Fire Gardy

Okay everyone, remember in my last post when I mentioned that Reusse had claimed that the Royals were making moves that would somehow vault them out of the AL Central Basement? Well, it seemed pretty dubious at the time. And, like the good statistical guys that they are, the guys over at FanGraphs have taken a look at their acquisitions this winter.

Here’s a quick synopsis:

Kyle Farnsworth - 2 years, $9 million, 2006 to 2008: 0.1 wins above replacement Mike Jacobs - 1 year, $3.5 million, 2006 to 2008: 0.7 wins above replacement Horacio Ramirez - 1 year, $1.9 million, 2006 to 2008: 0.2 wins above replacement Willie Bloomquist - 2 years, $3 million, 2006 to 2008: 0.3 wins above replacement

Those Win Value totals are not per year, but three year totals. Over the last three seasons, that foursome has been worth 1.3 wins combined. That’s 12 player-seasons to accumulate just over one marginal win. If you were trying to scrape up examples of major league players who represent replacement level performance, you couldn’t do much better than this group.

That those four will earn a collective $11.4 million in 2009 is pretty staggering. $11.4 million for four guys who, if everything goes right, will add something like one win to the Royals roster next year. $11.4 million for one win. I guess it’s better than the $12 million they spent to get 0.2 wins from Jose Guillen last winter, but that’s in the same way that getting stabbed is better than getting shot.

The Royals are essentially doing exactly what Reusse and his ilk would recommend — making a quick slew of moves that you can “sell” to your fanbase, essentially saying “look at this, we’re trying really hard!” The problem is that these are terrible, unbelievably dumb moves that make the team worse and cost a lot of money, especially compared to what you’re getting.

Replacement level players are supposed to cost you league minimum, maybe just a little above it. You’re supposed to be able to get replacement level talent from your AA and AAA teams, just in case you need to replace an injured/departed player. You’re not supposed to throw free agent megabucks at replacement level “talent.” But that’s what the Royals are doing. They’re paying $11.4M for one win — when a win costs $5M on the free agent market. And they’re doing it over four players, who all get playing time and take up roster spots. That’s almost worse than Jose Guillen’s situation — and that’s saying a whole lot.

And that, of course, is why they’re the Royals.

Is anyone else afraid that they’re suddenly going to leapfrog us?

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