DeRosa starts the ball rolling
According to Buster Olney, Mark DeRosa becomes the first free agent this offseason to jump ship, signing a three year deal with the Chicago Cubs worth approximately $13 million. DeRosa played the last two seasons for Texas after parts of seven with the Atlanta Braves. DeRosa just finished his 6th year of service time and was eligible for “true” free agency for the first time, although he was free to sign with whomever he chose after being non-tendered by the Braves after the 2004 season. DeRosa signed a minor league contract with the Rangers and was invited to camp in 2005, made the 25 man roster, then re-signed with Texas with a one year deal ($675k) this past offseason, avoiding arbitration.
The Cubs signing isn’t surprising - not that they would go after DeRosa necessarily, but that they went right out and signed early. Last season, the Cubs also made the first free agent splash, signing both Bobby Howry and Scott Eyre to contracts. The benefit the Cubs get from the early signings is that the market hasn’t been set yet. Howry and Eyre were secured for $4 million a season deals, but with the Yankees looking for setup relievers their prices could very well have gone higher had they not signed so early (the Yanks eventually settled in on Kyle Farnsworth, whom they signed for a little over $5 million a season.
While this approach seems to be positive, you run two risks. First (and more immedate) is misjudging the market. If a team offers a salary to a free agent and sits back and watches as similar players sign for less, it’s that team that ends up doing the opposite of what they intended - overpaying for their “bargain”. The other issue is player quality. More often than not, a higher quality player will entertain numerous offers before deciding on which one he wants. This only makes sense - go to the right situation or get the most money, letting teams bid themselves up. So a high quality player won’t sign on the first day, leaving the team who wants to sign early to the “second tier” - the player who knows that they’re going to get some kind of decent contract but whose value is more than likely going to be determined by other signings. After all, you turn to your second choice when your first becomes too expensive, but how do you know what to offer your second choice if you don’t know what your first wants?
In the Cubs case, let’s say that they went out and signed Howry and Eyre (two middle relievers who have had moderate success but neither had made more than $1.7 million in a season), committing $23 million to the two of them over the next three seasons. Content with their bullpen, they find out later that B.J. Ryan, whom they considered to be out of their price range with his perceived contract demands, is only asking for a little under $7 million a season - considered to be a bargain at that price (note: Ryan signed a five year, $47 million contract last offseason). While Ryan would be great for the Cubs to acquire, the team has already committed $23 million in contracts to relievers (not counting those already on the roster: Ryan Dempster re-signed for $5 million+ per, Glendon Rusch for $3 million per), meaning that the Cubs would effectively be spending twice to get what they wanted in the first place. If Ryan at $6.75 million per were available, then the Cubs don’t sign Howry or Eyre - maybe one, but not both. But in signing both and committing the money early, they end up re-spending to get a “bargain”, which ends up costing them more since the cost is both the player they wanted’s contract and the contract of the player they signed trying to beat the rush.
Yeah, I confused myself there. On to DeRosa - the guy has always hit lefties well, but he managed to put together a solid season at the plate, getting career highs in everything while playing in 136 games and putting up a .296/.357/.456 line. It’s assumed that DeRosa is being signed to be the Cubs starting second baseman, but that takes away one of DeRosa’s best qualities - his ability to play most of the positions on the field. DeRosa started at 6 different positions for the Rangers last season (not counting DH), but the Cubs apparently want to use him as a second baseman exclusively.
In doing so, you take away one of his main strengths and turn him into a generic second baseman. Held to that standard, DeRosa then becomes a hitter with a 106 OPS+ in his best season (90+ career), minimal speed (11 SBs, 50% success rate career), 94 career starts at second base where he’s not known for his defense, and a general inability to hit righthanded pitching (.253/.306/.351 before last season against RHP). During the course of this contract, at his best he’s going to be Rex Hudler. At his worst, he’s going to be Enrique Wilson.
Mind you, this wouldn’t be a bad thing for a team to have at all - it’s just not something that a team spends $4 million+ a season on. It’s this that is the best example of a large market team flexing its muscle more than a $100 million contract. Anyone with the money will spend top dollar to get the thing they really need most. It’s the rich who can justify spending more than market value or take a calculated risk that the average team wouldn’t commit to knowing that they can absorb the mistake if it doesn’t work out.
I like Mark DeRosa. I just don’t think that he’s going to be starting at second base for the Cubs by the end of 2007.