The Phillies have agreed to a one-year, $2MM extension with Grady Sizemore that will keep the outfielder in Philadelphia for 2015, the club announced. Sizemore’s contract includes performance incentives that could boost its value to $5MM, per MLBDailyDish.com’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter).
Sizemore, 32, was one of the game’s most interesting stories last year, when he returned from a long layoff and had a big spring with the Red Sox. The fairytale took a turn when Sizemore struggled to keep pace in Boston, however, and he ultimately was designated for assignment as his OPS dipped to .612.
Philadelphia gave Sizemore a late run, however, and he had better overall success there. With the Phillies, Sizemore put up a .253/.313/.389 slash with three home runs over 176 plate appearances.
Spending most of his time in the corner outfield with the Phillies, Sizemore ultimately landed with approximately average defensive ratings there. His time in center, mostly with Boston, was less promising, as both UZR and Defensive Runs Saved viewed him as a below-average performer.
For the Phillies, the move does offer some cost certainty, and opens renewed questions about the team’s intentions as the offseason nears. All three of the team’s Opening Day starters — Domonic Brown, Marlon Byrd, and Ben Revere — have been mentioned as trade candidates (the former two in particular). Brown and Revere both swing from the left side of the plate, as does Sizemore.
I honestly thought he would have gotten more on the open market. Even after being let go by Boston this year. He’s a platoon bat/4th OFer. I’m not his biggest fan, but he’s a nice piece off the bench.
His raw numbers weren’t really very different with Philadelphia than they were with Boston, they just came in a slightly smaller sample size.
Actually he was markedly better with the Phillies, though still below average .216/.288/.324 72 OPS+ Red Sox, .253/.313/.389 96 OPS+ Phillies. Still not much to write home about, but a servicable 4th outfielder.
He had similar hit totals, similar extra base hit totals, similar K/BB rates and totals.
Those extra 29 PA represent about 15% of his PA. That’s not insignificant.
I don’t think the 29 PA are significant enough to matter on the free agent market or effect the value that any major league organization places on Grady Sizemore at this point.
Both sample sizes are small, and Philadelphia isn’t paying him to be worth much at all, so I can see them using the time period they actually watched him on a day to day basis. In situations where the BABIP was normal and there was a small power spike as they became further away from a long layoff, I can side with the organization who saw him firsthand. I certainly think a .306 BABIP is more realistic going forward than a .266 BABIP, and he isn’t being paid to do more than what he did this year in Philly.
Yes, I know Philadelphia isn’t paying him to be worth much. That was the original theme of this comment branch.
His total numbers for 2014 also match up almost exactly with the totals he put up in 2010-2011.
Also, I’m definitely a fan of rate stats over counting stats in all situations, so the hit/2B/3B/HR totals being similar doesn’t matter to me because AVG/OBP/SLG aren’t.
The rate stats aren’t very different either, though.
97 wRC+ and 70 wRC+ are different. Very different.
I’m talking about his K/BB rates, line drive rates. It’s not so much that he’s exactly the player he was in Boston — it’s that he’s the player he showed himself to be over 381 PA in 2014, which is pretty much identical to the player he showed himself to be in 435 PA from 2010-2011.
Though you are right in some respects. His BABIP saw a .040 upswing in Philly and he showed more power (.136 ISO to .108 ISO) but he really wasn’t much different. He walked less and struck out at the same rate but converted more of his in play balls into “impact” results. The question is whether a .306 BABIP/.136 ISO is repeatable, which I think it is.
For the record, it was 70 & 97 via wRC+, showing slightly more separation and actually having his PHI time slightly closer to league average offensively.
OPS + and wRC + aren’t the same stat. I used OPS+ because baseball reference splits the year into two teams and fangraphs give you the whole season. You can see where that wouldn’t have helped.
You can sort Fangraphs by partial seasons on each player’s pages. You can see minor league stats, playoff stats, projections, and partial seasons, so I can see Sizemore went for a 97 wRC+ in PHI and 70 wRC+ in BOS.
I did not know that. Thanks.
No problem. The issue of them being different stats is still there, but that I guess is mostly about preference.
That’s interesting…
Avoid arbitration with Cesar Jimenez. Extend Jerome Williams. Extend Grady Sizemore. That’s exactly what I thought the Phillies would be doing in mid-October.
If it saves us from “Overspend on reliever X. Overspend on SP Y. And way overpay OF Z” in December/January, I’m more than happy with these moves.
I don’t actually think they’re bad moves. They’re more lateral than anything. I could see a good perspective of this as signing cheap veterans to occupy roster spots while starting a rebuilding process.
Unlike the Cubs, I think the Phillies are one big market team who will not “rebuild” in the traditional sense.
If by “traditional sense” you mean the one in which an organization makes impressive strides to add a lot of young talent, you’re probably right.
Ha. By traditional sense, I mean a complete rebuild. From what it sounds, it seems like they will sell off some pieces, but attempt to remain competitive. That is something the Cubs did not do.
To remain something, you have to actually be it in the first place. The Phillies are not now competitive and have literally NO reason to expect to be in the foreseeable future.
Cubs could afford the massive rebuild because the hit to attendance would be minimal, especially in the summer. The Phil’s might be a little leary of scaring off casual fans.
Good point
I’d say the majority if the fan base comprehends a post Chase Utley world. But there are some…and they might be pricey ticket buyers… Who would lose interest if they rolled out a AAAA 2B while the prospects develop.
I’m gonna partially disagree with you there. The majority of the fan base *that discusses them on the internet* would get a post-Chase world. But the fans who buy tickets, merchandise, and concessions – the ones who make up the large portion of “consumers” – they would most likely not be able to see a Phillies team without Chase Utley (especially if it was a trade, where he’d still be active in baseball).
That’s really the point I was trying to make. You stated it much more concisely. Sheer fan driven “win games” approach is different than what the organizations face with the need to make money AND win.
This generations Pete Reiser.
There’s a name you don’t right hear any more.
Great comp!
It’s interesting that Sizemore’s #1 comp via b-ref’s similarity scores through age-26 is Barry Bonds.
I am really happy to see this. I have been longtime Grady Sizemore fan. Congratulations to Mr. Sizemore on the comeback!
Now they’ll flip him.