Second Season :: Round 3 :: Day 3 and 4 -- Squandering money edition

Net Win Shares Value calculates the financial worth of a player and his contract. It's easy to say that all young, star players who aren't eligible for arbitration are the best values, but that ignores some of the realities of how baseball works. If you want to win a pennant, you're going to have to include players who receive arbitration, and probably even some free agents. Net Win Shares Value presents a fuller picture because it reflects the different financial expectations of those different classes of players.

Starting is simple. We compare each player's contribution above a bench level (Win Shares Above Bench, or WSAB) to the salary he was paid above the minimum salary (which was $380,000 last year). Most importantly, we draw this comparison for each of the three general classes of players: those not eligible for arbitration (most of whom receive no salary above the minimum), those eligible for arbitration and free agents. ...

... Still, the Dodgers don't win the award for squandering the most money last year. That award goes to the Chicago White Sox, one of only two teams to post a negative Net Win Shares Value in 2007 (Houston was the other). The five worst values on Chicago's South Side last year were:

   Podsednik, Scott    -$5,869,65
   Crede, Joe          -$4,542,71
   Hall, Toby          -$4,375,03
   Contreras, Jose     -$4,040,34
   Gonzalez, Andy      -$3,993,41

Andy Gonzalez was only paid the minimum, which tells you how bad his 67 games went. A batting line of .185/.280/.249 will do that to you. Because I like to end on a positive note, here were the White Sox's five best values last year:

   Jenks, Bobby        $8,252,123
   Thome, Jim          $7,809,389
   Buehrle, Mark       $5,802,364
   Vazquez, Javier     $5,551,514
   Fields, Josh        $4,078,189

You'll find the Net Win Shares Value of virtually every player in the 2008 THT Annual, along with a plethora of other stats. Please support the site and buy it directly from our publisher. You'll find it's one heck of a value.

9. RON GAINES, OF
San Angelo (United)

Gaines hit .417 with 27 steals at Division II Angelo (Texas) State as a senior, but he didn’t attract any interest from scouts, so he wandered across the street to play for the San Angelo Colts. The 24-year-old hit .334/.386/.589 this year to be named the league’s rookie of the year. In addition to showing the ability to hit for average and power (19 home runs), he used his blazing speed to hit 10 triples and steal 29 bases in 38 tries.

According to his manager Doc Watson, Gaines has been timed at 3.9 seconds from home to first from the right side, which would grade out at 80 on the 20-to-80 scouting scale. His swing is long, but he did show the ability to make adjustments and shortened up his swing as the season progressed. He’s solid defensively in center field.