Six And A Half

I have a trivia question for you.

How much money is a pitcher worth who went 15-10 last year? Wait, there’s more. How much money is a pitcher who went 15-10 last year and had a 3.56 ERA? Wait, I am still not done, how much money is a pitcher who is considered, at best, a number three starter who had a 15-10 record and a 3.56 ERA last year. Add to that a pitcher who has been erratic and has more lifetime loses than wins? Okay, now you can answer.

Perhaps you answered one million dollars, or maybe you said two million. Perhaps you went with what the Mets offered this player and you said 4.725 million dollars. That seems high to me but apparently it was not high enough for Oliver Perez and the two sides went to arbitration.

Perez won and will be making 6.5 million dollars this coming year. This seem ridiculous to me. I understand that pitchers are rare commodities and lefties are even rarer. Still, based on the numbers it does not seem that such a pitcher warrants 6.5 million dollars. This is not Johan Santana we are talking about.

It is amazing how much money people are getting to throw or hit a baseball. Over six million dollars for a starter who is not good enough to be the ace of any staff in baseball seems a bit much. Unfortunately, I guess that is what the market will pay.