2059 AL Albatross List
May 21, 2021 17:06:00 GMT -5
Rich - Former GM, Tim_GiantsGM, and 3 more like this
Post by MetDaMeats on May 21, 2021 17:06:00 GMT -5
To anyone who hasn't seen this before, this is my collection of the 2059 Albatross contracts. The largest, longest, payroll busters that hang around the neck of nearly every team. As always, my comments are meant to be humorous. I'm wrong as often as I'm right. Please don't feel that anything below is a personal criticism. They're purely meant for entertainment! Extra points if you can identify the Simpsons quotes poorly hidden within.
LEGEND:
* A great contract. No need to worry.
** Has some downside, but could make you look pretty smart.
*** A few red flags that could go either way.
**** This contract may be having a negative impact on the team.
***** Severe Albatross potential on every level.
Baltimore Orioles.
The Orioles are a young team with a couple one-and-done larger contracts. No Albatross sightings heres.
Boston Red Sox
** (New) Octavio Macias (2B)
Chicago White Sox
***** (+ 3 Stars) Harry Casz (DH)
**** (No change) Angelo Cruz (RF)
**** (No change) Fernando Gonzalez (SS)
** (New) Sifaks Ben Hassi (1B)
Cleveland Indians
** (No change) Kip Blue (SP)
** (No change) Joe McGee (3B)
** (No change) Carlos Rocha (SP)
Colorado Rockies
*** (New) Ken Cooper (SP)
Detroit Tigers
** (New) Dave Baker (RF)
* (-1 star) Jotaro Inagaki (SS)
Houston Astros
** (New) Berhanu Pnyango (SP)
* (No change) Paul Burke (SP)
* (New) Bill Smith (RF)
Kansas City Royals
***** (+1 star) Jose Contreras (2B)
** (No change) Pablo Diaz (1B)
** (-1 star) Bill Kachmar (RF)
* (No change) Jorge Salazar (DH)
Los Angeles Angels
*** (New) Kenzaburo Sato (CF)
** (New) Gilberto Vasquez (SP)
Minnesota Twins
** (New) Ramon Crus (SS)
New York Yankees
**** (+1 star) Bobby Lott (LF)
*** (No change) Felix Gomez (C)
*** (No change) Carl Holmes (RF)
** (No change) Jin-song Xiu (1B)
Oakland Athletics
***** (+3 stars) Travis Olsen (2B)
**** (+1 star) Cesar Perez (C)
**** (+1 star) Hua-Ding Xie (SP)
Seattle Mariners
Jude Herbert’s poor play in 2058 has put the Mariners in a bit of a bind. There are losing scenarios if they extend him, comp him, trade him or let him walk. Maybe next year he’ll be an albatross?
Tampa Bay Rays
**** (+2 stars) John Miller (SP)
** (No change) Fernando Gutierrez (SP)
** (No change) Yusuke Tanaka (RF)
* (No change) Eduardo Gutierrez (SP)
Texas Rangers
* (No change) Brady Henderson (3B)
* (No change) Makalani Korra (CF)
* (New) German Santos (SP)
Toronto Blue Jays
Today I’m off to my first live baseball game (Red Sox at Phillies) in quite some time. I appreciate the Jays letting me cut this list short and get out of here early!
LEGEND:
* A great contract. No need to worry.
** Has some downside, but could make you look pretty smart.
*** A few red flags that could go either way.
**** This contract may be having a negative impact on the team.
***** Severe Albatross potential on every level.
Baltimore Orioles.
The Orioles are a young team with a couple one-and-done larger contracts. No Albatross sightings heres.
Boston Red Sox
** (New) Octavio Macias (2B)
- $39.32 Mill through 2062.
- $9.83 player option in 2063.
- Does Macias even deserve to be an albatross? Pro: His contract has him playing till he’s 38. Con: His contract is pretty cheap. Pro: He’s a platoon guy who hasn’t batted over .240 in 4 years. Con: That’s pretty much half of the infielders in the PBL. Honestly, I’m stumped here so I’m just putting him on this year’s list and he’ll get deleted next year when the Sox sign Walt Perez for 35 Mill a year.
Chicago White Sox
***** (+ 3 Stars) Harry Casz (DH)
- $26 Mill through 2060.
- Would be a smidge overpriced for an outfield platoon bat. But the way his fielding has degraded, you put him in a non-DH position at your peril. And as a DH, his below average HR and BB rate are going to hurt you. Personally, I don’t think he has a place in this lineup and Sifaks should probably be DH going forward.
**** (No change) Angelo Cruz (RF)
- $40 Mill through 2061.
- $12 Mill player option in 2062.
- As of today in Spring Training, Cruz is out with an undisclosed injury. What does that even mean? I can’t tolerate a man who keeps secrets from the ball club. Just admit it Cruz. You staple-gunned your nether regions to a household appliance. We all know.
**** (No change) Fernando Gonzalez (SS)
- $42 Mill through 2060.
- $20 Mill player option in 2061.
- Still one of the best defensive infielders in the game. I’m sure the White Sox would vastly prefer to have a super-infield duo of Gonzalez and Wilfred Vasquez. However, Fernando’s nasty DL stints might keep that from occurring regularly.
** (New) Sifaks Ben Hassi (1B)
- $87.5 Mill through 2063.
- $17.5 player option in 2064.
- Steve Guindon’s shocking retirement has given the Sox one less superstar, but a little more breathing room for roster spots. This is important because Sifaks decided he’d like to spend the bulk of his 30s on the South Side.
Cleveland Indians
** (No change) Kip Blue (SP)
- $94 Mill through 2061.
- $36 Mill team option in 2062 with a $9 Mill buyout.
- Although no team with a superstar pitcher (let alone 2) should complain about their situation, having an older guy be the bedrock of your rotation comes with some downsides. They regress suddenly (Hello Mr. Sanchez) and they are near impossible to replace without a severe downgrade. Anyway. That’s a problem for future-Cleveland.
** (No change) Joe McGee (3B)
- $66 Mill through 2061.
- $23 Mill player option in 2062.
- Guys like McGee are tricky. The difference between his mediocre seasons and his best ones are around 10 more homeruns and 15 more hits. It’s just hard to get excited for him. He doesn’t earn his WAR by being good. He earns it by every other 3rd baseman else being bad.
** (No change) Carlos Rocha (SP)
- $56 Mill through 2060.
- $28 Mill team option in 2061 with a $7 Mill buyout.
- $28 Mill team option in 2062 with a $7 Mill buyout.
- A solid but expensive contract. No, I don’t have anything to say about Rocha, so let’s take a moment for Alfredo Sanchez. Is it just me, or does Sanchez have a few more years of reliable relief pitching in him when the Indian’s refuse his option next year?
Colorado Rockies
*** (New) Ken Cooper (SP)
- $38 Mill through 2061.
- $14 Mill team option in 2062 with a $3.5 Mill buyout.
- $14 Mill team option in 2063 with a $3.5 Mill buyout.
- I knew better than to extend a guy after a career year. If a player averages a 1.20 WHIP his entire career, and pitches 0.95 once, you have to remind yourself that outliers exist. Fortunately, I avoided paying Cooper like a guy with a 0.95 WHIP. If I had, I might be in some real trouble with this contract.
Detroit Tigers
** (New) Dave Baker (RF)
- $125.78 Mill through 2065.
- $22.04 Mill team option in 2066 with a $7 Mill buyout.
- He’s the bright shining star of the Tiger’s outfield. That being said, this is a better team with 3 slightly above average bats in the outfield and Baker as DH. Of course, the challenge is finding those 3 magical outfielders. I would suggest finding a mystical gnome of some sort? Or, like, one of those wizards that are, like, also genies? Those are good too.
* (-1 star) Jotaro Inagaki (SS)
- $60 Mill through 2061.
- Expensive contracts can be tough to move, but I would have to say this is one of the more tradable deals in the $20 Mill range. Who wouldn’t want a power hitting upgrade in the middle infield with solid defense?
Houston Astros
** (New) Berhanu Pnyango (SP)
- $41 Mill through 2061.
- Player opt out after 2061.
- $13 Mill through 2062.
- Now here’s a guy with an interesting name! His movement scares me. But when you strike out 250+ guys every year, you can afford to give up 30+ dingers. In a time where pitching is scarce he adds to the nasty rotation of Burke, Vargas, Sims and Ferreira (if he’s healthy), all of whom are 30 or younger.
* (No change) Paul Burke (SP)
- $72 Mill through 2062.
- Promised role: Starting Pitcher.
- FACT: Paul Burke was a fifth round draft pick. A fifth rounder. That’s the kind of pick you throw into a trade just for fun. And his control improved from a rating of 1 to a 6. Most guys stall out at 4. Paul Burke is a minor miracle. This kind of thing just doesn’t happen.
* (New) Bill Smith (RF)
- $52.8 Mill through 2062.
- Despite having the kind of name you’d use for a phony identity when you sign into a sleazy motel, this guy has been super productive. In fact, I think people should start calling him “Sleaze.” Just to make the world a little more interesting and, also, so I stop confusing him with San Francisco’s Bill White.
Kansas City Royals
***** (+1 star) Jose Contreras (2B)
- $45 Mill through 2061.
- $15 Mill player option in 2062.
- There is no reason for this guy to be a replacement level player. He somehow manages to underachieve with all five tools. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why.
** (No change) Pablo Diaz (1B)
- $172.3 Mill through 2067.
- A superstar player. A tremendous contract. Do I have anything to say about this? Not even slightly. But in 7 seasons or so you won’t be able to shut me up. Now we play the waiting game…
** (-1 star) Bill Kachmar (RF)
- $53.6 Mill through 2060.
- $26.3 Mill team option in 2061 with a $6.795 Mill buyout.
- $26.3 Mill team option in 2062 with a $6.795 Mill buyout.
- Hey! Last year I suggested (ever so politely) that Kachmar needed to be DH’d to maintain his health. And then he was! Wow, man. This is the kind of moment that makes me feel like maybe, just maybe, these articles aren’t just a primal scream out into the void. Now if only I felt that way about my podcast.
* (No change) Jorge Salazar (DH)
- $22 Mill through 2060.
- $12 Mill team option in 2061 with a $4 Mill buyout.
- $12 Mill team option in 2062 with a $4 Mill buyout.
- You go and trade for a shiny new outfielder with two 9+ WAR years under his belt, and what happens? He immediately breaks his finger. I’m interested to see whether he can hit those heights again when fully healthy. My concern is that the ridiculous dimensions of Milwaukee’s stadium may have inflated those stats somewhat. And my team plays in Mile High, so I know of what I speak.
Los Angeles Angels
*** (New) Kenzaburo Sato (CF)
- $201.066563 Mill through 2064.
- Player opt out after 2064.
- $85.3 Mill through 2066.
- $42.65 Mill player option in 2067.
- Congrats to the WS contending Angels! Now it’s time to spend some cash! In all seriousness, I’m a little concerned over this contract. His speed is top notch but at the end of the day he’s a platoon bat who makes up the difference with his preternatural defensive abilities. I can see a scenario where those skills have degraded enough to make this a dangerous contract in his 30s.
** (New) Gilberto Vasquez (SP)
- $121.78 Mill through 2064.
- Player opt out after 2064.
- $72.39 Mill through 2067.
- You know, it’s very rude of my division opponents to sign their superstar players to extensions rather than trading them for pennies on the dollar. It’s almost as if no one was taking MY feelings into account here.
Minnesota Twins
** (New) Ramon Crus (SS)
- $50 Mill through 2062.
- Player opt out after 2062.
- $25 Mill through 2064.
- If your 2nd and 3rd basemen are strong enough hitters then tossing Crus in at SS could give you an absurdly dangerous lineup. I’m all for that. However, I don’t see those supplementary infielders on the Twins. So in this case, I’d rather have Ramon at a position where he’ll do less ZR damage and fill in SS with a defensive specialist.
New York Yankees
**** (+1 star) Bobby Lott (LF)
- $76 Mill through 2062.
- $18 Mill player option in 2063.
- I don’t like Bobby’s game. He’s got power, and absolutely nothing else. Don’t get me wrong, I love power. It’s that little extra spice that makes existence extra nice. But power all by itself… I mean, have you even eating a spoonful of cinnamon? It’s a bad idea.
*** (No change) Felix Gomez (C)
- $54 Mill through 2060.
- Out in “the real world” the entire MLB is batting an average of .236. That’s the lowest cumulative average in the history of baseball. Anyway. Maybe that puts Felix Gomez’s performance in perspective. Though, maybe not.
*** (No change) Carl Holmes (RF)
- $64 Mill through 2060.
- $30 Mill player option in 2058.
- Seeing Bobby Lott makes me appreciate the little things that Holmes still brings to the table. He can steal a bag or 12. He walks a ton. Just a smattering of other skills that make him worth owning. He’s still way overpriced, but I could see a reasonable trade for him if the Yankees ate a good portion of his contract.
** (No change) Jin-song Xiu (1B)
- $60 Mill through 2061.
- $20 Mill player option in 2062.
- With Ciaravella and Ivan Gomez gone, Xiu can go to DH where he belongs. It’ll be better for him there. And my guess would be Jorge Taylor would move to first? I hate seeing middle infielders transition over there, but when it’s time, it’s time.
Oakland Athletics
***** (+3 stars) Travis Olsen (2B)
- $18.32 Mill through 2059.
- Player opt out after 2059.
- $19.32 Mill through 2060.
- $19.32 Mill player option in 2061.
- With 100% of his contract retained by the A’s, 26.8% of their player payroll is currently going toward a batter playing in San Diego. That’s a hefty chunk of change for any team.
**** (+1 star) Cesar Perez (C)
- $10.5 Mill through 2059.
- $9 Mill player option in 2060.
- Part of me wants to freak out because he’s not a viable catcher anymore, but then I look at his defensive stats and they’re pretty average. I wish I had some way of measuring how a player effected the starters they catch for. I can’t imagine it’s good in Perez’s case.
**** (+1 star) Hua-Ding Xie (SP)
- $41.22 Mill through 2061.
- Player opt out after 2061.
- $14.5 Mill through 2062.
- $14.5 Mill vesting option in 2063 after 160 IP.
- $14.5 Mill vesting option in 2064 after 160 IP.
- Promised position: Starting pitcher.
- Last year I wrote, “…one of these years he’s going to toss one too many floaters and give up 40+ homeruns.” As if by magic, he gave up a league leading 47 long balls in 2058. Did I put a hex on a division rival on purpose? No. That would be cruel. But hey, sometimes accidental hexes happen.
Seattle Mariners
Jude Herbert’s poor play in 2058 has put the Mariners in a bit of a bind. There are losing scenarios if they extend him, comp him, trade him or let him walk. Maybe next year he’ll be an albatross?
Tampa Bay Rays
**** (+2 stars) John Miller (SP)
- $12.94 Mill through 2059.
- $12.94 Mill player option in 2060.
- Promised role: Starting pitcher.
- Miller’s the same guy he’s always been. But losing half the 2059 season to elbow reconstruction is bad news any way you slice it. In retrospect, "any way you slice it" is kind of a gross turn of phrase to use for a surgical procedure. Oh well.
** (No change) Fernando Gutierrez (SP)
- $159.48 Mill through 2066.
- Even if Fernando had been healthy last year, it’s doubtful his contribution would have been worth the 10 Wins the Rays needed to catch up with the Astros. Though when you add that up with the other bizarre injuries their rotation suffered… Yeah. Maybe that was worth 10 wins exactly. Oh well.
** (No change) Yusuke Tanaka (RF)
- $154.47 Mill through 2065.
- He’s like a Shohei Ohtani who can’t pitch! Except… Wait. That’s most star batters. Oh well.
* (No change) Eduardo Gutierrez (SP)
- $84.86 Mill through 2064.
- Did I decide to end every one of Tampa’s writeups with the words “Oh well” because I have nothing substantive to say about the team? Maybe. But your judgement still stings. Oh well.
Texas Rangers
* (No change) Brady Henderson (3B)
- $32 Mill through 2059.
- $32 Mill player option in 2060.
- So. It’s about that time. Do you offer a guy like Brady an extension to play past his 37th birthday? It’s a tough choice. I might do it, but then again, I’m a sentimental ole sap.
* (No change) Makalani Korra (CF)
- $206 Mill through 2068.
- From what I can find online, Fiji has had some notable cricket players, but never had a citizen who played Major League baseball. Can you imagine how insane it would be for a guy like Korra to just pop up as the very first Fijian player? Anyway. Maybe we should all tell our scouts to watch more cricket.
* (New) German Santos (SP)
- $134 Mill through 2064.
- Player opt out after 2064.
- $18 Mill team option in 2065 with a $6.5 Mill buyout.
- $18 Mill team option in 2066 with a $6.5 Mill buyout.
- Promised role: Starting pitcher.
- $2 Mill Cy Young award bonus.
- He managed to win the Cy Young in 2056 and got 3rd place in the voting last year. There’s a real chance Santos could earn himself that extra $2 Mill sometime in the next few years.
Toronto Blue Jays
Today I’m off to my first live baseball game (Red Sox at Phillies) in quite some time. I appreciate the Jays letting me cut this list short and get out of here early!