Phillies re-sign Burrell

[nyy26wc]

1) The Phillies re-signed LF Pat Burrell to a 6 year, $50 million contract extension.

Burrell had his first big year in 2002, hitting .545 SLG, .376 OBA, .920 OPS, 44 RCAA in 157 games. He has a .857 career OPS, compared to his league average of .778, and 55 RCAA in 423 games. While normally, I don't like giving players big contracts after just a single big season, I like the odds of Burrell continuing to put up big numbers. With his combination of power and walks, plus while this was first big year, his first 2 seasons in majors were positive RCAA seasons, this could be a good gamble for the Phillies.

Burrell's 2002 season ranked 6th on the Phillies RCAA list and his OPS vs. the league average ranked 8th, among 25 year olds--

RCAA                          YEAR    RCAA    
1    Chuck Klein              1930       78   
2    Sherry Magee             1910       71   
T3   Elmer Flick              1901       58   
T3   Bobby Abreu              1999       58   
5    Dick Allen               1967       54   
6    Pat Burrell              2002       44   
7    Del Ennis                1950       36   
8    Mike Schmidt             1975       35   
9    Nap Lajoie               1900       32   
10   Greg Luzinski            1976       28   

OPS                           YEAR     DIFF   PLAYER   LEAGUE   
1    Chuck Klein              1930     .289    1.123     .834   
2    Dick Allen               1967     .271     .970     .700   
3    Sherry Magee             1910     .266     .952     .686   
4    Elmer Flick              1901     .208     .899     .691   
5    Bobby Abreu              1999     .200     .995     .795   
6    Mike Schmidt             1975     .170     .890     .720   
7    Del Ennis                1950     .159     .923     .765   
8    Pat Burrell              2002     .157     .920     .763   
9    Nap Lajoie               1900     .146     .872     .726   
10   Greg Luzinski            1976     .144     .847     .703   

2) The Redsox re-signed INF Lou Merloni to a 1 year, $560,000 contract, which avoids salary arbitration.

Merloni kept his streak of constant negative RCAAs intact, when he hit .392 SLG, .322 OBA, .724 OPS, -3 RCAA in 84 games. He has a .713 career OPS, compared to his league average of .773, and -25 RCAA in 258 games.

3) The Mets re-signed P Grant Roberts to a 1 year, $310,000 contract, signed OF Prentice Redman and P Jeremy Griffiths to minor league contracts and invited them to spring training and signed 1B Mike Glavine to a minor league contract.

Roberts had a 2.20 ERA/8 RSAA in 34 games in 2002 and has a 3.58 ERA/3 RSAA in 54 career games.

Glavine is Tom's brother and is an non prospect.

4) The Dodgers re-signed P Giovanni Carrara to a 1 year contract, which avoids salary arbitration.

In his first 2 years with more than 19 games, Carrara had 3.16 ERA/7 RSAA and 3.28 ERA/5 RSAA seasons in 2001-02. He has a 5.15 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.37, and -30 RSAA in 151 games.

5) The Marlins signed P Bryan Rekar to a minor league contract.

Rekar has a 5.62 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.61, and -48 RSAA in 131 games, including a 15.43 ERA/-8 RSAA in 2 starts with the 2002 Royals.

6) The Reds signed OF Jacob Cruz to a minor league contract.

Cruz's 107 PA with the 2002 Tigers was just the 2nd time in his career that he exceeded 100 (he 166 in 2001), while his 2 RCAA set a career high. Cruz has a .717 career OPS, compared to his league average of .771, and -20 RCAA in 203 games.

7) The Cubs signed SS Felix Martinez to a minor league contract.

Martinez had a .577 OPS/-52 RCAA in 239 games with the Royals and Devil Rays, from 1997-2001.

8) The Rockies signed OF Luis Saturria to a minor league contract.

Saturria had a .382 OPS/-1 RCAA in 25 games (just 11 PA) with the 2000-01 Cardinals.