How’s That Big Money Workin’ For You?
August 6, 2007 by Geoff Young
Filed under Stats and Analysis
Three free agents were signed for $100 million or more this past winter. Presumably if they’re worth that much money, they must be helping their new teams in a big way, right?
Six-Figure Free Agents, Class of 2007
Player
Team
2006
2007
Diff
Statistics courtesy of ESPN and Baseball-Reference.
Alfonso Soriano
Cubs
66-96
.407
58-52
.527
+.120
Barry Zito
Giants
76-85
.472
47-62
.431
-.041
Carlos Lee
Astros
82-80
.506
48-63
.432
-.074
Soriano has done a nice job (.297/.336/.511) so far, although he’s now out 2-4 weeks with a strained right quadriceps. Of course, the Cubs signed a few other high-profile free agents (Aramis Ramirez, Ted Lilly, Jason Marquis) to the tune of nearly $300 million, so it’s not like Soriano is solely responsible for the Cubs’ improvement …read more
