He says:
Does it make sense to walk away from guaranteed millions to play independent league ball or return to college for another year, while assuming the risk of injury or diminished performance (see Matt Harrington) will damage your value?
I just don't see it. I hope Alvarez signs.
As much as I'd love to remain as optimistic as Buster (and others), I'm still 50-50 at best on whether or not a deal actually gets done. It's absolutely the right thing to do to avoid paying ridiculous amounts of money to Mr. Alvarez and his agent (the Dread Pirate Boras), and I won't necessarily fault Frank Coonnelly and/or Neal Huntington for walking away from a bad deal, but they need to find a way to sign this guy, too.
In other draft pick news, Tanner Scheppers, the second round pick out of Fresno State who is recovering from a shoulder injury, was at PNC Park yesterday to throw 25 pitches for assembled dignitaries in order to show his relative health and perhaps sign a deal before midnight Friday.
Nothing really surprising there, except this towards the middle:
Freddy Sanchez and Jack Wilson - the National League's top double play tandem - sat out another game yesterday.
...(record scratch)...
I'm not trying to disparage my own team (most of the time), but in what universe, exactly, are Freddy Sanchez and Jack Wilson the National League's best double-play tandem? Offensively, defensively, or otherwise? Offensively, especially given Sanchez's performance this year, just about everyone is better, especially Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla, but also reigning NL MVP Jimmy Rollins and some guy named Chase Utley. Defensively, Adam Kennedy and Cesar Izturis are probably better, as are Troy Tulowitzki and whoever is playing second base that day. That's just off the top of my head.
Screw it, just take a look at the numbers (h/t to Baseball-Reference.com, and Baseball Prospectus, as always):
Offense:
Freddy Sanchez: .249/.271/.347, 66 OPS+ (!!!!) among NL second basemen. -11.1 VORP, by far the worst among NL second basemen. That's "terrible, god-awful, miserable, never should be in the top of the lineup, or the lineup at all" bad.
Jack Wilson: .271/.319/.331, 85 OPS+ among NL shortstops. 1.7 VORP, meaning he's played just above replacement level when he's played at all. The only consolation is that Brian Bixler (-6.9 VORP) and Luis Rivas (-3.3 VORP) have actually played worse.
Defense:
Freddy Sanchez: He's still got well above average range for a second baseman, as his range factor indicates (5.21 RF9 vs. 4.82 LgRF9), and he's only made 7 errors, but his FRAR (fielding runs above replacement) for the season is at 0, and his FRAA (fielding runs above average) is at -21. That speaks for itself.
Jack Wilson: J-Dub also has above average range (5.10 RF9 vs. 4.43 LgRF9), but his FRAR is only at 9, and his FRAA is a stunning 0. Again, when he's played this year, it's been at replacement level. It boggles my mind that people don't understand why teams aren't throwing the Pirates three good prospects for this guy.
Feel free to email the Trib and let them know how ridiculous this homerism looks to even mildly intelligent people.
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