FanPost

The case for Jose Bautista

Let's just break it down real simple. We would like to add the most productive bat possible to this already productive roster. We can take a look at who the most productive hitters are in MLB by just ranking the qualified players in order of OPS.

Rk Age Tm PA SO BA OPS ▾
1 Miguel Cabrera 30 DET 428 64 .365 1.132
2 Chris Davis* 27 BAL 393 110 .315 1.109
3 David Ortiz* 37 BOS 331 43 .317 1.008
4 Carlos Gonzalez* 27 COL 395 105 .302 .980
5 Mike Trout 21 LAA 426 70 .322 .964
6 Michael Cuddyer 34 COL 317 58 .330 .960
7 Paul Goldschmidt 25 ARI 406 82 .313 .952
8 Joey Votto* 29 CIN 429 83 .318 .939
9 Buster Posey 26 SFG 367 41 .325 .931
10 Robinson Cano* 30 NYY 409 52 .302 .917
11 David Wright 30 NYM 399 68 .304 .903
12 Adrian Beltre 34 TEX 399 42 .316 .901
13 Josh Donaldson 27 OAK 391 65 .310 .900
14 Jason Kipnis* 26 CLE 374 83 .301 .897
15 Shin-Soo Choo* 30 CIN 435 83 .287 .893
16 Raul Ibanez* 41 SEA 296 70 .267 .892
17 Matt Carpenter* 27 STL 408 51 .321 .891
18 Edwin Encarnacion 30 TOR 399 45 .264 .885
19 Carlos Beltran# 36 STL 350 60 .309 .879
20 Joe Mauer* 30 MIN 403 75 .320 .875
21 Yadier Molina 30 STL 350 33 .341 .875
22 Allen Craig 28 STL 381 64 .333 .872
23 Adam Lind* 29 TOR 297 59 .306 .871
24 Carlos Gomez 27 MIL 362 84 .295 .870
25 Evan Longoria 27 TBR 399 89 .278 .863
26 Domonic Brown* 25 PHI 384 72 .273 .856
27 Freddie Freeman* 23 ATL 352 70 .308 .854
28 Nelson Cruz 32 TEX 386 94 .277 .851
29 Jean Segura 23 MIL 397 48 .325 .849
30 Carlos Santana# 27 CLE 361 64 .275 .848
31 Andrew McCutchen 26 PIT 388 55 .302 .847
32 Kyle Seager* 25 SEA 407 65 .293 .846
33 Jose Bautista 32 TOR 390 69 .254 .844
34 Dexter Fowler# 27 COL 322 69 .284 .839
35 Jay Bruce* 26 CIN 412 112 .277 .832
36 James Loney* 29 TBR 356 43 .315 .832
37 Dustin Pedroia 29 BOS 432 49 .316 .832
38 Pedro Alvarez* 26 PIT 334 109 .250 .828
39 Adrian Gonzalez* 31 LAD 377 50 .297 .827
40 Adam Jones 27 BAL 413 76 .296 .826
41 Howie Kendrick 29 LAA 379 64 .310 .821
42 Prince Fielder* 29 DET 422 74 .267 .820
43 Marlon Byrd 35 NYM 305 85 .271 .818
44 Colby Rasmus* 26 TOR 346 105 .263 .816
45 Justin Upton 25 ATL 386 100 .255 .815
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/19/2013.

I took a look at this list and I noticed a couple of things. Most of these players are on teams that are on contenders. A few of these guys are still in pre-arbitration. Some of these guys have huge super long term contracts, some through 2020, that the Rockies just aren't going to be able to pick up. Finally, we're pleased to see that there are 3 Rockies on this list, but being greedy we want to make it 4.

Now lets try to find a guy with highest OPS that the Rockies could actually get. With the Cuddyer flexibility we don't really need to look closely at their position. This player is probably coming from a team that's out of contention. The first name you see, and think hey we might actually be able to get this guy is Raul Ibanez. He is playing for Seatle, they are out of it, his contract ends this year, and is for $2.75M. The problem is he is probably the best bat on the market and Seatle is going to want some good prospects for him. He would be a rental player and the Rockies said said they won't trade prospects for rentals.

Now we come to the first two Toronto players. Toronto is out of it. We're hearing they're sellers. They may want to dump salary too. First Edwin Encarnacion. He is signed $7M/year through 2015, so not a rental, but a little longer contract than might be preferred. The concern with him is the defensive. People call him E5, although he's gotten most of his time at 1B the last 3 years. Our ground ball pitching strategy requires as strong an IF defense as possible. I'm not sure it's worth the risk, although picking him up would be a strong statement that the contention window extends to 2015.

Second Blue Jay Adam Lind. Arb Eligible signed for $4.2M/year through 2013. With club options for 15, 16. So if the Rockies pick him up he's a rental player. With the cost control, he might have more value to Toronto than anyone else.

Next possible player Carlos Gomez signed through 2016, for $7M/year. He's having a above average season with a BABIP of .353 . Milwaukee would be selling high. Since they got him locked up through 2016, he might be someone they want to keep. A promising option, I wish the contract ended next year but he could be a possible addition. I just think it's going to take a haul of players.

Jean Segura is prearb, isn't even a free agent until 2019. Not happening.

Finally we get to Jose Bautista. $12.8M/year signed through 2015. Not to excited about his SO # and BA, but this isn't just a fluke year. He's been able to produce like this since ~2010. What I don't know is how much Toronto looks at him as a franchise player vs. how much they would like to spend that $12.8M salary else were during this rebuilding period. If a deal did happen, the Rockies might be able to get him as basically a salary dump.

But he's too expensive. I agree $12.8M is a big addition to the payroll. It may prohibit them from making big off season moves, but what were we going to do in the off season anyway(besides try to extend JDLR). Here is another way to look at it. Right now the payroll is $72M. Last year it was $75M. In 2011 it was $88M, and in 2010 it was $84M. Adding this huge contract brings them to the ~2010 payroll numbers. One might say it makes up for the last 2 years when they didn't have to shell out as much money. Worst case, they fall out of contention next year, and end up moving him for some prospects while maybe eating some of his contract.

Eat. Drink. Be Merry. But the above FanPost does not necessarily reflect the attitudes, opinions, or views of Purple Row's staff (unless, of course, it's written by the staff [and even then, it still might not]).