What if the alternative is paying Dansby Swanson $20+ million annually over a multiyear contract?bpj wrote: ↑Mon Aug 08, 2022 9:31 pmTrue, but the problem is starting next year he's making $11M+ per season which would currently be about 10% of the M's total payroll.Bil522 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 08, 2022 12:14 amThe biggest problem with JP is that he is totally miscast as a 5 hole hitter....or any kind of top of the rotation hitter. He needs to be placed in the 8 or 9 hole and just left down there. Heck a .260ish hitter down there would be a Godsend from the past 3 years of .160 hitters.bpj wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 11:17 pm
Being ranked 14th is perfectly fine, unless you're trying to make the playoffs.
JP didn't become a problem until they extended him and assured him a spot even though he's clearly becoming one of our weak links in year one, even though he's pretty much being what he's always been, ok.
On a playoff team there are only so many moves you can make to add even marginal improvement. JP having a contract assures him a spot, even though it's one of the easiest/biggest improvements they could make.
It's like a problem that's not a problem except that it's kind of a problem. They committed to average and paid for it. Just an odd move. Like giving Evan White a contract.
White, with a .361 OPS in AAA this season before they made up whatever is now wrong with him as an excuse.
Not many 8/9 hitters making that kind of cheese.
At the moment the average cost per player on the Mariners ($104M total payroll / 26 man roster) is $4M per player.
In that case JP represents almost 3x the average. Pretty sketchy imo.
https://www.batterypower.com/2022/6/15/ ... ree-agency
ZiPS projects 2023 and 2024 WAR of 2.9 and 2.6 for J.P. Crawford and 2.5 and 2.4 for Dansby Swanson, who is a year older than Crawford.
For years teams would overpay a free agent coming off a career year. That happens less frequently these days.
Dansby Swanson is having a fabulous 2022 season. However, a short year ago Swanson posted 3.4 fWAR and 1.9 bWAR in 160 games while J.P. Crawford posted 3.3 fWAR and 3.8 bWAR in 160 games.