Now that almost three seasons have past, it could prove fascinating to see if losing out on the Cliff Lee sweepstakes has been detrimental to the Rangers, or if the decisions they made have actually proved just as or more beneficial than had they successfully acquired Lee.
In the almost three full seasons that have past since that offseason Beltre and Lee have both been very productive players. In fact, using Fangraphs tabulation of wins above replacement, Lee has been the fourth most valuable pitcher in the major leagues since signing with the Phillies, behind only Justin Verlander , Clayton Kershaw , and Felix Hernandez. He ranks forth in the majors over that time frame in RE24 as well He is on pace this season to have thrown or more innings in each season since signing in Philly, and he has posted a minuscule 2.
Did the Phillies get a good deal? Yes, Ruben Amaro and the Phillies front office were able to secure the best free agent pitcher who has by most accounts somehow lived up to the slightly bloated contract he signed.
All of Lee's accomplishments aside, what about the Adrian Beltre? The answer is almost certainly yes. Unlike Cabrera, Beltre adds much more than just offense, proving himself as one of the best defensive third baseman in baseball.
Most impressively, Beltre's In the end, it's very safe to say that both teams, the Phillies and the Rangers made out well with the players they signed.
Lee has performed incredibly well, and given the back-loaded nature of his contract, has outperformed his salary thus far. Still, given Beltre's less expensive contract, and his fantastic output, signing Beltre has proven the smarter and more prudent move. At the time, receiving Beltre instead of Lee was seen not a different but equivalent move, instead the baseball world, and possibly the Rangers, described signing Beltre as a second choice, a backup plan.
Maybe the Rangers ranked both Lee and Beltre similarly back then, but the common perception had Lee, due to his recent success, the topography of the free agent market at the time, and to the position he plays, as the more valuable commodity. While both players have performed incredibly well, Beltre has been slightly more productive for considerably less money.
Beltre and Lee are the same age, and neither missed more than 50 games in the last 3 years due to injury, proving their durability as well as their productivity. Every action taken by a team has a ripple effect. By signing Beltre instead of Lee, it left the Rangers with more holes in their starting pitching, which led them to give chances to pitchers who may not have otherwise received them, and has over time, caused the team to look for starters like Matt Garza as suitable acquisitions via trade.
Embed from Getty Images. Reading another article after hearing of the Beltre announcement. I saw a mention of him goofing around with his young Texas shortstop buddy Elvis Andrus about who would catch a pop-up. I remember seeing this more than once.
These are not spectacular stats. He had one HOF-worthy season in In his entire career, that was the only season in which he reached runs, 40 HR, or hits. He got to the 3,hits plateau by hanging on for a lot of years.
If that is still an automatic ticket, he gets in. But the linchpin to the offensive side of your article is that he was a great hitter…because he compares well with other third basemen.
If that is what HOF voters ultimately look at, you are right, but that is procedure over substance. Greatness at the plate should be measured by offensive production…at the plate.
In his first ten years Lidstrom was a top level player, but it was his second decade that made him a legend. Skip to content. Who am I? Adrian Beltre Home-Road Splits. Adrian Beltre ranks min. Top 7 third basemen of all-time ranked by WAR. Share this: Share Facebook Twitter Email. What a fun memory …to see someone enjoy their job …their work …so much. I like to think I enjoy my job. I hope it shows as much as it did for Beltre. Loading Comments Email Name Website.
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Player A. Player B. Player C. Player D. Scott Rolen. Adrian Beltre. Ron Santo. Wade Boggs. Safeco Field. Road Games. Err, no. The theory that Beltre is motivated by the chance to make significant money and uses that to perform better is riddled with problems.
The largest of those problems is selective use of data, by only focusing on and In reality, Beltre has had five seasons in which he was playing under an expiring contract. In , Beltre was entering the final year of a three-year contract he had signed after his second big-league season. He would end the year as an arbitration-eligible player with four years of service time, and a big year would represent a significant raise. He hit. In , he had another chance to impress the arbitration panel with a big year.
Instead, he hit. In , he had one of the great seasons of all time, and then became a free agent. This, you hear about. In — the last year of his contract with Seattle — Beltre hit just. Instead of landing a long-term contract, Beltre had to take a deal that would put him under pressure to have a big year to earn his money, something he only had a 25 percent success rate at up to this point.
In , he had a great year, and again will land a big contract as a result. For the second time in five chances to earn himself significant money through good performance, Beltre delivered. If Beltre had the ability to become an offensive monster whenever it suited his desire to land a big raise, why did he not flip that switch in , , or ? After all, guys who put together back to back monster seasons earn far more than guys whose resume of greatness only extends back one year — just ask Jayson Werth.
The and seasons have one thing in common besides being years in which Beltre was playing under the final year of his contract: they are the last two seasons in which he was not spending half of his games hitting in Safeco Field.
Besides perhaps San Diego, there is no place in baseball more difficult for a right-handed pull power hitter than Seattle. From to , when Beltre had to hit in an extremely hostile environment, he had the sixth worst offensive performance at home of any regular position player in baseball, posting a.
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