CUBS: sign Derosa and Blanco

Propertarian · #1 11-15-2006, 02:34 PM

Just when I thought the Cubs were making the right moves...

The Cubs signed Mark Derosa to a 3 year, 13 million dollar deal. Now, when I said they would be foolish to not sign a 2b this offseason, I didn't mean Derosa; and that's an awful lot to pay for the lesser half of a platoon:

Career vs righties: 260/.316/.366 (The Riot or Cedeno could have done that).
Career vs Lefties: 306/.367/.497 (NICE!)

He did manage a .278/.342/.404 line vs. righties last season...If he can keep that up it is an excellent signing. Texas is a significantly better hitter's park than Wrigley, but that is essentially entirely because left-handed hitters do far better in Texas. Wrigley favors righties (righty power especially) and is a pitchers park when a lefty steps in, while Texas favors lefties over righties.

However, when DeRosa signed, he said the following, according to sporsline.com: "They deserve a winner. Chicago deserves a winner. Hopefully, I can come in there and provide leadership in the clubhouse and be a character guy and command respect."

Anybody who uses the term winner non-sarcastically twice in one day should be fined, and he used them in back to back sentences.

Derosa seems to be an above average defensive 2b, but he has only played 114 games at the position in his whole career. However, he has about 137 games of average D at short, suggesting it is accurate.

In all seriousness, this contract is a gamble. Adding in his solid D at about a bazillion positions, his VORP + RAR (defensive VORP, more or less) was over 40 last season; if he can average 30 per year this contract is a bargain. But if he plays like he did in 04 and 05...

Propertarian · #2 11-15-2006, 02:34 PM

The Cubs also re-signed Henry Blanco to a two year deal, meaning they signed a player he has one season with an OBP over .300 in the last SIX years (last year, a prolific (for him) .304) to multi-year deal. He has a small howitizer for an arm; which is worth about the equivalent of 10 points more of OBP. His all-around defense is actually amazing; I suppose the Cubs could have done worse.

samjjones · #3 11-15-2006, 02:50 PM

I like DeRosa, and have had him on my Strat-o-Matic team since he came up, but to think he is anything other than a utility guy who mashes lefties is a big mistake.

MafiaPrince · #4 11-15-2006, 02:58 PM

I dont think that these are exactly huge blockbusters that warrant their own thread...

Propertarian · #5 11-15-2006, 03:12 PM

I've been keeping up with all of the Cubs moves and commenting on them. If you don't care, you don't have to post in the thread or read it.

MafiaPrince · #6 11-15-2006, 03:39 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I've been keeping up with all of the Cubs moves and commenting on them. If you don't care, you don't have to post in the thread or read it.

[/ QUOTE ]

So wouldnt it be more efficient to start a "Cubs: Offseason thread" if thats the case?

Propertarian · #7 11-15-2006, 03:47 PM

Perhaps, but I want to put the signings as headlines, and that way people don't have to dig through it to find out if a new signing has taken place and who it was.

joe c · #8 11-15-2006, 04:20 PM

If the Cubs use Derosa in RF and Theriot at 2b v. Lefties this could work out well seeing how Jones can't hit them. But as a full time 2b, I don't know. They do face a good number of lefties in the NL central.

Blanco is expensive for a backup catcher, but he is a pretty good backup and hopefully entices Z to stick around.

Propertarian · #9 11-15-2006, 04:51 PM

I don't think they will platoon Jones but they definitely should.

I just about punched the wall when they decided to carry Freddie motha [censored] Bynum instead of Restovich this Spring...Restovich is a huge upgrade over Jones against lefties. But so is Neifi Perez...

J.R. · #10 11-15-2006, 05:36 PM

[ QUOTE ]

In all seriousness, this contract is a gamble. Adding in his solid D at about a bazillion positions, his VORP + RAR (defensive VORP, more or less) was over 40 last season; if he can average 30 per year this contract is a bargain. But if he plays like he did in 04 and 05...

[/ QUOTE ]

Propertarian,

Couple questions and a comment.

--What is this RAR you cite as a defensive metric? I assume from your use its something akin to fielding runs above replacement, although i hope that isn't what you are using. From where are you getting this stat?

--Derosa's 2006 VORP was 21.9, yet you say his VORP + RAR was over 40. Are you suggesting Derosa was more than 18 runs above replacement in the field? If so, that's an absurdly large number.

--You also say if his VORP + RAR averages 30 over this contract then it is a bargain. I think you may be underestimating the market. Baseball is flush with cash, as this year's free agent signings will reveal. Whether this is like the late early 00's bubble, or is in fact is reflective of a new revenue picture that is sustainable remains to be seen. I think its a new world that will continue to grow as Asia is a huge untapped source of revenue, more teams are getting their own TV networks up and running, and new, more profitable ballparks are being built (ala Cisco field). The ease and quickness with which of the new CBA was passed is evidence of this- MLB and MLBPA realize u don't kill a cash cow.

Anyway, the point is we don't really have a good frame of reference for measuring new contracts, because there is so much more cash to go around. Comparing 2006 deals to those in the recent past is really apples to oranges. You can't fairly speculate how good/bad deals are by simply looking at the player's on field performance, because the revenue landscape is so unique and for the foreeseable future, still growing. Joe Sheehan wrote about this yesterday at BP. link