Russell Branyan ranked second among all free agents this offseason with 31 home runs in 2009. The slugger, represented by Dan Lozano, entered free agency seeking a three-year deal in the $20-30MM range according to ESPN's Jerry Crasnick. Branyan rejected a one-year offer with a club option to return to the Mariners, and they moved on to Casey Kotchman and Ryan Garko.
Rumors of the Marlins' interest in Branyan were shot down, but Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wrote yesterday that the Blue Jays and Indians are considering him. A back problem hampered Branyan in the second half last year, but he says he feels great now. Rosenthal reported that Branyan has been working out with Dan Uggla and Khalil Greene at Vanderbilt.
The guy would have been great with the Marlins and he should have taken the Mariners offer but maybe the Dodgers trade James Loney for a starter and sign Branyan. I don’t think the Indians would make sense for Branyan. The Tribe would do better with Jermaine Dye platooning at first and DH. Branyan missed out on a deal that could have potentially netted with the team he wanted to be with for two years. The Mariners.
You gotta believe some rebuilding club will grab him on the cheap, in the hopes they can deal him at the deadline. Russell may not like it, but the reality is he’s an old guy, coming off injury, who some suspect had a fluke power showing last year. He may need to prove himself next year again to get a 2-yr $10m deal in 2011.
Take note from this guy.
DON’T BE TOO GREEDY. Especially if you’re Branyan with a HISTORY of being an injure prone player. I’ve moved on from him and glad he rejected the M’s offer.
why are the mets not going after this guy? he is a power bat that they need and his d is better than jacobs and its ovbious that delgato cant going to play every day.
Jacobs signed a minor league deal. And does anyone really think he’s going to repeat his numbers from last year? He’s struggled with injuries his whole career, had back problems last year, and is over 30.
Take note from this guy other players.
Don’t be too greedy! Especially if you’re Branyan who has a HISTORY of being an injured prone player. I’ve already moved on from him and is VERY glad he rejected the M’s offer. Good luck in your job search Russell.
.179/.304/.250/.554 last year (including IBB)
.166/.290/.237/.527 career (including IBB)
That is what Branyan has provided to his clubs when not hitting a HR. That is, in the 94% of his PA where he doesnt hit a HR, you are getting around .166/.290/.237/.527 production.
(for reference, the average hitter the last three seasons was .235/.316/.309 when not hitting a HR, while the average First-baseman was .231/.336/.313/.649)
Are 10-15 more HR then what the average hitter would provide really worth it? The fact that teams are so reluctant to sign all these “HR or nothing” 1B/DH sluggers off the market, it seem it isnt.
I was gonna say I wouldn’t mind the Jays signing him to a 1 year $3-million contract with incentives, and a club option for 2011 to be their DH and slide Lind into the OF.
But after reading your comment, Jays stay away!
Hank Blalock may be the better choice, regardless of Scott Boras.
here are some #’s you can’t dispute.branyan has 2,431 career ab’s.that’s almost 5,500 at bats seasons.with 164 ding dongs and 400 ribs.so in less than a season of 500 at bats he will hit you 32 taters and drive in 80.so last year wasn’t a fluke.he only has 7 years of mlb service[pension time].so when you read he’s been around 10-12 seasons don’t believe.unless you count 4 ab’s in 1998,38 in 1999.every year year he had 300 or more ab’s he hit 20 or more h.r’s.2001,20&54 ribs in 315 ab’s,2002,24 homers,60rbi in 370 ab’s.or as espn computes his stats as a part time player,before last year! russ will give you 28 dingers&70 ribs every 425 ab’s.indi what do you think he’d do playing at the rogers center.yeah with the k’s&sub.250 b.a.
The Rogers Center is neither a hitters park or a pitchers park. I’d rather think about Branyan having to hit off pitchers in the AL East alot more often. His strikeout rate would probably inflate even further.
Thanks for the response, man.I Kinda disagree about the Rogers center.It’s always been considered hitter freindly.Besides,in some of the stops brany’s played Rogers would be a ban box for him.[petco,safe-co].No problem with what you say but a guy who averages 32homers and 80 rbi in less than 500 at bats[yeah&close to 200k’s] or as a part time platooner,as espn.com calculated,over 162 games[2,431 career ab’s] he averages 28 ding dongs&69 ribs every 425 at bats.Now he may not be great fit with Toronto,Detroit,the pale hose,florida etc.and hind site,he shoulda took the mariner deal,don’t you think he deserves 350-450 ab’s some where?Listen the k’s suck no doubt but as complimentary bat in a line up he’s a plus.for too much of his career he had to be a 24th or 25th man on a squad.It’s hard to put up#’s when your a once a week warrier.As far as the k’s that’s the nature of the beast with many players.With the criticsm of so called all or nothing guys a guy
like Mark Reynolds wouldn’t be a stater.Not putting Russ in the category of Richie Allen,who stuck out 150 times a year,when no one did back then,he was asked don’t you think you’d be a better hitter if you made more contact?Allen said “man, you gotta make out some how” And he was a career.290 hitter.You know what, i’ve said my piece.I bet a lot of his nay sayers would be happy if he had to retire rather than eat shit again,suck it up and go back to the minors.which he had to do in 2004&2008.But thanks again and beast of luck to your club. Rob Mitchell.[MET FAN]
Not to mention that Branyan had 149 K in only 431 AB. His numbers at Safeco Field and on the road were pretty similar .249/16 HR/31 RBI at home, .252/15/45 on the road.
179/.304/.250/.554 last year (including IBB)
.166/.290/.237/.527 career (including IBB)
Those are some telling numbers there. Add to the list of negatives working against Branyan, he is 34, he is coming off yet another injury (back), he hits .222 vs. LHP, he is a first half performer .280/22/49 before the break, .193/9/27 with 54 K in 145 AB after the break.
majorleaguebaseballscoop.wordpress.com/2010/02/10/…
Where did you get these numbers break downs from? I’m interested in delving further.
Have to calculate it yourself, but its pretty easy if you work with spreadsheets at all. Remove HR totals from both sides of all the equations to isolate those PA. Specifically, BA is (H-HR)/(AB-HR), OBP is (H+BB+HBP-HR)/(AB+BB+HBP+SF-HR) and SLG is ((1B+(2B*2)+(3B*3))/(AB-HR).
If you are curious about some other similar “HR or nothing” players on (or just signed from) the FA market, here are a couple
Branyan
.178/.296/.235/.531 with 6% HR rate (3-year avg)
.178/.290/.237/.527 with 6% HR rate (career)
Jacobs
.206/.270/.270/.540 with 5% HR rate (3-year)
.213/.279/.283/.556 with 5% HR rate (career)
Delgado
.226/.315/.289/.604 with 4% HR rate (3-year)
.230/.348/.306/.654 with 6% HR rate (career)
Blalock
.222/.279/.304/.583 with 5% HR rate (3-year)
.236/.301/.304/.605 with 4% HR rate (career)
Hey thanks a lot. This is very helpful.