Well, Valverde doesn't have to face Braun and Fielder. He hasn't had a 1-2-3 inning in his last 8 outings though.
Before todays games... Ty Wigginton AB 275 Avg HR RBI Runs .258 8 32 26 Blummer AB 289 Avg HR RBI Runs .266 8 40 30 Looks like Wade made the right call on this one.
Comparing stats across leagues is generally not a good way to go. Hitters face almost an entirely different set of pitchers as well as a different set of rules (not sure if Wigginton has DHed at all though). And I would hardly say Wade made the right call. It was a financial decision. Wigginton has a .782 career OPS. Blum, .702. Wigginton is the younger and better hitter.
The thing is, the arbitration estimates for Wiggington were in excess of $5 million after a career year vs. $1+ million for Blum. Wiggington isn't $4 million better than Blum. From a value standpoint, it appears to have been the right decision. One of the big mistakes in sports has always been overpaying for the marginal, replaceable talent.
Agreed about the value per dollar. Straight up, I'd take Wigginton but as you point out, you have to factor in opportunity cost. How did we use those savings though? Would it have been better to spend that money on Wigginton or guys like Brocail and Hawkins? I'm not sure what the answer is, just pointing out that with your argument, you need to better use that saved money elsewhere, assuming that money is available.
Id agree, except that for the money Wiggy was going to command and the money we gave Blum and even if the numbers are skewed for the American League who you could agrue might have better pitching then the NL Id say Wade made the right move. This is strictly my opinion and hardly would have made that much of a difference this season but Wade gets bashed alot and I just dont think he has done that bad of a job.
What I'm saying is Wade didn't make a move where he had two choices. He simply couldn't afford Wigginton and stocking up the pen with the players he was targeting. If he had $4 mil extra to spend, he likely would have chosen Wigginton over Blum or Keppinger or both. Separate from that, there is also the fact that Blum is overachieving while Wigginton is underachieving. Wade couldn't have predicted that.