It's pretty damning that the entire starting OF for the Angels is included on this list.

RP: Mark Prior, San Diego, $1 million – And to think, other teams wanted to offer him more. Seeing as this exceeds the minimum Prior was eligible to receive by about half a million dollars, it doesn’t make him overpaid, per se. At this point, though, signing Prior is like throwing away money, which is one of the sad stories of this era.

That's pretty silly to include Prior's $1M as overpaid. Sure, it didn't work out. But it was worth a one-year commitment at $1M to give it a shot.

Many of Passan's underpaid guys are still in their reserve years, which makes the second half of the article pretty uninteresting.

Many of Passan's underpaid guys are still in their reserve years, which makes the second half of the article pretty uninteresting.

Yea, I thought this: "Baseball rules artificially depress their salary, and the credit due to teams for signing them doesn’t apply." would mean no pre-FA guys, but he included a bunch of arbitration eligible, pre-FA guys. I'd be more interested in reading about the best FA bargains.

The same caveat applies this year as did last: no players who have yet to hit arbitration. Baseball rules artificially depress their salary, and the credit due to teams for signing them doesn’t apply.

2B: Ian Kinsler, Texas, $700,000

Technically, Kinsler will never reach arbitration, but he has only two years of service time, so his salary for this year is depressed as much as any other pre-arb player.

That's pretty silly to include Prior's $1M as overpaid. Sure, it didn't work out. But it was worth a one-year commitment at $1M to give it a shot.

Prior is just the latest athlete to be derided by the press because they are jealous.

Yea, I thought this: "Baseball rules artificially depress their salary, and the credit due to teams for signing them doesn’t apply." would mean no pre-FA guys, but he included a bunch of arbitration eligible, pre-FA guys. I'd be more interested in reading about the best FA bargains.

He did include all guys that make above the minimum, though. In fact, all the hitters he included were guys that signed contracts, not arbitration.

Sample size, please. Is Vlad really that weak a hitter? No. Is Doug Brocail really good enough to be called an underpaid reliever at 2.5 million? No.

Kerry Wood was scheduled to make $4,200,000 (as noted by Passan) even if he hurt himself getting out the hot tub and missed the year. His contract also has another $3,450,000 in performance bonuses (hat tip: Cot's) if he is the full-time closer.

In other words, does he really belong on an "All-Underpaid" at $7,650,000, which is what he is going to make if he keeps this up?

He did include all guys that make above the minimum, though.

In fact, if I would have read the intro, he doesn't include anyone who hasn't hit arbitration.

Is Vlad really that weak a hitter? No.

But that's the point. In 65 games, you expect more than .276/.335/.472 for your $15.5 million.

Kinsler is in the 1st year of a contract that averages over $4M for 5 years. He's only underpaid because this is the cheap year of the deal.

his defense is subpar even by his standards

If enough people keep saying something that isn't true, some people will eventually believe them.

I had no idea how far Jeff Kent has fallen off the cliff this year. Yikes.

If enough people keep saying something that isn't true, some people will eventually believe them.

You are trying to prove that correct.

In fact, all the hitters he included were guys that signed contracts, not arbitration.

There's really no reason to differentiate between a guy who actually had his contract decided by arbitration and a guy who signed a contract to avoid arbitration.

If Jose Reyes were a FA last winter, would he only be making $4M in 2008? Of course not. The Mets have him signed to a "bargain" contract through 2010 (with a $11M option for 2011) because he is still in his reserve years. The Mets should only be credited for signing him to a bargain contract for the FA years that they bought out (2010 and 2011), which of course are quite a bit more than his reserve year salaries.

If Jose Reyes were a FA last winter, would he only be making $4M in 2008? Of course not.

Maybe, maybe not. The end result is that no one forced Jose Reyes to sign that deal, he did it himself. So, yeah, I think he should be included in this because he chose to play for that deal, no one forced him to. He could have easily just done three one year deals.

Kinsler is in the 1st year of a contract that averages over $4M for 5 years. He's only underpaid because this is the cheap year of the deal.


Then for this year, he's underpaid.

You are trying to prove that correct.

Go ahead BLB, provide some evidence that Jeter is playing below his normal standard of defense.

I had no idea how far Jeff Kent has fallen off the cliff this year. Yikes.

drug testing says hi

Go ahead BLB, provide some evidence that Jeter is playing below his normal standard of defense.

THT's fielding win shares has him in a four way tie for 11th-14th. The upside of that tie is a little below his norm (it's a counting stat, he plays over 90%). The downside is well below it.

I had no idea how far Jeff Kent has fallen off the cliff this year. Yikes.

drug testing says hi

Given that Jeff Kent is on record - both this season and before - as advocating an even MORE stringent MLB drug policy (including blood testing and HGH testing relative to blood levels) I find this hard to believe. Kent may be crusty unlikable bastard, but he doesn't strike me as a hypocrite.

FWS is a rather ridiculous metric. THT's RZR has him at .847, 6th among MLB shortstops. It's also his highest in the past five years, so his true talent is almost certainly more in the realm of being a below-average defensive SS.

THT's fielding win shares has him in a four way tie for 11th-14th. The upside of that tie is a little below his norm (it's a counting stat, he plays over 90%). The downside is well below it.

I can't believe people still take Win Shares fielding seriously. It's not a PBP metric. RZR has Jeter at second in the American League, ZR has him at his career average.

If you want to believe Win Shares, sure he might be worse this year. Hey, Bpro says he's doing terrible too! I think they're both worthless.

And Bradley has strained his left quad for the second time in a week. "Unrealistic" is definitely one way of putting it.

Given that Jeff Kent is on record - both this season and before - as advocating an even MORE stringent MLB drug policy (including blood testing and HGH testing relative to blood levels) I find this hard to believe. Kent may be crusty unlikable bastard, but he doesn't strike me as a hypocrite.

That, and drug testing has already been going on for a few years. I think him being 40 might have something to do with it.

Maybe, maybe not. The end result is that no one forced Jose Reyes to sign that deal, he did it himself. So, yeah, I think he should be included in this because he chose to play for that deal, no one forced him to. He could have easily just done three one year deals.

The point is that he had a choice between the long-term guaranteed contract or 3 one-year deals below market value because that's how reserve rights work. He may or may not have gotten more money had he not signed the deal (there's no way to know for sure even in hindsight much less at the time).

The NY Mets had control of Reyes until his FA years no matter what he wanted and, given the way it works, the Mets were guaranteed to get that for below free-market value. So the fact that he's a 'bargain' is meaningless really. If the author made the case that he's a major bargain compared to what he would have gotten -- i.e. that he's a bargain ($/production) compared to other SS of similar service time -- then he'd have a case. Barring doing that, the list really should be only of FA-eligible players.

Then for this year, [Kinsler's] underpaid.

Including Kinsler is laughable. For this year, Kinsler is OVERPAID. The Rangers could have forced him to sign for, what, $500,000 -- whatever the minimum is for 2 years of service time.

Including Kinsler is laughable. For this year, Kinsler is OVERPAID. The Rangers could have forced him to sign for, what, $500,000 -- whatever the minimum is for 2 years of service time.

BUT HE'S NOT! Live in the real world. These guys make that money, that is a fact. So, considering that the Rangers are getting All-Star talent for $700,000, he's underpaid. You can say what you want about "he could've got this, he didn't have leverage", he's a grown man, he made a decision to sign the contract.

BUT HE'S NOT! Live in the real world. These guys make that money, that is a fact. So, considering that the Rangers are getting All-Star talent for $700,000, he's underpaid. You can say what you want about "he could've got this, he didn't have leverage", he's a grown man, he made a decision to sign the contract.

That's dumb.

That line on Andruw Jones training in a Hostess factory was priceless. I wonder if we will see a slimmed down version of him when he comes off the DL, or if not, we will continue to hear "it's not the fat; it's the bat speed".

I was going to say Oakland is even underrated at being underrated, but Duke sneaked onto the list. Ellis would have been a good choice for second base - he only made 3.5M last year.

BUT HE'S NOT! Live in the real world. These guys make that money, that is a fact. So, considering that the Rangers are getting All-Star talent for $700,000, he's underpaid. You can say what you want about "he could've got this, he didn't have leverage", he's a grown man, he made a decision to sign the contract.

It has to do with the context of each signing. A FA signs with the team willing to pay him the most. A pre-FA player will sign a contract in the context of knowing that he will be paid a fixed amount until four years of service time and have two years of arbitration. Those rules cap the amount of money he can expect to make and, therefore, he agrees to sign for less than a FA. Yes, he makes a choice by signing, but in no way is it the same choice a FA makes.

I think I'd rather have Jeter for $21M than Lugo for $9M.

RZR has Jeter at second in the American League, ZR has him at his career average.

Hooray for defensive stats in samples that are too small to have any precision!

Kinsler is in the 1st year of a contract that averages over $4M for 5 years. He's only underpaid because this is the cheap year of the deal.

Assuming he can maintain this year's productivity going forward, Kinsler will be underpaid at $4M/year as well.

I think I'd rather have Jeter for $21M than Lugo for $9M.

His career OPS+ is 88
he's up to 87 on the year, what were the sawx expecting?

BTW, Renteria has turned back into the Redsox version... Lugo is outplaying him...