L.A. Times: Bill Shaikin: Will Chone Figgins run right out of Anaheim?

That could be the wild card in free agency. Figgins already is on the wrong side of 30. We can’t imagine the Angels—or any other team—would be thrilled to sign him to a big-money contract for four or five years and then see him lose his speed after two years.

Not to worry, or so says Dan Szymborski, whose ZIPS system is one of the most highly regarded player projection tools in the sabermetric community. Those systems try to forecast performance by evaluating a player’s most recent seasons as well as the development and decline of similar players at similar ages—speedy center fielders in their early 30s, lumbering sluggers in their mid-20s, and so on.

“In Figgins’ case, he has a broad range of skills,” Szymborski said. “Those types of players tend to age well.”

One-dimensional sluggers do not, he said. But, barring injury, he said there would be no reason to expect Figgins to slow down dramatically.

“When you’re talking about a guy who’s already 31 and is still a speed player, you’re not going to see a sudden decline,” Szymborski said. “There’s no real danger he’s going to become Sean Casey on the bases in the next few years.”

Casey never did run off with a World Series championship ring. Figgins has one. He might earn another in October, and then he might run.