Odds & Ends: Astros, Athletics, Blue Jays

I do not get why every one always critices the Carlos Lee deal. $100 million over 6 years is not a ton of money and Lee has been extremly productive. Now if you want to talk about bad contracts Alfonso Soriano, Oliver Perez, and Vernon Wells come to mind.

Hahahaha! Kudos, metfan57. Your post came up after I hit the "submit" button on mine.

Sorry 'bout dogging on Johan and K-Rod's contracts, it's nothing personal.

At the time of the extension, I understood the contract given to Johan. A guy that keep's his era below 3.00, his K rating above 7, and can log 200+ innings per season doesn't come cheap. His injury is just a minor setback, and he should be able to continue to prove he is worth that money in 2010.

"Also, nobody was struggling to get on base in front of Lee this season. Michael Bourn: .354 OBP. Miguel Tejada: .340 OBP. Lance Berkman: .399 OBP.

Posted by: Christian Seehausen | October 26, 2009 at 07:16 PM"

Not exactly good outside of Berkman.. How many walks did Tejada have? 20?

"Considering RBIs are an outdated statistic that has never been a good way to judge a player..." Really?
Last time I checked, you win ball games when your "Runs" column has a higher number than your opponent’s. Therefore, you will need someone to put numbers in that "R" column. Coincidentally, "R" is also the first letter in the statistic titled "RBI". So I'd say it's a pretty significant statistic, especially when others on the team are having a hard time doing the same.
Although I value defense, you don't put points on the board for a player's UZR.
Tejada hit into more double plays than anyone else in the NL this year...yes, even more than Carlos Lee. He also got 199 hits this season and started almost every game (158), which is quite the OBP booster - especially for a guy who hardly draws a walk. Berkman's OBP is thanks entirely to his second half, where as Lee was productive all season.
And yes, we all know Carlos Lee will never win a Gold Glove; that’s not why the Astros signed him. You don’t need a Gold Glove caliber defensive player in left field when your left field wall is only 315 feet away, and you have Michael Bourn backing you up in left-center.
The Astros signed Carlos Lee to drive in runs, and stand there in left field with a glove on his hand; he has done just that since day one.

Anybody who thinks RBIs are a significant stat needs to do some reading on the subject matter; the fact is that they are too influenced by outside factors and don't demonstrate well the overall ability of a batter to PRODUCE runs. Or, to put it another way--except for the home run ball, an RBI is entirely dependent on somebody being on base, which has nothing to do with the skill of the batter.

Anybody who doesn't think RBIs are significant needs to comprehend the value of consistent hitting in clutch situations. The ability to come up with a hit when the opportunity to score presents itself is HUGE - it's how you win ball games. Too say it's dependent on somebody being on base would suggest that the hitter isn't consistent in any other hitting situation; a .300+ batting average says otherwise.

I know that collecting a lot of RBIs each season has a lot to do with where the player is in the batting order, but you also have to consider the fact that he wouldn't there if he wasn't a consistently good hitter.

The fact is this: Carlos Lee is paid $16.7 MM each year to play mediocre defense in a short porch LF, and drive in runs. Check, and check.