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Ten Bargain Signings For 2010

The 2010 season is no exception to the rule that hindsight is 20-20. If we knew last winter what we do now, there's no way that players such as Chone Figgins would have signed for more than these ten players combined. No one on the list below signed for more than $3.5MM last winter, but all of these players went on to reward their teams with productive seasons:

• Matt Capps, $3.5MM - Capps has a 2.51 ERA with 41 total saves for the Nationals and Twins. 
• Darren Oliver, $3.5MM - The lefty has a 2.52 ERA with more than one strikeout per inning in 63 games for the Rangers.
• Takashi Saito, $3.2MM - Another bargain reliever, Saito has a 2.52 ERA with 11.6 K/9 in 55 games.
• Aubrey Huff, $3MM - Huff has hit .289/.382/.510 with 26 homers in San Francisco.
• J.J. Putz, $3MM - Putz has a 2.92 ERA with more than a strikeout per inning in 58 games.
• Miguel Olivo, $2.5MM - Olivo is batting .269/.314/.444 in 422 plate appearances so far in 2010.
• Kelly Johnson, $2.35MM - One year removed from a tough season in Atlanta, Johnson has 26 homers.
• John Buck, $2MM - Buck hit his 20th homer tonight and made the AL All-Star team.
• Russell Branyan, $2MM - Branyan was an absolute steal last year, but he was a bargain once again in 2010, hitting 25 total homers.
• Jim Thome, $1.5MM - Who saw this one coming? Thome has an OPS over 1.000 and 25 homers. Bill Smith and the Twins deserve a ton of credit for this signing.

Click here to check out some recent minor league deals that turned out well.

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