvy GMs have done the best offseason bargain shopping so far.

Catcher - Jarrod Saltalamacchia (Detroit Tigers)
Back in December the Detroit Tigers signed Salty to compete for the backup catcher spot. They signed him to a one-year deal worth baseball's minimum wage, $507,500. The Marlins, who originally signed him in 2014 for a three-year, $21 million deal, are paying him $8 million this season to be on another team.
Salty started the season splitting time, but has been playing consistently now, batting .313 with 5 HRs and 14 RBIs. He leads all catchers in the league with the most homeruns and runs batted in, all while the Tigers pay him crumbs off their table.

First Base - John Jaso (Pittsburgh Pirates)
The Pirates found a cheap, effective replacement for Pedro Alvarez. Jaso was signed to a two-year deal worth $8 million, earning him $4 million this season.
The ex-catcher has transitioned nicely to his new position batting .358 so far and has a hit in every game, except one. He's also adapted the Pittsburgh clubhouse culture with his goldilocks dreads.

Second Base - Jean Segura (Arizona Diamondbacks) 
Segura was nothing more than a salary dump for Milwaukee in the offseason. The former shortstop was converted to second base by Arizona and its paid massive dividends so far. He is making $2.6 million in the desert and he's already a top hitter for second baseman in the league.
The transformed second baseman is batting .317 with 3 HRs and 8 RBIs so far. He's already hit half  the homeruns he accumulated in entire season last year with Milwaukee.

Third Base - David Freese (Pittsburgh Pirates)
The former World Series MVP was simply added to patch the hole at third base until Jung Ho Kang returned. Freese was signed to a one-year $3 million deal and could make Clint Hurdle's decision more difficult once Kang returns.
He is batting .286 with a .385 OBP, third out of all the third baseman in the league. His stats aren't eye-popping, but for the deal he signed and the declining production in the past years, he's earned the best bargain at third base.

Shortstop - Asdrubal Cabrera (New York Mets)
The Mets went out and signed Cabrera to replace Wilmer Flores at short. Although its not a major bargain, at two-year $18.5 million, he's turning out to be a formidable asset for the Mets this season.
He is doing his job at the plate batting .314 and more importantly an upgrade in the field. He has turned a total nine double plays this season and hasn't surrendered an error.

Outfield - Mark Trumbo (Baltimore Orioles)
The Orioles took a risk here hoping they would rejuvenate more Trumbombs. They signed him to a one-year $9.15 million deal to play right field.
Trumbo has showed his presence early, batting .373, 5 HRs, 11 RBIs, and a .407 OBP. Although Trumbo is out of position in the outfield, committing two errors already, his bat makes up a whole deal for his fielding blunders.

Pitcher - Mat Latos (Chicago White Sox)
It's difficult to decipher who is a real bargain out of starting pitchers this early, since a majority have only pitched three games. Through these three games though, Latos has stuck out the most. The White Sox signed him to a one-year $3 million deal, taking a chance at resurrecting his career.
The resurrection process has worked early on, going 3-0 with a 0.49 ERA. The third best ERA in baseball through three games.

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