Thursday, November 15, 2007

"He did play well for 20 games...How does 15 million sound?"

Free-agent catcher Yorvit Torrealba will agree to a three-year contract with the New York Mets on Thursday, according to Torrealba's agent, Melvin Roman.

If I were a Mets' fan, I'd be hoping the next line said something like, "The deal is expected to pay $6 million over the length of the contract". However, here is what it really said.

If Torrealba passes a physical, an announcement is expected in the next day or two. Newsday reported on its website that the contract will be worth $14.4 million over three years.

What? Hold on a moment everyone. This is a guy who has a career OPS+ of 80 and it has been on the decline in recent years. He was last a member of the Colorado Rockies, a team that plays in the best hitters' park. When that fact is taken into consideration, his numbers are staggeringly bad. I don't have any fancy stats for this but we'll just have to deal with what ESPN.com gives us.

Torrealba hit .296 with six homers and 34 RBIs in Denver, while he batted just .212 with two homers and 13 RBIs on the road.

So this guy can't hit at all unless aided by the best place ever to hit. If that is not bad enough, the article continues.

Rockies pitchers gave Torrealba a lot of credit for how he called a game, though he did not have a high success rate when trying to throw runners out.

Calling a good game is a great skill but I'd say that being able to throw runners out better than Greg Zaun is an essential skill at the MLB level.

Mets' fan - enjoy your starting catcher making starter money but playing with the skill of a backup.

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