Here’s one that came out of nowhere.
Storen is coming off of a disastrous year. Per ESPN Stats, Storen’s ERA pre-Paps signing was 1.64. Afterwards, it ballooned to a ghastly 7.56. Frustration in losing his closing gig caused Storen to break his thumb in an unfortunate locker accident.
Revere played moderately well for Toronto, but ultimately suffered from too many outfielders in the organization to prove too valuable. Benny Fresh looks to solve a problem for the Nationals in finding a replacement player for the aging Jayson Werth.
Storen might get a go-to closer’s position again, since this was a weakness on the Blue Jays’ roster.
Fan Interference 
Speaking of outfielders, I’m pissed that Mo wouldn’t pay $31M for Denard Span. Or that he didn’t look at Ben Revere being available for that price.
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Why? Span isn’t an upgrade over Grichuk or Piscotty or Pham…and he’ll be 32 next year…not great for a guy that gets most of his value playing defense and coming off a hip injury.
Revere would be a 5th OFer who can’t hit, they could have just kept Bourjos if they wanted that…and Anthony Garcia may be pushing for PT in 2016.
If they were going to sign an OFer, they needed to sign one that is an upgrade over what they already have….not one that is redundant or a 5th OFer.
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Revere hits better than Bourjos. Can’t believe that’s a serious comparison. Otherwise, per Miklasz, Grichuk has had injuries, and the team has a fairly small sample size on him, and a definitely small one on Piscotty. Pham’s already going to be 28; if he were that MLB-ready, he’d already have played more.
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Career wRC+
Bourjos 90
Revere 87
Revere has no power and doesn’t walk. He is all empty average.
It’s almost like the minor leagues and scouting don’t exist…but they do. The Cardinals already have 4 guys better than Revere and as good as Span to not risk over $30M on a redundant part that is past prime.
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Yes, they are equal in batting, when Bourjos has been on the field. That’s the if right there.
Span? I’ve seen post-rehab video. Don’t think he’s a risk at the price the Giants paid. Reverting back to 2014 season, name me 4 Cardinal OFs as good as Denard Span of that year.
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Reminder. Before 2015, Span was a 3 WAR player or better. The Cards do not have 4 proven OFs who are that good. As for his rehab? https://twitter.com/thisisdspan/status/684047970493403136
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Well, it isn’t before 2015 anymore, is it?
Span’s ceiling isn’t that high. The marginal wins you might gain would have been small, if any, and decrease with each ensuing year.
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Also, as I note on my blog, Holliday’s contract expires in a year, if the team doesn’t pick up the option. You then slide Denard to left.
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And, the Giants think his ceiling is high enough, and they’ve in general been one of the smarter teams in free agency.
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Ah, the Giants’ record in FA. Let’s take a look.
2011
Signed Aubrey Huff for 2 years and $22M. He was horrible. -1.2 fWAR
Miguel Tejada for 1 year and $6.5M. He was horrible, put up -0.1 fWAR
2012
Javier Lopez for 2 years and $8.5M. He was good both years, putting up 1.4 fWAR, which is solid for a reliever.
Jeremy Affelt for 1 year and $5M. He was really good and put up 0.9 fWAR
2013
Signed 31 yr old Angel Pagan for 4 years and $40M, because he was a “proven” 3-5 win player…proceeded to put up 1.4, 1.8, and -0.5 fWAR so far…$30M is kinda expensive for 2.7 fWAR.
Signed Proven Veteran(TM) Marco Scutaro for 3 years and $20M. He put up 2.7 fWAR his first year, and followed that up with a -0.2 and then missed all of 2015 with injury.
Jeremy Affeldt for 3 yrs and $18M. He was horrible in 2013 and 2015 and good in 2014 (total of -0.8 fWAR over 3 years).
2014
Tim Hudson for 2 years and $23M. They got 300 IP and 2.0 fWAR total
TIm Lincecum for 2 years and $35M. He was horrible both years and produced 0.4 fWAR
Javier Lopez for 3 yrs and $13M. He’s been worth -0.1 fWAR the first 2 years.
Michael Morse for 1 yr and $6M. Finally got their money’s worth with 0.9 fWAR
Resigned Pence for 5 yrs and $90M. He was great in 2014 and good when not injured in 2015. 6.3 fWAR over the first 2 years. Will be 33 next year.
Vogelslong for 1 yr and $5M. Below average pitcher. 1.3 fWAR
2015
Aoki for 1 yr and $4.7M. Was solid before injury.
Peavy for 2 years and $24M. Got hurt, was league average while healthy.
Vogelslong for 1 yr and $4M. He was horrible.
Romo for 2 years and $15M. Was excellent in 2015.
That is pretty much every signing over $1M they’ve made. The Giants’ record in FA the last 5 years is NOT good…it isn’t even okay. They are paying over $12M per win in FA the last 5 years.
The Span signing may turn out great…but an appeal to the Giant’s authority is not warranted.
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Finally, I said I thought the deal’s worth it even if we discount 20 percent from 2014 Span.
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My team simply can’t get a break this off-season.
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Well, they caught a break when Davis turned down their offer….but because they are likely the only team offering more than $100M…I mean, not a lot of teams willing to spend $150M on a 30 yr old 1B that has had 2 good seasons so far, a 30% k rate and provides no value on defense or the bases. He’s great if he hits HRs and has a high babip, and he’s horrible if his HR rate or babip slips.
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Take it easy, scout. There’s a big bucket of blue crabs waiting for you down the street, where I wish there was one with my name on it waiting for me. Go over there and drown your self-abnegation in old bay seasoning, duck the chitinous shrapnel from the other hammerhappies at the adjacent tables, and be patient. Let us not forget: Peter Angelos is a genius.
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“provides no value on defense”
Let me guess… you’ve never seen Davis play first base, right? What metric to you use for providing value on defense, Paper? Just curious…
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1B don’t provide defensive value unless they are truly exceptional defenders, which Davis isn’t. Playing good defense for a 1B is like being a good hitter for a pitcher….yes, that is providing value over an average player at the position, but that doesn’t make someone an above average defender or hitter.
For his career, Davis has -3 DRS and a 0.2 UZR/150….meaning he has essentially been an average 1B in the field….but 1B as a group are far below average defenders…which is why he’s a -67 runs on defense for his career.
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I guess I’ve only been seriously watching him play 1B for the past couple of years, but my eye-test says he’s damn good with the glove over that time, and DRS backs that up. There are only 3 first basemen in MLB with better DRS in the past 2 seasons.
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As I am sure you know, defensive stats take a long time to get meaningful sample sizes. If you include just one more year, Davis falls to 5 DRS and 8th among 1B.
The point still stands. Almost by definition, 1B don’t contribute defensive value, the best you can hope for is that they are an average defender….the best 1B has been worth negative runs over the last 3 years
This is why scouts (and teams) always refer to whether or not a bat will play at particular position, because simply by changing positions you are gaining or losing defensive value. Some bats play at SS or C because those positions have so much defensive value….whereas a guy has to mash to be a useful 1B because they have essentially no defensive value…just about anyone can play 1B, that level of defensive ability is so low that it is really easy to replace, and effectively has no value unless a guy is a wizard overthere…and if a guy could be that good at 1B, he’s usually playing somewhere else.
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Note: I didn’t say he was a bad defender for a 1B, I said he provided no value on defense, which is true for all 1B as it is 1 step from being a DH and pretty much anyone has the potential to play the position, making that “skill” fungible.
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I wonder if the Jays are trying to chub up the bullpen or if this means they’re going to try Osuna as a starter now.
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I like “chub up.” May I borrow it?
Of course, if you say no, I’ll just climb in through the window tonight and steal it anyway, ’cause that’s the kind of guy I am.
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Please do. It’s versatile.
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Good news for Dalton Pompey, I guess.
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This is great for Storen. He escapes an atmosphere that has grown so toxic earthlings can no longer breathe it, he puts 300 miles between himself and Frank Rizzo, and he lands smack dab in the middle of beaver country with regular access to the cabbage borscht and smoked meat sandwiches at Caplansky’s. Rizzo, on the other hand, no longer has to look at his roster and get poked in the eye by the stats of the dumbest trade he ever made.
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I think the dumbest trade of Rizzo’s career is going to be the one he DOESN’T make. He apparently reiterated today that he is not going to trade Papelbon. All part of his genius plan to push his 23 year old MVP outfielder one step further out the door.
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