2006 MLB Free Agent Class: A Look Back, Part I

2006 MLB Free Agent Class:  A Look Back, Part I

With this current offseason heading towards a close and almost all of the majors free agents locking up new deals, we look back at a free agent class not too long ago.  It’s been four full seasons now since the offseason heading into 2007, enough time to examine the big moves that were made.  I chose this class because of how shallow the talent was.   Looking at the Top 5 and Worst 5 signings of 2006, we see that even some of the better contracts weren’t that special while the bad ones have become memorable.

The ranking of these players are simple.  I looked at the 20 players that received contracts grossing at least $20 million throughout its span.  To calculate each player’s success, we used one of my favorite stats, WAR (Wins Above Replacement).  WAR shows how many more wins a player would give his team as opposed to a replacement player, or a minor league/bench player, at that position.  For hitters, it takes into account both offensive and defensive ability.  For pitchers, defensive support and performance in high leverage situations play factors.  I divided the amount of money the player received in total from his contract by his WAR to figure out how many millions of dollars a team paid for each win he contributed.

 

Top 5

5.  Daisuke Matsuzaka – Boston Red Sox

The first argument against the Matsuzaka deal is the bid the Red Sox made just to talk to the pitcher.  For the sake of this argument, only money given via contract between team and player is taken into account.  Matsuzaka’s contract was $52 million over six years.  Dice-K’s first two seasons with Boston was very good, averaging 16 wins and a 3.72 earned run average during that span, and grabbed a World Series ring in the process.  After pitching in the World Baseball Classic prior to the 2009 season, Matsuzaka suffered weakness in his throwing arm and spent time on the disabled list.  After pitching over 360 innings in his first two seasons, Matsuzaka was on the mound for only 213 over his next two.  Nonetheless, compared to the other free agents in this class, Matsuzaka’s deal was near the top as his WAR over the four year span was 9.8, making the deal $5.3 million per win.

 

4.  JD Drew – Boston Red Sox

Going into the offseason, questions about Drew’s health emerged, as the right fielder only played in 145 games twice over in his then-nine year span.  Despite that, the Red Sox wrote another big check to grab the future All-Star, signing him for $70 million over five years.  While Drew’s health has remained an issue, his performance has made up for it.  After getting off to a slow start, Drew his 24 and 22 home runs in the 2009 and 2010 seasons respectively and was named the 2008 All-Star Game Most Valuable Player.  In the four years of his contract thus far, his WAR is 5.2, making the deal $5.2 million per win.

 

3.  Mike Mussina – New York Yankees

The Yankees resigned the right-hander to a two year, $23 million dollar deal to culminate his 18 year career.  This would be Mussina’s final contract in baseball, and he did his best to live up to it.  However it didn’t look like that in 2007.  That season, he posted his worst ERA of his career, 5.15, and pitched his least amount of innings, 152, since 1991.  He made up for it in 2008, finally winning twenty games for the first time in his career, having a 3.37 ERA, and getting Cy Young votes for the first time since 2001.  Along with a Gold Glove, Mussina was 10^th amongst American League pitchers in WAR, 6^th in ERA, 2^nd in wins, 8^th in win-loss percentage, 2^nd in walks per nine innings, 4^th in strikeout per ball ratio, and 1^st in games started.  Those two seasons, Mussina had a 4.7 WAR, making his deal $4.9 million per win.

 

2.  Jason Marquis – Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs signed the pitcher to a 3 year, $21 million dollar deal going into the 2007 season.  In his first two seasons, Marquis had a record of 25-18 with a 4.57 ERA for the Cubs, just shy of what the club was hoping to get for $7 million per year.  They traded the arm to Rockies and Marquis played out his contract in Colorado.  If only the Cubs held on to him for one more year.  In 2009, Marquis won 15 games, had a 4.04 ERA, pitched 216 innings, and helped the Rockies win their first pennant in franchise history.   His WAR over that three year contract was 5.1, making the deal worth $4.1 million per win.

 

1.  Ted Lilly – Chicago Cubs

The Cubs reloaded their rotation going into the 2007 season, and Lilly was one of their bullets.  Lilly outperformed all other free agents in his class over the span of his new contract.  The Cubs gave him $40 million over 4 years and Lilly delivered.  Over those four years, Lilly averaged 14 wins and a 3.68 ERA.  In 2008, Lilly won 17 games, the most of his career and made his 2^nd All-Star appearance the year after.  In 2010, Lilly was traded to the Dodgers halfway through the year, finished out his contract with a 7-4 record and 3.52 in Los Angeles, striking out 77 batters while walking only 15.  His WAR over the four year contract was 14, making the deal worth only $2.9 million per win.

 

Honorable Mentions:

Gil Meche – $6.1 million/win

Aubrey Huff – $6.9 million/win

Aramis Ramirez – $7.9 million/win

Juan Pierre – $12.9 million/win

Vicente Padilla – $16.9 million/win

 

These deals may not have blown you away but surprisingly, they were the best this bad bunch had to offer.  In the talent-thin offseason of 2006, if these contracts topped the list, imagine the gems at the bottom of the barrel.  Come back later today to find out Worst 5 contract of the 2006 offseason, here’s a taste…Barry Zito’s is only an honorable mention.