Money v. Results, a major league midseason spotlight

By Chase Jacobs

Follow on Twitter @chasehunterj

The 2013 All Star break brings a rest to the tumultous, grueling and grinding daily event upon event that is the Major League Baseball season. As we take a look at the favorites being plastered across baseball magazines and online predictions, we see a couple very disappointing franchises this year.

The Blue Jays were looking like a brand new franchise with a fresh lease on life. President and CEO Paul Beeston had convinced the board that spending should be hiked from the original chartered $100 million to $125 mil. for the upcoming season. Beeston and GM Alex Anthopoulos had stated in several meetings with revenue directors that “Now was the time to spend while the Yankees and Red Sox were not at their best”.  The jaws of monetary convention were released. The team traded for Starting Pitching in RA Dickey, Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle. The team landed SS Jose Reyes and signed LF Melky Cabrera.

Aspirations were high, Toronto finally looked like they could compete on paper with the likes of the AL East.

The dog days of summer have arrived. The Blue Jays look bloated on paper and disheveled on the field. The ninth highest payroll has yielded a 45-49 record that is good for last in the (even better than usual) AL East and 11.5 games back of the (overachieving?) Red Sox. Jose Bautista, the highest paid player on the roster who rakes in $14 million this season made the All-Star team as a starter. Twenty home runs are not bad, but only 55 RBIs and a whiff-tastic .254 BA make his selection a head scratcher. Edwin Encarnacion, who looks like a bargain ($8 million) by comparison, is batting .264 with 25 dingers and 72 RBIs and made the AL All-Stars roster. Jose Reyes ($10 million) has missed most of the 2013 season with a severe ankle sprain. Melky Cabrera will make $8 million this year from the Blue Jays… he is currently batting .278 with three homers and 29 RBIs. On the pitching side of this debacle, Josh Johnson ($13.75 mil) and Mark Buehrle ($12 mil) were acquired  via the massive salary dump by Miami. They are now pitching respectively 5.16 and 4.89 ERA and combining for 144 strikeouts. The current MLB leader in strikeouts is Yu Darvish with 157.

The other side of the spectrum shows the frugal Oakland Athletics have spent their money wisely, unsurprisingly (See: Moneyball). 2013 looked like nothing but doom and gloom for the A’s. Houston had transferred to the AL West and looked to be Oakland’s brother in arms at the bottom of the division with a somewhat comparable payroll. Oakland’s $68 million is fifth lowest compared with Houston’s eye-poppingly low $24 mil.

 Colon is forty years old. He will make $3 million dollars this year. Colon not only made July’s All-Star team, he is currently rocking a 2.70 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP to go with his 12-3 record. AJ Griffin did not make the 2013 ASG, but has a 3.68 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 94 strikeouts, a bargain for the Athletics at $492,000. Closer Grant Balfour, was one of Oakland’s more “grandiose” signings in 2011. He more than justifies his $4.5 mil. salary with an All-Star selection in 2013, a 1.63 ERA, 25 Saves and a 41/39 Strikeout-to-Innings pitched ratio.

The apple of Billy Beane’s eye this year has been $492,000 man 3B/C Josh Donaldson. The 27 year old has thrived year, hammering AL pitching with a .310 AVG, 16 HR and 61 RBIs. The do-it-all fielder came over from the Cubs in the Rich Harden trade of ’08. Covelli “Coco” Crisp is the third highest paid player on the A’s roster at seven million dollars this year. The centerfielder has done everything he can to justify his salary this year, just short of an all-star appearance, batting .263 with 9 dingers and 14 stolen bases. Jed Lowrie, another former Red Sock, makes $2.4 million this year and has contributed a stout .295 BA and seven homers.

The gap between the highest and lowest paid rosters will forever widen. However what makes baseball so interesting is the fact that teams like the Oakland Athletics can be doubled in salary by upstart clubs like the Blue Jays, yet still outproduce them on the field and possibly in the post season. This magnifying glass on these two teams shows just one of the many reasons why the rest of the 2013 MLB season is worth watching.