20 replies to this topic

[gammoseditor]

I know Philly usually starts a thread like this, but I wanted to get this up because a lot of talk has gone on recently over money and I think it's a useful tool. If Philly gets something up this can be pushed aside. I've taken AAV's over guaranteed years left on contracts and summed them up. The other section down below is mostly guys who Cots had guaranteed contracts for in 2011. There will be more guys making the league minimum. All AAV's are either taken from philly's thread last year or Cots. The usual 10.5 million is included for benefits down below. Papelbon and Ellsbury are estimated.

Red Sox Payroll: 2011 and beyond

		2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
SP	Jon Lester	6	6	6	option
SP	Clay Buchholz	0.775	arb 1	arb 2	arb 3
SP	John Lackey	16.5	16.5	16.5	16.5
SP	Josh Beckett	17	17	17	17
SP	Daisuke Matsuzaka	8.67	8.67
-
CL	Jonathan Papelbon	11.5
BP	Dan Bard	0.6	0.5	arb 1	arb 2	arb 3
BP
BP
BP
BP	Scott Atchison	0.6	arb 1	arb 2	arb 3
BP	Tim Wakefield	2.5
-
C	Jarrod Saltalamacchia	0.75	arb 2	arb 3
1B	Kevin Youkilis	10.3125	10.3125	option
2B	Dustin Pedroia	6.75	6.75	6.75	6.75	option
SS	Jed Lowrie	0.775	arb 1	arb 2	arb 3
3B
LF
CF	Jacoby Ellsbury	3.5	arb 2	arb 3
RF	J.D. Drew	14
DH	David Ortiz	12.5
-
BN	Jason Varitek	2
BN	Mike Cameron	7.75
BN	Marco Scutaro	6.25
BN
-
	Junichi Tazawa	1.15
	Jose Iglesias	2.0625	2.0625	2.0625
-
	TOTAL	131.945	67.795	48.3125	40.25
	BENEFITS	10.5	10.5	10.5	10.5
	TOTAL WITH BENEFITS	142.445	78.295	58.8125	50.75
	LUXURY TAX THRESHOLD	178	178	178	178
	Luxury tax budget	35.555	99.705	119.1875	127.25

I have a table for actual values each year but it's easier to just link to Cots for that: http://spreadsheets....bjw&output=html

Edited by gammoseditor, 03 December 2010 - 02:13 PM.

[gammoseditor]

Just a couple of observations.

If you re-sign Beltre and add a couple of free agent bullpen arms, you probably don't have enough money left for a big name like Werth or Crawford and still stay under the luxury tax.

If you re-sign Beltre, trade Scutaro, and only sign one free agent reliever you probably can fit in either Crawford or Werth.

No matter what they do this offseason, if they stay under the luxury tax, there's plenty of money left to spend again next offseason.

[CoRP]

Just a couple of observations.

The Lackey and Beckett #s/years made me throw up a little in my mouth.

[wutang112878]

Some big picture comments:

For our starting staff Theo lined things up very well, the rotation is set for sometime, and the transition to the next staff happens slowly. If Beckett and Lackey get back to the results we expect this could be a very good thing.

The rest of the team is screaming makeover. Assuming 2 of Scutaro, Salty, Jed, Jacoby arent starers in 2012 over half of our lineup needs to be replaced in 12 months. While signing Beltre will help it still leaves a lot of open spots, and that 2012 market looks rather thin at the moment.

Also, assuming we let Paps walk and Bard becomes the closer, Bard is the only player on the roster that should be expected to make major contributions in 2012.

Considering the lineup and bullpen issues, I can now see why Theo was willing to give Lackey and Beckett the contracts that he did. He made some very big bets, but by constructing this rotation for the near future if they pitch to reasonable expectations the team will be competitive even with ~60% turnover on the rest of the roster.

Having said all that, we havent signed anyone in free agency or made a single trade. But the pressure is really on Theo during these next 12 months. Development from the farm should help, it wont fill all the holes but it should offset some of these needs.

IMO Theo needs 1 big FA signing that works out perfectly [Beltre, Crawford, Weryth caliber player], 1 short money FA signing that produces above expectations [like Bill Mueller], and a significant trade, all in about 12 months.

[CaptainLaddie]

The thing about the Beckett/Lackey contracts is this: they both had the worst (or 2nd worst) years of their careers. I don't expect those to repeat, especially given their track records and injury histories. If they can both provide around 200 innings of just league average pitching, that's great. If they can give 200 innings of above average pitching, even better. If they can both perform like the #1/#2 starters they have been in the very recent past... the Red Sox are looking at FOUR #1 starters. As much as I don't like the financials, both pitchers are almost guaranteed to outperform their 2010 seasons.

[Savin Hillbilly]

As much as I don't like the financials, both pitchers are almost guaranteed to outperform their 2010 seasons.

I think it's reasonable to chalk up Lackey's first half to adjusting to a new working environment. And if you look at his performance after the ASB, it's pretty encouraging: 3.97 ERA, 7.8 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, .705 OPS allowed, with an average of 6.8 IP per start. I'll pay $16M for a full year of that.

[Trautwein's Degree]

The rest of the team is screaming makeover. Assuming 2 of Scutaro, Salty, Jed, Jacoby arent starers in 2012 over half of our lineup needs to be replaced in 12 months. While signing Beltre will help it still leaves a lot of open spots, and that 2012 market looks rather thin at the moment.

Having said all that, we havent signed anyone in free agency or made a single trade. But the pressure is really on Theo during these next 12 months. Development from the farm should help, it wont fill all the holes but it should offset some of these needs.

IMO Theo needs 1 big FA signing that works out perfectly [Beltre, Crawford, Weryth caliber player], 1 short money FA signing that produces above expectations [like Bill Mueller], and a significant trade, all in about 12 months.

This is called payroll/roster flexibility. Given the Red Sox farm system, financial strength, and talent in the front office it's a good thing. Where you see a problem, Theo sees opportunity.

[Pumpsie]

Just a couple of observations.

If you re-sign Beltre and add a couple of free agent bullpen arms, you probably don't have enough money left for a big name like Werth or Crawford and still stay under the luxury tax.

If you re-sign Beltre, trade Scutaro, and only sign one free agent reliever you probably can fit in either Crawford or Werth.

No matter what they do this offseason, if they stay under the luxury tax, there's plenty of money left to spend again next offseason.

Since the Sox were under the luxury tax line in 2010, they can go over this year if they want. The thing they won't do is go over the luxury tax two years in a row. That's just too expensive for them. The only team that can do that, and they do it every year, is the Yankees.

[Crazy Puppy]

Since the Sox were under the luxury tax line in 2010, they can go over this year if they want. The thing they won't do is go over the luxury tax two years in a row. That's just too expensive for them. The only team that can do that, and they do it every year, is the Yankees.

First off, I'm not sure where you're getting your info that the Red Sox were under the $170 million CBT threshold this year. MLB will assess the tax on Dec. 20 (and they usually leak the CBT payrolls that day as well). The tax is calculated in December because things like option buyouts and award bonuses count towards the threshold, so that stuff has to be sorted out first. It's possible that Boston will be just under for 2010, but there was also a report at mid-season suggesting they were going to be over the limit in 2010. Regardless, it's going to be very close one way or the other for 2010.

As to your second point about not wanting to go over the tax limit two years in a row -- yes, that increases the tax rate and I'm sure it's something they'd like to avoid. However, they were over the limit every year from 2004-2007, so they have clearly been willing to go over in consecutive years.

[wutang112878]

This is called payroll/roster flexibility. Given the Red Sox farm system, financial strength, and talent in the front office it's a good thing. Where you see a problem, Theo sees opportunity.

In general I agree, I dont want to see them with 100M+ already committed for the near future each year and our farm system is very good. That said, Theo has said before that the goal for the farm system is to bring up one or maybe 2 players up per year who become fulltime MLB players. By my count we need to hit on Salty or another catcher, have Lowrie and Ellsbury get their careers back on track, add 2 more OFs and a DH, thats a lot of opportunity IMO. In the ideal world instead of having 6 question marks in the lineup we would have maybe 2 or 3 to deal with per year, and thats my concern. There is a finite amount of additions/acquisitions that a GM can make in 2 years and I think Theo is slightly above that threshold.

[Bowlerman9]

The tax is calculated in December because things like option buyouts and award bonuses count towards the threshold, so that stuff has to be sorted out first.

Sorry to nit pick, but option buyouts do not have an effect on anything, as they are already factored into the AAV over the life of the contract.

[Pumpsie]

First off, I'm not sure where you're getting your info that the Red Sox were under the $170 million CBT threshold this year. MLB will assess the tax on Dec. 20 (and they usually leak the CBT payrolls that day as well). The tax is calculated in December because things like option buyouts and award bonuses count towards the threshold, so that stuff has to be sorted out first. It's possible that Boston will be just under for 2010, but there was also a report at mid-season suggesting they were going to be over the limit in 2010. Regardless, it's going to be very close one way or the other for 2010.

As to your second point about not wanting to go over the tax limit two years in a row -- yes, that increases the tax rate and I'm sure it's something they'd like to avoid. However, they were over the limit every year from 2004-2007, so they have clearly been willing to go over in consecutive years.

Well, I read somewhere (one of the local mediots) that the biggest reason why the Sox didn't do much at the trade deadline was that one of the organization's goals this past season was NOT to go over the luxury tax threshold because the team was planning on going over it in 2011. That made perfect sense to me on a number of levels. Also, the Sox front office is perfectly capable of figuring out what their total is toward the threshold as they go along through a season. One would hope that they know exactly where they stand at any moment during the season and how any particular move impacts that number.

[JakeRae]

In general I agree, I dont want to see them with 100M+ already committed for the near future each year and our farm system is very good. That said, Theo has said before that the goal for the farm system is to bring up one or maybe 2 players up per year who become fulltime MLB players. By my count we need to hit on Salty or another catcher, have Lowrie and Ellsbury get their careers back on track, add 2 more OFs and a DH, thats a lot of opportunity IMO. In the ideal world instead of having 6 question marks in the lineup we would have maybe 2 or 3 to deal with per year, and thats my concern. There is a finite amount of additions/acquisitions that a GM can make in 2 years and I think Theo is slightly above that threshold.

Let's look at what 2012 looks like if no new acquisitions are made and all FA are lost.

C: Salty, Wagner, Expo, Lavarnway
1B: Youk, Rizzo, Lars
2B: Pedroia, Lowrie, Sutton, Navarro
SS: Lowrie, Scutaro, Iglesias, Sutton, Navarro
3B: Lowrie, Youk, Navarro
RF: Reddick, McDonald
CF: Ellsbury, Kalish, Reddick
LF: Kalish, Ellsbury, Reddick
DH: Rizzo, Lars, Lavarnway

This is a fairly conservative estimation of the depth chart. Lavarnway, Expo, Iglesias, and Rizzo are the only guys on it who haven't already played in MLB. I did not include any guys who would need to accelerate their current path to be considered MLB ready by 2012 with the exception of Lavarnway's defense.

Outside of solving third this year and finding an extra outfielder and a DH next year, the starting spots are well-covered internally for 2012. As for the 1-2 prospects per year rule of thumb. Lowrie and Salty are getting added for 2011. One each of Kalish/Reddick and Iglesias/Rizzo/Lars break into the starting lineup in 2012. I'd argue that Lowrie has already been broken in and shouldn't count, but I'm including him anyway since others seem to disagree and he doesn't push me over the limit anyway. In any event, I really don't see anywhere near 6 lineup slots that will be solved externally. Lowrie, Youk, Pedroia and Ellsbury are all locked and loaded for the next 3 seasons or more. So, worst case, we need to fill 5 spots. But, that worst case involves assuming that none of Iglesias, Reddick, Lars, Kalish, Rizzo, or any of our other position player prospects are ready to take on starting roles either this year or next year and that Salty flops. That seems excessively pessimistic. Realistically, 3B needs to get dealt with this offseason, but no matter what, 2012 won't be a real concern. DH needs to be addressed next year. One outfield spot needs to be addressed this year or next year. And, Salty is the catcher of the future.

Edited by JakeRae, 24 November 2010 - 03:57 AM.

[biollante]

I just look at this and cry over how much we are paying Lackey. The pitching isn't there and I am not sure we will have the money to make it better.

[Pumpsie]

I just look at this and cry over how much we are paying Lackey. The pitching isn't there and I am not sure we will have the money to make it better.

Yeah, one of Theo's worst moves, to be sure. One of the most overpaid players of the 2010 season.

[HriniakPosterChild]

I just look at this and cry over how much we are paying Lackey. The pitching isn't there and I am not sure we will have the money to make it better.

Lackey seems to know when to buy low and sell high:

Red Sox pitcher buys Back Bay condo

Red Sox pitcher John Lackey has made a winning play at home plate.

Lackey, who joined the Sox this past season from the Los Angeles Angels, paid $2.05 million for a Back Bay penthouse condo - or $300,000 below asking price, public records show.

The three-bedroom “mini-chateau” features Charles River views, floor-to-ceiling glass doors and a private terrace, according to the condo’s listing sheet.

[Snodgrass'Muff]

I just look at this and cry over how much we are paying Lackey. The pitching isn't there and I am not sure we will have the money to make it better.

Is he pitching like an 18 million per year pitcher? Absolutely not. But his second half line last year included a 3.97 ERA and a 1.216 WHIP. He was pretty decent after the all star break. If he can approximate that going forward and you add that to Lester and Buchholz at the front of the rotation, then consider that Matsuzaka can go on some pretty nice runs here and there... this rotation actually looks pretty good. The big question, for me at least, is whether Beckett is in the midst of a meteoric decline or if he was simply hampered by injuries last year and can come back strong in 2011.

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the Red Sox ended up with one of the best rotations in baseball next year. Of course, I wouldn't be surprised to see it end up largely mediocre either. It's a question mark for sure, but one I think it's OK to be hopeful about.

But let's look at what we're actually paying our starters in 2011.

Beckett - 15.75
Lackey - 15.25
Matsuzaka - 10.00
Lester - 5.75
Buchholz - 0.500ish?

That's a total of 47.25 million for the stating rotation. They had a 168 million dollar opening day player payroll in 2010. That's about 28% of their payroll spent on starting pitching.

Looking at some of the top competition in the AL, assuming slight bumps for arb eligible players, we see:

The Yankees are spending 40.00 million without bringing Pettitte back or signing Lee. That number goes way up if they do either or both. Currently they have Sabathia, Burnett and Hughes locked down. They had a 213 million opening day player payroll in 2010. That's about 19% of their payroll currently dedicated to starting pitching. Add in Lee at 23 million and/or Pettitte at 15 and we're jumping to 30% or 37% respectively.

The Rangers are spending 13.4 million. They had a 64 million opening day player payroll in 2010. (21%)

The Rays are spending 12.5 million. They had a 73 million opening day player payroll in 2010. (18%)

The Twins are spending 11 million. They had a 97 million opening day player payroll. (11%)

The Angels are spending 41.75 million. They had a 121 million opening day player payroll in 2010. (35%)

The White Sox are spending 48.35 million. They had a 103 million opening day player payroll in 2010. (47%)

If we assume teams will spend similar amounts of money going forward, and maintain similar ratios, the Red Sox are spending a lower percentage of their payroll on starting pitching than two of the six teams they are likely to be competing for a playoff spot with in 2011. It's probably not a bad bet that the Yankees will eventually become the third team spending a higher percentage of their payroll on starting pitching by the start of spring training. So I don't really see the money Theo and the front office has dedicated to the rotation as much of a problem right now.

Sure, in a couple of years Lester gets much more expensive and Buchholz will (hopefully) be in the early stages of a Lester style deal, but Matsuzaka will be gone by then which will offset that a bit, and they may be moving a guy like Kelly or Doubront, or perhaps even Ranaudo into the rotation as the 5th starter at the league minimum. The Beckett and Lackey deals minimize flexibility a bit, but it's not like they're in bad shape with that group either.

[Billy R Ford]

Money question:

Adrian Beltre had a $1 million buyout that vested when he reached 575 PA last year, and got it when he declined his option. Is that money counted as part of Beltre's salary last year (meaning, Beltre goes on the Sox's books as having earned $10 million in 2010, not $9 million), or is it counted towards the Sox's 2011 payroll? Does the buyout have any effect on calculating the luxury tax for 2010/2011?

[gammoseditor]

Money question:

Adrian Beltre had a $1 million buyout that vested when he reached 575 PA last year, and got it when he declined his option. Is that money counted as part of Beltre's salary last year (meaning, Beltre goes on the Sox's books as having earned $10 million in 2010, not $9 million), or is it counted towards the Sox's 2011 payroll? Does the buyout have any effect on calculating the luxury tax for 2010/2011?

Buyouts are added to the guaranteed dollars of a contract to calculate the AAV. For example, Kevin Youkilis has a $1 million buyout for his 2013 option that will effect his 2011 AAV for luxury tax purposes. When Beltre's buyout vested it would have become part of his hit for 2010.

[gammoseditor]

A few updates to the table above:

- removed non-tendered players

- removed minor leaguers not on guaranteed contracts that are unlikely to be on the 25 man roster

- increased the estimate on Ellsbury, Buchholz, Lowrie, and Bard.

- added Varitek

- added future luxury tax numbers to be the same as this year. While they are likely to go up I don't believe they have been decided yet.

- changed some formatting so that likely bench players are on the bench

[Worst Trade Evah]

Why all the complaining about Lackey? He was a bit disappointing, especially early, but he did end up with 215 innings pitched and a 3.85 FIP (4.04 xFIP). His calculated value via Fangraphs (which I agree is not terribly meaningful) was $15.9. So he was a bit over-paid, but nothing very dramatic or damaging.

For what it's worth, among the Red Sox players last year who were worse values (in terms of salary paid vs WAR produced) were people like Mike Lowell, Mike Cameron, Beckett, Hermida, JD Drew, and even people who weren't paid much but who were really terrible, like Cash and Navarro.

Here's a table I've thrown together with data cobbled from Fangraphs, Cots and whatever else. It's just fWAR, Fangraphs "Value", fWAR * 4.5 (approximate value of a win on the free agent market), and the differences. It's just a quick way to see who produced value for the team and who didn't. Beltre, Buchholz and Lester were great values; Lowell and Cameron were killers. Lackey was more or less okay. Interesting, the spread between his Fangraphs "value" and his simple fWAR x 4.5 is bigger than most anyone's, which I don't yet understand. At the top of the list = good, bottom of the list = bad. Blanks are scrubs/part-timers who I guess earned minimum or were paid by someone else.

I wonder how worried the Sox are about JD Drew. Navarro and Hermida managed to suck pretty hard in limited opportunities. Lester is a god. Papi earned his $, but wasn't the insane value creator he was in 2003-2007 obviously. Victor was a pretty good value, but then so was Masterson.

Salary vs Fangraphs "Value" or fWAR*4.5

Name	WAR	Dollars	WAR $ (x4.5)	2010 Salary	2010 Salary (M)	Dollars-Salary	WAR$-Salary	note
Adrian Beltre	7.1	$28.3	$31.95	$9,000,000	$9.00	$19.30	$22.95
Jon Lester	5.5	$22.3	$24.75	$3,750,000	$3.75	$18.55	$21.00
Clay Buchholz	3.8	$14.9	$17.10	$443,000	$0.44	$14.46	$16.66
Dustin Pedroia	3.3	$13.3	$14.85	$3,750,000	$3.75	$9.55	$11.10
Victor Martinez	4	$16.0	$18.00	$7,700,000	$7.70	$8.30	$10.30
Kevin Youkilis	4.2	$16.8	$18.90	$9,375,000	$9.38	$7.43	$9.53
Jed Lowrie	1.8	$7.2	$8.10	$434,000	$0.43	$6.77	$7.67
Daniel Bard	1.5	$5.9	$6.75	$415,500	$0.42	$5.48	$6.33
Darnell McDonald	0.8	$3.3	$3.60	$400,000	$0.40	$2.90	$3.20	guess
Marco Scutaro	2.1	$8.6	$9.45	$5,500,000	$5.50	$3.10	$3.95
Daisuke Matsuzaka	2.9	$11.2	$13.05	$8,333,333	$8.33	$2.87	$4.72
Bill Hall	1	$3.8	$4.50	$1,375,000	$1.38	$2.43	$3.13
Ryan Kalish	0.6	$2.3	$2.70	$400,000	$0.40	$1.90	$2.30	guess
Tim Wakefield	1.2	$4.8	$5.40	$3,500,000	$3.50	$1.30	$1.90
Felix Doubront	0.3	$1.1	$1.35	$400,000	$0.40	$0.70	$0.95	guess
Josh Reddick	0.2	$0.7	$0.90	$400,000	$0.40	$0.30	$0.50	guess
Michael Bowden	0.1	$0.5	$0.45		$0.00	$0.50	$0.45
Felipe Lopez	0.1	$0.2	$0.45		$0.00	$0.20	$0.45
David Ortiz	3.3	$13.2	$14.85	$13,000,000	$13.00	$0.20	$1.85
Robert Coello	0	$0.1	$0.00		$0.00	$0.10	$0.00
Dusty Brown	0	$0.0	$0.00		$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Jonathan Van Every	0.1	$0.0	$0.45		$0.00	$0.00	$0.45
Matt Fox	0	$0.0	$0.00		$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Jarrod Saltalamacchia	0.1	$0.4	$0.45	$418,500	$0.42	($0.02)	$0.03
Lars Anderson	0	($0.1)	$0.00		$0.00	($0.10)	$0.00
Rich Hill	0.1	$0.4	$0.45	$575,000	$0.58	($0.18)	($0.13)
Niuman Romero	-0.1	($0.3)	($0.45)		$0.00	($0.30)	($0.45)
Jason Varitek	0.7	$2.6	$3.15	$3,000,000	$3.00	($0.40)	$0.15
Joe Nelson	-0.1	($0.4)	($0.45)		$0.00	($0.40)	($0.45)
Scott Atchison	0	$0.0	$0.00	$420,000	$0.42	($0.42)	($0.42)
Angel Sanchez	-0.1	($0.5)	($0.45)		$0.00	($0.50)	($0.45)
Daniel Nava	-0.2	($0.7)	($0.90)	$400,000	$0.40	($1.10)	($1.30)	guess
Gustavo Molina	-0.2	($0.7)	($0.90)		$0.00	($0.70)	($0.90)
Ryan Shealy	-0.2	($0.7)	($0.90)		$0.00	($0.70)	($0.90)
Boof Bonser	0	($0.1)	$0.00	$650,000	$0.65	($0.75)	($0.65)
Scott Schoeneweis	-0.1	($0.4)	($0.45)	$500,000	$0.50	($0.90)	($0.95)
Jacoby Ellsbury	-0.2	($0.6)	($0.90)	$496,500	$0.50	($1.10)	($1.40)
Ramon Ramirez	0	$0.0	$0.00	$1,155,000	$1.16	($1.16)	($1.16)
Dustin Richardson	-0.3	($1.2)	($1.35)	$400,000	$0.40	($1.60)	($1.75)	guess
Fernando Cabrera	-0.3	($1.2)	($1.35)		$0.00	($1.20)	($1.35)
Eric Patterson	-0.4	($1.7)	($1.80)		$0.00	($1.70)	($1.80)
John Lackey	4.2	$16.5	$18.90	$18,700,000	$18.70	($2.20)	$0.20
Kevin Cash	-0.6	($2.4)	($2.70)	$500,000	$0.50	($2.90)	($3.20)	guess
Robert Manuel	-0.6	($2.4)	($2.70)		$0.00	($2.40)	($2.70)
Hideki Okajima	0	($0.1)	$0.00	$2,750,000	$2.75	($2.85)	($2.75)
Manny Delcarmen	-0.5	($2.0)	($2.25)	$905,000	$0.91	($2.91)	($3.16)
Yamaico Navarro	-0.8	($3.1)	($3.60)	$400,000	$0.40	($3.50)	($4.00)	guess
J.D. Drew	2.6	$10.4	$11.70	$14,000,000	$14.00	($3.60)	($2.30)
Jonathan Papelbon	1.2	$4.6	$5.40	$9,350,000	$9.35	($4.75)	($3.95)
Jeremy Hermida	-0.7	($2.7)	($3.15)	$3,345,000	$3.35	($6.05)	($6.50)
Josh Beckett	1.4	$5.5	$6.30	$12,100,000	$12.10	($6.60)	($5.80)
Mike Cameron	-0.3	($1.2)	($1.35)	$7,750,000	$7.75	($8.95)	($9.10)
Mike Lowell	0	$0.0	$0.00	$12,500,000	$12.50	($12.50)	($12.50)

disclaimer: yes, many problems with this sort of perspective -- obviously if everyone were valued on free agent money standards, wins wouldn't be "worth" 4.5, they'd be worth 2.1 million or something, because essentially people like Buchholz are subsidizing teams to give money to people like Lackey. Also, pro-rating part-timers, September call-ups, and the 9 million paid to Lugo. Oh well. Also, I made the probably strange decision to include pitcher batting stats in the value calculations, which raised Lackey a half-mil and lowered Lester. Random and pointless, but it's what happened.

Edited by Worst Trade Evah, 03 December 2010 - 04:09 PM.