Every year, teams supplement their rosters by signing players to minor league deals. It's a way for teams to make low-risk investments in players who generally don't have much leverage. But finding a Joaquin Benoit, Livan Hernandez, or R.A. Dickey in the bargain bin can make a massive difference. Some players, like Austin Kearns, Jim Edmonds and D.J. Carrasco, get flipped in mid-summer trades. Others, like Pat Burrell and Chris Denorfia contribute on playoff contenders. But those aren't the only players who signed memorable minor league deals since last season ended…
Who was the best minor league signing of the year?
Click here to take the survey and here to view the results.
No RA Dickey in the poll?
RA Dickey?
i write in RA Dickey, he’s been one of the best pitchers in baseball regardless of his contract.
I voted “Other” for Wilson Betemit.
other for Robert Alan Dickey.
Am I missing something? Seems like it should be RA Dickey.
other for R.A Dickey. How do you forget him?
As with everyone else. The omission of Dickey is odd. I voted other for Dickey
RA Dickey. Period.
agreed..i’d go dick
+1 for R.A. Dickey!
Ah, my bad on not including R.A. Dickey.
– BNS
I pick other for R.A Dickey
Uh…RA dickey crushes everyone on this list.
No Marcus Thames?
Dickey has been the best of them benoit has been nice as well but dickey has been a true find for the mets rotation
For Minor league contracts that might have helped salvage a team through other players injuries, maybe Darnell McDonald. Otherwise? Probably has to be Dickey that also would be a prediction for the most likely on that list to be the biggest flopper next year also.
By WAR:
Dickey: 2.5
Denorfia: 1.4
Chen: 0.9
Peralta: 0.4
Burrell: 1.7 (2.0 with SF alone)
Hernandez: 2.8
Edmonds: 2.5
Carrasco: 0.6
Benoit: 1.4
Kearns: 1.4
So the winner is Livian Hernandez, not Dickey. Edmonds and Dickey have the same value as well so take that, posters with blue&orange colored glasses!
really dude? your going to base the whole thing on one stat? dickey has a better ERA by a whole point (2.91-3.82), more wins (9-8), less losses (6-11), lower WHIP (1.17-1.34)and just to be extremely over the top is a better hitter…(.233 BA .267 OBP and 5 RBI in 43 AB-.115 BA .115 OBP and 1 RBI in 52 AB) plus he is under team control for at least next year too. Dickey has obviously been the better pitcher AND hitter…i really don’t care what WAR says
dickey may be a better hitter but u could make a case for livan as he’s thrown 40+ more innings than dickey (livan 180IP dickey approx 140IP) that team doesnt need him to win just eat innings and keep the game close and hes gonna pitch 200+ innings when the reg season is done dickey will be lucky to hit 170+
Wins .. really dude ?
It has to be Livan. What he did for Nationals is beyond awesome. Nationals desperately needed a leader in the rotation and he stepped up big time.
read my post above yours….at least the Nats have upside, Dickey is the only bright spot in another bleak Mets season other than Pagan (and i guess the fact that we found out Wright isn’t gonna be 10 HR guy the rest of his career)
I think Wilson Betemit is worth mentioning. 1.3 WAR in about 250 PA’s isn’t too shabby for a minor league deal. RA Dickey is definitely the best player signed to a minor league deal overall though.
How many of these players are playing a central role in a team’s playoff chase? It’s really between Burrell and Denorfia, and Burrell’s .883 OPS with SF while holding down the cleanup spot and playing LF capably has to be considered over Dickey’s nice-but-irrelevant year for the Mets, whose season ended in July.
the question isn’t which minor league deal has more value. its which minor league deal was the best signing
I’m not sure I understand the distinction. How do you define “best?” I define it as a combination of raw statistical performance, the void the player filled, and other intangibles that contributed to team improvement. You’re probably a Mets guy and fast asleep by the time the Giants games come on, so perhaps it isn’t as obvious to you how much Burrell has done for the Giants. This isn’t a knock on Dickey – I just think that Burrell has been a better acquisition as an everyday cleanup hitter
if you go by how they contributed to a teams playoff chase no way burrell is even on the radar
he already has played himself off 1 playoff team when the rays cut him
You clearly don’t watch Giants games, so why comment?
Is an ellipsis at the end really necessary?
one statistic people seem 2 be overlooking with livan is how many innings livan has pitched(approx 180IP) compared to dickey approx(140IP)
livan should pitch 200+ by seasons end at this rate and dickey wont be pitching close to that much
and for the record the nats dont need livan getting the win… just eat innings and keep the game close if he gets the wins that basicly just a bonus
edit: srry that wasnt a reply to ian
Yeah, I was kind of confused when I saw that this was a reply to my comment.