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.
They’re finishing up their 18th consecutive losing season, they’ve lost more than 100 games this year, next year isn’t looking too bright to break the cycle of pain… but strangely I think the Matt Capps decision has to be one of the more stinging blows to the Pirates this season. Nats picked him up off the recycle pile and turn him into a much sought after prospect. Seriously, that one has to burn.
But them releasing Capps led to them signing Dotel, which netted them McDonald and Lambo. In the end, it worked out alright for the Pirates.
Nice call Jake. The Pirates clearly made the right decision in non-tendering Capps considering how awful he was in 2009.
Ehh Olivo and Johnson are both big time results of a extremely hitters friendly ball parks, overall neither have been above average at there position
Johnson has a .860 OPS and 26HR. I’ll be damned if that’s not above-average production from 2B.
Where’s Kevin Millwood on the list?! What about Garrett Atkins for ONLY $4.5 million?! And Mike Gonzalez 2 years $12 million has worked out perfectly, where’s that at?!?! JEEZ!!! :)
You do realize the Kevin Millwood wasn’t a FA signing this year. I get that your post is sarcastic and all but still …
What about Jim Edmonds for the Brewers. We got 4 years of player control in Dickerson in return…
Benoit for the Rays. Best bargain signing of the year.
No complaints from the Jays about the Alex Gonzalez deal either.
Thome was a bargain the minute the ink dried…but to expect he would have one of his best seasons since the Cleveland days…unbelievable. Also, he has hit balls out of Target Field
I’m just surprised we haven’t heard any steroids comments (No, that wasn’t me accusing Thome). Of course now I’m hoping he sticks around for a little while to join the 600 club.
Like you, I’m not surprised that he did well. I am totally surprised that he did as well as he did. I was thinking maybe 350 PA’s with 15-20 HR’s and not much else. What an absolute steal for the Twins.
I’m not talking about minor league deals (Benoit, Gomes etc.). We covered those the other day, and there were certainly some impressive ones.
– BNS
Yay for Aubrey Huff! He was the Giants only (well, except for Juan Uribe) offense for about 4 months. I’m not sure what Uribe got, but I’m pretty sure he was a bargain signing too.
I don’t think the Giants hang around long enough to be where they are right now without Huff and Uribe. Super two or not, they erred in not bringing Posey up sooner too. They needed his bat.
Any Cards fans notice we weren’t on one of these types of polls this year. Management did a terrible job apparently.
Yeah, but Jocketty is pretty happy today!
I know you did it by dollar amount, but Capps should definitely top the list, especially for the Nats. He also turned into Wilson Ramos, so that was another plus of the Capps signing.
I’m sorry but the fact that Brett Myers isn’t here is an absolute joke.
218 IP, 2.89 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 3.45 FIP, 173K…
All for 1 year at 5M
The post says $3.5MM or less. $5MM>$3.5MM.
Many complained about the Phillies signing Polanco for three years, $ 18 mil, but that turned out very well for them. Not exactly a bargain basement deal, and there are two years to go, but in terms of impact and contribution to a contender, that one goes on the good list.
Colby Lewis for two years, $ 5 mil has to be on this list, though!
Yeah Lewis surprised me… I figured throwing in Arlington would make him head to AAA pretty quickly. $1.75M for a middle of the order pitcher is a great deal… and hey, he’s pitching better than Barry Zito and we know what kind of bargain he is.
Marlon Byrd’s already been worth his whole contract through one year. Just sayin’