Again, it's a pattern: $4.15 to Izturis $4.5 to DeRosa $3.25 to Rusch $2.5 to Blanco It's $14.4 million. It's not the "littlest thing" You're assuming that those four positions on the team would be adequately filled by people making $0. You have to assume that the people there are at least making something. 4 players at an average of $400,000 each, combines to $1.6m. Make one of those guys a millionaire veteran and the total cost is $2.2 million, leaving $12.2 million on the table for somebody, or somebodies, who can actually help the team get better. So you're going with Cedeno, one of the worst hitters in all of baseball, over Izturis next year. And you're going with Theriot, very possibly a one-year wonder, over DeRosa. yeah, b/c if anybody is not a one year wonder, it's definitely derosa. In two of DeRosa's other five seasons in the majors, he had an OPS+ within 8 points of what he did last year. Meanwhile, Theriot has been a mediocre hitter his entire career in the minors, and all of a sudden has a 134 OPS+ with the Cubs - helped out by a .363 BABIP.