The Replacements - Gary Armida's Blog

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Gary Armida's Blog

The Replacements Stuck

Posted on September 25, 2012 at 10:25 AM.

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We get attached to our players. We buy their jerseys. We watch them dominate on the field as they fill our childhood and even our adult life with memories of great plays, huge hits, and moments that we share with our friends and family. As much as we like to say that we root for a team, our connection to baseball is always and will always be rooted with the players in those uniforms. Right now, there is a 10 year old getting ready for school in Los Angeles and he is slipping on his Mike Trout jersey. A kid in Washington is wearing his Bryce Harper jersey. That connection will last a lifetime as it does with players like Derek Jeter and Chipper Jones. Both veterans got a hold of us nearly two decades ago and still make us watch.

But, modern sports doesn�t always allow for that lifetime connection. As the money has gotten bigger, the Derek Jeter�s and Chipper Jones�s are becoming increasingly rare. Few players are lucky enough to spend their career in one jersey. Only those select few are able to develop that sort of connection with a fan base. One of them was supposed to be Albert Pujols. Pujols spent a decade in St. Louis. He was St. Louis baseball. While the Yankees had Jeter and Rivera, the Cardinals were able to send possibly the best hitter of all-time to the plate for a decade.

Milwaukee fans had their own connection with Prince Fielder. He came up as a Brewer and was one of the key reasons why the Brewers were contenders after nearly a decade at the bottom of the division. Both Pujols and Fielder were the faces of their respective franchises as well as two of the faces of Major League Baseball.

But, economics got in the way of nostalgia. Economics usually wins; there is nothing wrong with that as players are entitled to get as much as they can given the relatively short career span. It kills some of the romanticism, but the alternative is going back to a culture when Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays had to beg for moderate raises. Nobody should have to beg for raises. Today�s system may be a bit colder, but it is more fair.

When franchise players leave, it hurts the fan base more than it can hurt the team. Usually the reaction is that the team will never be able to replace the franchise player. But, Major League Baseball isn�t like the NBA or even the NFL where one player makes a team a contender. Baseball is full of stars, but one star never has the impact of a Lebron James. It�s just not the way the sport is played.

St. Louis and Milwaukee lost their marquee players. Fans lost their favorite player to another uniform. But, both teams have moved on because of wise decisions. The Angels and the Tigers weren�t wrong for signing Pujols and Fielder. Their respective contracts may be too long and may not have value during the latter years, but in the short term, both franchise have star players. Pujols may be having the worst year of his career, but that worst year is still a .286/.345/.525 slash line with 46 doubles, 30 home runs, and 101 RBI. Prince Fielder is also doing well for the Tigers as he is hitting .307/.408/.516 with 31 doubles, 27 home runs ,and 102 RBI.

Neither were replaced with marquee names, but both the Cardinals and Brewers found replacements that have allowed them to continue to be competitive and build in the long term.

Aramis Ramirez was signed to a three year $36 million deal by the Brewers to be Ryan Braun�s new running mate in the Milwaukee lineup. Ramirez isn�t a superstar and he isn�t Prince Fielder, but he has quietly put together a solid Major League career. This year, he is hitting .299/.361/.536 with a league leading 49 doubles, 25 home runs, and 97 RBI. Adding to his value, Ramirez has played an excellent third base this season (7.7 UZR, +3 DRS) while hitting in the middle of the Brewers order. Signing Ramirez allowed the Brewers to move Corey Hart to first base, which has helped Hart stay healthy and productive.

In terms of WAR, Ramirez has been a 6.1 WAR player while Fielder has been a 4.7 WAR player for the Tigers this season. WAR isn�t a perfect statistic and Fielder is penalized a bit for his defense, while Ramirez is having a career year defensively. But, the Brewers have received a bit better of a value at a price tag of just $6 million this season. Meanwhile, the Tigers are paying Fielder $23 million this season. While Ramirez has given the Brewers so much production for the price tag, it will be interesting to see if he can maintain this production in years two and three when his salary escalates to $10 million and $16 million respectively. Even if he doesn�t, the Brewers do have more payroll flexibility and one of the better offensive third basemen in baseball.

The Cardinals had the monumental task of replacing an icon. It was impossible for them to match Pujols� prolific production, but there was no way they could�ve sustained themselves with Pujols� $30 million salary per season. Instead, the Cardinals signed veteran outfielder Carlos Beltran to a two year $26 million deal. Beltran has long been one of the most underrated players in the sport, but over the past few seasons, health has been an issue. He did manage to play 142 games last season. He has already played in 143 games this year.

The 35 year old switch hitter has produced a .270/.344/.486 batting line with 26 doubles, 30 home runs, and 91 RBI. According to DRS, he is a +8 for the season in right field. Beltran has slumped badly during the second half of the season, but his first half was one of the reasons why the Cardinals were able to stay on the periphery of the Wild Card race before making their move. Overall, he has been a 3 WAR player this season as compared to Pujols who is a 3.9 WAR player for the Angels.

Carlos Beltran will never be Albert Pujols. But, Pujols has just posted his third consecutive season of decline. The idea that his value will match his contract in the latter half is pretty much non-existent. He is an all-time great and will be an above average hitter for a while, especially with the DH role available to him. But, the Cardinals made a choice to part ways and spend money elsewhere. They committed to a short term deal with Beltran and have received similar production in year one. After next season, they will have that $13 million to spend on someone else. They can continue to win despite losing one of the franchise�s all-time best players.

The Brewers and Cardinals have proven that life can go on without stars as long as wise decisions are made. They didn�t overly commit in terms of money or years, nor did they try to replace their two icons. Instead, they invested in the short term on two veterans who will be productive during their contracts. Moving forward, they now have financial flexibility to continue to build and develop talent. Their payroll won�t be tied up in just one player. The Angels and Tigers could afford to sign the two star first basemen, but the Cardinals and Brewers wisely chose to use the money elsewhere. The key to it is that they filled their open spots with productive players without costly contracts.

No single player in baseball can bring a team through a 162 game schedule. An organization�s depth is what usually makes for a playoff team. The Brewers and Cardinals chose that rather than the sentimentality of keeping their homegrown talents. The fans lose a connection to a special player, but they don�t lose the joy of watching a competitive team.

Comments

# 1 jmik58 @ Sep 25

Great piece Gary. As a Cardinals fan I was sad to see Pujols go, but as I get older I grow more attached to the franchise and not the players. As a kid I watched a lot of Braves baseball on TBS and have always loved Chipper Jones and the 1990's Atlanta teams. Those players moved on (Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, etc.) and Chipper is the last remaining piece of nostalgia for me and those teams. I'm still a fan of Albert and hope he does well in Los Angeles but I definitely think he is past his prime and understand his slumping production and rising cost would have handicapped St. Louis for years to come.