Top Free agents of 2018 suck

[kburjr]

Harper, Machado and Donaldson have so far made signing big ticket free agents to huge contracts look like a huge mistake. Going to hurt players a lot next year.

 

[navamind]

Lmao what? Machado is a SS/3B with a 122 OPS+ and Donaldson has a 124 OPS+. They're doing pretty well. Harper's struggling, but it's pointless to fret about performance when you're only a quarter of the way into the first season of their contracts. Sandoval's first 30 games in Boston went pretty well (hit .302/.372/.448), we all know how that one panned out.

 

[northeastphillyguy]

Nobody can make you hit. They are set for life no matter what they produce!

 

[navamind]

that being said, Harper has seen his K% rise significantly (30.7% in 2019, career average of 21.5% and it was 20.1% in 2017) and he's making a lot less contact than he has throughout his career (only 66.8%, his career average is 74.8%). Can't really point to a low BABIP either, it's at .303 (career .317). I do think those trends are pretty worrisome.

 

[kburjr]

Lmao what? Machado is a SS/3B with a 122 OPS+ and Donaldson has a 124 OPS+. They're doing pretty well. Harper's struggling, but it's pointless to fret about performance when you're only a quarter of the way into the first season of their contracts.

+122 and +124 ain't worth their contracts.

 

[navamind]

+122 and +124 ain't worth their contracts.

Donaldson's on pace for 4+ WAR, which would certainly be worth $23M in today's baseball economy (at least going by $/WAR).

 

[nynasty]

And then you have DJ Lemahieu, AKA, steal of the off-season.

 

[kburjr]

Nobody can make you hit. They are set for life no matter what they produce!

My point is the risk/reward the clubs take. They are paying for current and future production. Unless these guys put up 8-9 WAR years, the contracts are not worth it, IMO.

 

[navamind]

and I'm not sure I'd group Donaldson in with them considering it's a one-year deal. He might get a good contract next winter, but I doubt anyone's giving him much beyond 4-5 years given his age.

 

[kburjr]

Lmao what? Machado is a SS/3B with a 122 OPS+ and Donaldson has a 124 OPS+. They're doing pretty well. Harper's struggling, but it's pointless to fret about performance when you're only a quarter of the way into the first season of their contracts. Sandoval's first 30 games in Boston went pretty well (hit .302/.372/.448), we all know how that one panned out.

Donaldson vs 137 OPS+ for career

Machado vs 121 for career

 

[kburjr]

and I'm not sure I'd group Donaldson in with them considering it's a one-year deal. He might get a good contract next winter, but I doubt anyone's giving him much beyond 4-5 years given his age.

I can't see paying him for more than 3. He'll be 34 by next season

 

[Chewbaccer]

Donaldson has some of the most hollow stats out there. He did a lot of damage against the Marlins, but outside of that, nothing productive he's done has been anything of significance.

And his defense cost us a game in Cincinnati.

I'm about over him.

"Let's give a guy the biggest contract on the team when he can only play the position we're deepest at when we have the worst bullpen in baseball."

 

[Myles]

Goldschmidt is doing pretty good considering he started slow.

 

[Chewbaccer]

Goldschmidt is doing pretty good considering he started slow.

Not a free agent.

 

[kburjr]

Donaldson's on pace for 4+ WAR, which would certainly be worth $23M in today's baseball economy (at least going by $/WAR).

Compare him to Moustakas at $10 million

 

[navamind]

Compare him to Moustakas at $10 million

Moustakas is outperforming him thus far, but Donaldson's also been a waaaaaay better player than Moose has ever been.

 

[navamind]

Donaldson vs 137 OPS+ for career

Machado vs 121 for career

Just because someone's not hitting to his career average doesn't mean he isn't doing well. A 124 OPS+ is still very good by 3rd base standards (he's hitting .254/.376/.465; the average 3rd baseman is hitting .251/.326/.428). And a career 137 OPS+ is pretty amazing (pretty sure it ranks in the top 10 all-time at 3rd base).

 

[kburjr]

Moustakas is outperforming him thus far, but Donaldson's also been a waaaaaay better player than Moose has ever been.

$13 million per year difference? I don't see it. Donaldson didn't play for the Braves before. Paying for past performance is a non-issue. They paid him to produce and thru 1/4 of his contract, he hasn't.

 

[Chewbaccer]

$13 million per year difference? I don't see it. Donaldson didn't play for the Braves before. Paying for past performance is a non-issue. They paid him to produce and thru 1/4 of his contract, he hasn't.

There's no such thing as a bad one year deal. If he completely falls off the map, the Braves could simply cut bait and it wouldn't hurt them in the future the way it did when they had to pay Derek Lowe and Dan Uggla to play for other teams, or having to lump in BJ Upton with Craig Kimbrel just to be able to move him, which greatly diminished the return we could have got for Kimbrel had we traded him alone.

 

[Bolts]

If Machado's 122 OPS+ and 1.6 WAR less than 50 games into the season is him when he sucks, I can't wait to see him play like the MVP candidate he's capable of being. It's easy to have high expectations for a 300mil player, but he's been a good offensive player with great defense at 2 positions.