Swisher was plan B to Fukudome

[dew1679666265]

Really? I'm going to have to look at the top 20 pitchers in salary and see where Dempster ranks

 

USA Today has him tied with Greinke for 16th highest pitcher salary. That'll drop, however, starting next year when Cliff Lee's salary jumps from $11 million to $21 million. My range was a little high, but Dempster is slotted in around Lincecum, Greinke and Verlander. None of those three have hit free agency yet, however.

[Tryptamine]

Starting pitchers

The highest-paid starting pitchers, by average annual value:

1. Cliff Lee, $24,000,000 (2011-15)

2. CC Sabathia, $23,000,000 (2009-15)

3. Johan Santana, $22,916,667 (2008-13)

4. Roy Halladay, $20,000,000 (2011-13)

5. Carlos Zambrano, $18,300,000 (2008-12)

6. Barry Zito, $18,000,000 (2007-13)

7. Jake Peavy, $17,333,333 (2010-12)

8. A.J. Burnett, $16,500,000 (2009-13)

. . . John Lackey, $16,500,000 (2010-14)

10. Justin Verlander, $16,000,000 (2010-14)

11. Jason Schmidt, $15,666,667 (2007-09)

12. Felix Hernandez, $15,600,000 (2010-14)

13. Derek Lowe, $15,000,000 (2009-12)

14. Roy Oswalt, $14,600,000 (2007-11)

15. Mark Buehrle, $14,000,000 (2008-11)

16. Roy Halladay, $13,333,333 (2008-10)

17. Pedro Martinez, $13,250,000 (2005-08)

18. Ryan Dempster, $13,000,000 (2009-12)

19. Chris Carpenter, $12,700,000 (2008-11)

20. Bronson Arroyo, $12,500,000 (2009-10)

. . . Pedro Martinez, $12,500,000 (1998-2003)

22. Kevin Millwood, $12,000,000 (2006-10)

 

I completely forgot about Jason Schmidt. That is one bullet the Cubs managed to avoid. A total disaster of a contract.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Starting pitchers

The highest-paid starting pitchers, by average annual value:

1. Cliff Lee, $24,000,000 (2011-15)

2. CC Sabathia, $23,000,000 (2009-15)

3. Johan Santana, $22,916,667 (2008-13)

4. Roy Halladay, $20,000,000 (2011-13)

5. Carlos Zambrano, $18,300,000 (2008-12)

6. Barry Zito, $18,000,000 (2007-13)

7. Jake Peavy, $17,333,333 (2010-12)

8. A.J. Burnett, $16,500,000 (2009-13)

. . . John Lackey, $16,500,000 (2010-14)

10. Justin Verlander, $16,000,000 (2010-14)

11. Jason Schmidt, $15,666,667 (2007-09)

12. Felix Hernandez, $15,600,000 (2010-14)

13. Derek Lowe, $15,000,000 (2009-12)

14. Roy Oswalt, $14,600,000 (2007-11)

15. Mark Buehrle, $14,000,000 (2008-11)

16. Roy Halladay, $13,333,333 (2008-10)

17. Pedro Martinez, $13,250,000 (2005-08)

18. Ryan Dempster, $13,000,000 (2009-12)

19. Chris Carpenter, $12,700,000 (2008-11)

20. Bronson Arroyo, $12,500,000 (2009-10)

. . . Pedro Martinez, $12,500,000 (1998-2003)

22. Kevin Millwood, $12,000,000 (2006-10)

 

I completely forgot about Jason Schmidt. That is one bullet the Cubs managed to avoid. A total disaster of a contract.

 

We had a looooot of interest in Zito back in that offseason as well before we "settled" for Ted Lilly.

[Dallas Green]

OK so I was kind of wrong to suggest Dempster was way over-paid..but I agree with the 10.5 value which is what I would have been comfortable paying him.

[abuck1220]

so they overpaid a good pitcher by like $3 mil/year (in your mind). what a travesty.

[Sammy Sofa]

OK so I was kind of wrong to suggest Dempster was way over-paid..but I agree with the 10.5 value which is what I would have been comfortable paying him.

 

He's only valued at $10.3 million THIS year. And his contract is staggered, so if they had paid him what you want he'd be making $31.5 million from 2009 through this year. His actual contract is $38 million. You're talking about a difference of $6.5 million dollars if you're convinced he's overpaid. This is why people take issue with the article you posted, since the author inexplicably says things like this...

 

I also didn't like the Dempster deal, he is not and never was a $14 million dollar pitcher in my opinion

 

...and actually left it in there.

[Tarver]

Gotta disagree there. The board was very high on Swisher, and thought Williams stole him by only giving up Gonzalez.

 

Stole him? Fautino de los Santos was viewed as highly as Gio, if not higher. de los Santos was coming off a filthy, filthy 2007 and was looking like a future TOR arm. Ryan Sweeney was an upper level CF who was close to ready. Sure, in hindsight, only Gio has panned out, so maybe it feels like a "steal", but giving two high upside arms up, and an upper level CF? That's hardly a steal. Furthermore, de los Santos and Sweeney both were in the bigs for the A's.

 

Edit: The author also takes a shot at the Dempster deal, and Dempster has been worth his contract in the first three years. Whether or not he's worth it in his final year, don't know, but when viewing the contract overall, I'm fine with that deal.

 

Sweeney was an upper level CF? I thought you were the minor league guru. This guy was half way to washed up by then.

 

I'll give you Santos, he did put up good #s before the trade. Still a steal though.

[toonsterwu]

Gotta disagree there. The board was very high on Swisher, and thought Williams stole him by only giving up Gonzalez.

 

Stole him? Fautino de los Santos was viewed as highly as Gio, if not higher. de los Santos was coming off a filthy, filthy 2007 and was looking like a future TOR arm. Ryan Sweeney was an upper level CF who was close to ready. Sure, in hindsight, only Gio has panned out, so maybe it feels like a "steal", but giving two high upside arms up, and an upper level CF? That's hardly a steal. Furthermore, de los Santos and Sweeney both were in the bigs for the A's.

 

Edit: The author also takes a shot at the Dempster deal, and Dempster has been worth his contract in the first three years. Whether or not he's worth it in his final year, don't know, but when viewing the contract overall, I'm fine with that deal.

 

Sweeney was an upper level CF? I thought you were the minor league guru. This guy was half way to washed up by then.

 

I'll give you Santos, he did put up good #s before the trade. Still a steal though.

 

Huh? Sweeney was in AAA, unless I'm mistaken. I'm not sure what you are critiquing. That's as upper level as you can get. Also ... half-way to washed up at the time of the trade? He had fallen out of favor with the White Sox, but he was a 22 year old upper level CF coming off a decent year who was a strong defensive OF.

 

Judging without the benefit of hindsight, I would hardly call a trade that gave up two high ceiling arms and an upper level CF who was ready for MLB duty of some sort a steal.

 

Judging with the benefit of hindsight, not that this is any way to make a judgment on the deal, as it isn't, but in 2008 and 2009, Sweeney outperformed Swisher by himself (6.4 WAR to 4.5 WAR). He isn't that different a player from those two years, but Oakland finally started to realize that they couldn't keep trotting out such bad offenses and he went to the bench, which is where he is better off at. When you factor in Oakland's financial situation, this was a very solid trade for Oakland, as Swisher would've been gone at some point, as his cost continued to go up. They sold high, IMO, and got a good package for a solid player, a player I like a lot, but getting a good return is worth the move.

[Dallas Green]

so they overpaid a good pitcher by like $3 mil/year (in your mind). what a travesty.

 

Agreed, doesn't sound like much, but the Cubs gave up Gorzelanny to save peanuts this year.

[Sammy Sofa]

So what? They would have been much worse without Dempster and likely wouldn't have replaced his production with that money.

[TruffleShuffle]

plus they also didn't overpay him by that much. given that the derek lowes of the world are making $15 million, someone was going to give dempster a contract close to the one he got. he was never going to sign a 3 year deal for like $30 million unless he felt some crazy loyalty and just loved chicago.

[CubColtPacer]

plus they also didn't overpay him by that much. given that the derek lowes of the world are making $15 million, someone was going to give dempster a contract close to the one he got. he was never going to sign a 3 year deal for like $30 million unless he felt some crazy loyalty and just loved chicago.

 

I think someone was going to give him a contact that was more than the one gave to him by the Cubs. The Braves were reported to have more interest in Dempster than Lowe for example.

[dew1679666265]

so they overpaid a good pitcher by like $3 mil/year (in your mind). what a travesty.

 

Agreed, doesn't sound like much, but the Cubs gave up Gorzelanny to save peanuts this year.

 

And to get three intriguing prospects. The Cubs didn't give Gorzo away for nothing just to save a couple of bucks. They didn't feel he'd be a useful bullpen arm, the Nationals were willing to overpay, and they saved $2 million. There were a number of reasons they dealt Gorzo.

[Guest]

plus they also didn't overpay him by that much. given that the derek lowes of the world are making $15 million, someone was going to give dempster a contract close to the one he got. he was never going to sign a 3 year deal for like $30 million unless he felt some crazy loyalty and just loved chicago.

 

Unless he completely falls apart next year, it's an easy argument to make that they didn't overpay him at all.

[KingKongvs.Godzilla]

so they overpaid a good pitcher by like $3 mil/year (in your mind). what a travesty.

 

Agreed, doesn't sound like much, but the Cubs gave up Gorzelanny to save peanuts this year.

 

Gorzellany MIGHT throw 150 innings this year for the first time since '07.

[Geech]

Jesus Christ.

 

I was really optimistic about Fukudome, but that was [expletive] bonkers.

 

In fairness to Meph, projections for Fukudome were universally good. PECOTA predicted .400/.500 for him, and even the lower end projections expected more than he ever showed over a full season. He's been a pretty big disappointment, and it's not like Meph was the only one banging that drum.

[Illini Iceman]

Signing Fukudome was a good risk to take, it just didn't work out.

[Sammy Sofa]

Jesus Christ.

 

I was really optimistic about Fukudome, but that was [expletive] bonkers.

 

In fairness to Meph, projections for Fukudome were universally good. PECOTA predicted .400/.500 for him, and even the lower end projections expected more than he ever showed over a full season. He's been a pretty big disappointment, and it's not like Meph was the only one banging that drum.

 

Eh, true.

[imb]

I dare anyone to find a prediction meph was correct about

[rocket]

i think he predicted that nsbblol would get him banned

[imb]

i think i predicted that he would write 3 front page articles and go back to penning final fantasy 7 dissertations on gamefaqs

[Drew Doughty]

i predicted that he would go buy a jar of olives after he left us for good