The best and worst baseball players for the money

Canadian Business Online has analyzed various stat-to-salary ratios to select our best values and worst values in baseball for 2009 — the best and worst players in the game on a per-dollar basis. We based our selections primarily on runs created (a stat developed by Bill James) for hitters, and ERA and innings for pitchers.

Since we wanted our Worst Value team to reflect disappointing play, not injuries, players who missed a substantial portion of the season are exempt from our lists. (You're welcome, B.J. Ryan and Jeremy Bonderman!) We also tried to avoid choosing players who had undeniably great seasons but, through no fault of their own, made considerably more money than anyone else at the position. (Call this the Yankee Conundrum.)

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Our Best Value team, with 11 members, checks in at a combined payroll of just $4,642,950 — or roughly what Alex Rodriguez makes in three weeks. Our Worst Value team sets us back $166,576,090 — or roughly what Alex Rodriguez makes in six years. (Man, it would be great to be A-Rod's financial adviser!)

A note on our selections: The Best Values are inevitably players in their first three years of service. This is because baseball's labour agreements allow teams to unilaterally determine the salaries of players early in their careers, with no influence from market forces like salary arbitration or free agency. For a more apples-to-apples comparison, we've put together at the end of this article an alternate Best Value team of post-free agency players.

Our Best Value and Worst Value teams for 2009:

CATCHER

Best Value: Kurt Suzuki, A's, $410,000 (88 RBI, 37 2B)
Honorable mentions: Miguel Montero*, Mike Napoli*
Worst Value: Kenji Johjima*, Mariners, $8,000,000 (.296 OBP, 22 RBI)
Dishonorable mentions: Jason Kendall, Jason Varitek

Kurt Suzuki's 15 home runs and 88 RBI were pretty for a catcher, but his real value was his amazing durability at the most demanding position in the game. Suzuki caught a knee-buckling 135 games and 1,173 innings for the A's this year, both major-league highs, while shepherding a rookie-heavy staff through an up-and-down "growth year." The fact that he may also have been the A's best hitter was icing on the cake.

Last year's puzzling three-year extension for Kenji Johjima remained puzzling in 2009. Johjima's hitting stats were an improvement on his dismal 2008 numbers, but the 1980 Honda Civic was an improvement on the 1979 model, and that's another Japanese import you'd probably do best to avoid. Johjima ended the season with a sub-.300 OBP, and wound up in a job-share with Rob Johnson, a.k.a. "Who?"

FIRST BASE

Best Value: Billy Butler, Royals, $437,500 (.301 AVG, 51 2B)
Honorable mentions: Joey Votto, Kendry Morales
Worst Value: Lance Berkman, Astros, $14,500,000 (.274 AVG, 25 HR)
Dishonorable mentions: Todd Helton, Aubrey Huff

Billy Butler fulfilled the promise he had shown in the minors as the Royals finally gave him a chance to play every day, plunking the born DH down at first base to sink or swim. Butler won't win any Gold Gloves (he led AL first basemen with 10 errors), but if he can just fight the position to a draw, his bat will carry him. Butler did it this year with 51 doubles, but the 23-year-old should turn some of those into homers as he matures.

The last of the Astros' "Killer B's" (no, we're not counting Geoff Blum and Michael Bourn), Lance Berkman had about as much sting as a gnat — albeit an angry one — this year, batting a career-low .274 with only 25 home runs and 80 RBI. He still managed a .907 OPS, but he's not making anyone forget the glory days of Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio … and a younger, more productive Lance Berkman.

SECOND BASE

Best Value: Ben Zobrist, Rays, $415,900 (27 HR, .405 OBP)
Honorable mentions: Alberto Callaspo, Dustin Pedroia
Worst Value: Kazuo Matsui, Astros, $5,500,000 (.250 AVG, .302 OBP)
Dishonorable mentions: Freddy Sanchez*, Luis Castillo

Ben Zobrist lands at second base on our Best Value team, but he'd be just as happy to play right field. Or shortstop. Or first base. All told, the super-utility man logged time at seven defensive positions for the Rays, who couldn't keep his bat out of the lineup after he got hot in May. Zobrist surprised many by making the AL All-Star team, but was far from a first-half fluke, hitting .298/.395/.490 (AVG/OBP/SLG) after the break.

Second basemen are the Rodney Dangerfields of baseball: They don't get no respect. It's hard to choose a bad value here because no one at the position makes any gosh-darn money except Chase Utley — and he's worth it. With no better options, we'll go with Kazuo Matsui. For a top-of-the-order type who makes his living with his legs, a .302 OBP and 56 runs scored just isn't getting it done.

THIRD BASE

Best Value: Pablo Sandoval, Giants, $401,750 (.330 AVG, .556 SLG)
Honorable mentions: Mark Reynolds, Evan Longoria
Worst Value:Alex Rodriguez, Yankees, $33,000,000 (.286 AVG, 78 R)
Dishonorable mentions: Adrian Beltre*, Garrett Atkins*

Pablo Sandoval is this generation's Kirby Puckett (minus, we hope, the sexual assault charges and premature death): a cuddly guy — yes, that's a euphemism for "short and fat" — who swings at everything yet somehow manages to hit everything hard. The man they call Kung Fu Panda could probably hit .300 blindfolded, but it was his increased power (25 HR) and walks (52) this year that made him a truly special player.

We don't like to put players on this list when they were actually good — which Alex Rodriguez was, reaching 30 HR and 100 RBI for the 12th straight season and igniting a Yankee turnaround upon his return from surgery. (The Yanks were 90-44 with him, 13-15 without him.) But it's hard to ignore the fact that A-Rod is making $9 million more than anyone else in the game. How can you not be a bad value at $33 million?

SHORTSTOP

Best Value: Asdrubal Cabrera, Indians, $416,700 (.361 OBP, 42 2B)
Honorable mentions: Yunel Escobar, Troy Tulowitzki
Worst Value: Edgar Renteria, Giants, $8,000,000 (.307 OBP, .328 SLG)
Dishonorable mentions: Miguel Tejada, Jack Wilson*

As bad as the Indians were in 2009, there were still some positive developments from the shores of Lake Erie. Asdrubal Cabrera moved from second base to the other side of the keystone and established himself as the Indians' shortstop of the present and future. The 23-year-old switch-hitter batted .308, stole 17 bases and provided steady glovework. Maybe this just means he'll be the next Cleveland star to be traded.

After a terrible 2008 with the Tigers, Edgar Renteria hoped a return to NL pitching would be the best medicine. It was more like poison. Of 154 qualifiers in the majors, the five-time All-Star ranked 152nd in slugging percentage and 141st in on-base percentage. On the defensive side, the two-time Gold Glover also ranked last in range factor among major-league shortstops. Could retirement be far off?

OUTFIELD

Best Values: Justin Upton, Diamondbacks, $412,000 (26 HR, .366 OBP)
Shin-Soo Choo, Indians, $420,300 (.394 OBP, 38 2B)
Matt Kemp, Dodgers, $467,000 (26 HR, 34 SB)
Honorable mentions: Nelson Cruz, Hunter Pence, Denard Span
Worst Values: Manny Ramirez*, Dodgers, $23,854,494 (19 HR, 63 RBI)
Magglio Ordoñez, Tigers, $18,971,596 (9 HR, 50 RBI)
Alfonso Soriano, Cubs, $17,000,000 (.303 OBP, 55 RBI)
Dishonorable mentions: Torii Hunter, Carlos Lee, Kosuke Fukudome

The younger of baseball's Upton brothers, Justin Upton has already surpassed big brother B.J. as a force on the diamond. Though he just turned 22 in August (average age of the last 10 Rookie of the Year winners: 23.3), Upton has already racked up 289 games of major-league experience and seems to be on the verge of a major breakout — a scary thought, considering the pre-breakout version hit .300/.366/.532.

Shin-Soo Choo has quietly established himself as the best Korean hitter in the history of MLB, and so what if his only competition was Hee-Seop Choi? Formerly pegged as a platoon hitter, the left-handed Choo batted .275/.369/.456 against lefties this year, proving he deserved to play full-time. He also stole 21 bases (and was only caught twice) and threw out 11 baserunners from right field  —  probably also Korean bests!

One of the great mysteries in baseball is why the Dodgers wasted plate appearances and money on Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones in 2007 and 2008 when they already had a much better, much cheaper centre field option in Matt Kemp. Finally locked in as the everyday centre fielder, Kemp had an MVP-type season, excelling in every facet of the game and batting .297 with 26 home runs and 34 stolen bases.

Last year, Manny Ramirez rejuvenated L.A. baseball. This year he almost buried it. An embarrassing 50-game suspension for female fertility drugs drew attention away from the fact that even when he played, he just wasn't that good (by his admittedly high standards). Even with 50 more games, Manny was on pace for only about 28 HR and 95 RBI, while providing negative value on the bases and in the field.

Magglio Ordoñez came on strong in the season's last two months, ending the year with a .310 average and .376 OBP — fine numbers, if a far cry from his career best. The problem is that Maggs has devolved into a singles hitter, with only 9 home runs and 24 doubles. You don't pay someone $18.9 million to hit singles unless he can steal bases, play Gold Glove defense, and attract hundreds of Japanese journalists to every game.

Alfonso Soriano was never going to justify the ridiculous 8-year, $136 million contract the Cubs offered him before the 2007 season, but at least for the first two years of the deal he was a very good player. This year? Umm … not so much. Soriano set career lows in average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, home runs, RBI, stolen bases, hits, runs, doubles … shall we go on?

DESIGNATED HITTER

Best Value: Adam Lind, Blue Jays, $411,800 (35 HR, 114 RBI)
Honorable mentions: Jason Kubel, Jack Cust
Worst Value: David Ortiz, Red Sox, $13,000,000 (.238 AVG, .794 OPS)
Dishonorable mentions: Jim Thome*, Vladimir Guerrero

After a slow start to his career, Adam Lind established himself as an elite hitter in 2009, raking at .305/.370/.562 and joining Aaron Hill and Marco Scutaro as cheap, productive players on a team sorely in need of them after throwing away millions on Alex Rios, Vernon Wells and B.J. Ryan. (Wells doesn't make our Worst Value list this year because of clever accounting, but expect to see him in 2011-2014!)

It's been a rapid decline for David Ortiz, from one of the most feared hitters in baseball to Just Another Guy in two short years. Most players would be happy with 28 home runs and 99 RBI, but for a DH making $13 million, that's a massive disappointment. On the bright side, Big Papi's second-half numbers (.258/.350/.516), were an improvement on his anemic first half (.222/.317/.416). Maybe there's more left in that ample tank.

STARTING PITCHER

Best Value: Jair Jurrjens, Braves, $450,000 (14-10, 2.60 ERA)
Honorable mentions: J.A. Happ, Clayton Kershaw
Worst Value: Jeff Suppan, Brewers, $12,750,000 (7-12, 5.29 ERA)
Dishonorable mentions: Barry Zito, Carlos Zambrano

After a fine rookie season, Jair Jurrjens was even better in 2009, going 14-10 with a sparkling 2.60 ERA (third in the league) and logging 215 innings in a league-leading 34 starts. Acquired by the Braves in 2007 for Worst Value shortstop Edgar Renteria (now there's a trade someone regrets), the Curaçao native is one of the most valuable commodities in the game: a young (23), cheap, outstanding starting pitcher.

There were some bigger disappointments among the league's highest-paid starting pitchers, but it's hard to argue that any pitchers making $10 million or more were actually worse than Jeff Suppan in 2009. Suppan's 5.29 ERA would have ranked last in baseball had he qualified for the title (he was 1/3 inning short), and his reputation as a workhorse took a blow when he averaged only 5 1/3 innings per start.

RELIEF PITCHER

Best Value: Andrew Bailey, A's, $400,000 (1.84 ERA, 26 saves)
Honorable mentions: David Aardsma, Brian Wilson
Worst Value: Brad Lidge, Phillies, $12,000,000 (7.21 ERA, 11 blown saves)
Dishonorable mentions: Kerry Wood, Brian Fuentes

On an Oakland staff laden with rookies, Andrew Bailey was the best of the bunch. The unheralded righty made the team out of spring training in April, notched his first save in May, took over the closer job in June, made the All-Star team in July, pitched a scoreless August, then was merely great in September. Overall, Bailey held opposing batters to a puny .486 OPS and finished the season with microscopic 1.84 ERA.

Brad Lidge went from perfect to perfectly awful in a single year. After converting 48 of 48 saves in a fantastic 2008 season (including the playoffs), the Perfect Closer couldn't close a car door this year without first letting in a few runs. Lidge blew 11 saves — many in spectacular fashion — and went 0-8 with a 7.21 ERA. When your ERA resembles a Boeing model, you should probably be grounded.

BEST VALUE POST-FREE AGENCY

Because salary arbitration and free agency aren't considered in selecting players for the Best Value team, players early in their careers invariably score much higher than others who might have equal or even considerably better performance numbers.

For a more equitable (if less dramatic) comparison, here's a Best Value team composed only of players who have already been available to all 30 teams on the open market, including free-agent signings and waiver claims:

Catcher: Ivan Rodriguez*, Astros/Rangers, $1,500,000 (10 HR, threw out 35% of attempted base-stealers)
First Base: Russell Branyan, Mariners, $1,400,000 (31 HR, .520 SLG)
Second Base: Felipe Lopez, Diamondbacks/Brewers, $3,500,000 (.310 AVG, .383 OBP)
Third Base: Adam Kennedy, A's, $400,000 (63 RBI, 20 SB)
Shortstop: Marco Scutaro, Blue Jays, $1,100,000 (.379 OBP, 100 R)
Outfield: Scott Podsednik, White Sox, $500,000 (.304 AVG, 30 SB)
Outfield: Jayson Werth, Phillies, $2,500,000 (36 HR, 99 RBI)
Outfield: Bobby Abreu, Angels, $5,000,000 (.390 OBP, 103 RBI)
Designated Hitter: Jack Cust, A's, $2,800,000 (25 HR, 93 BB)
Starting Pitcher: Kevin Correia, Padres, $750,000 (12-11, 3.91 ERA)
Relief Pitcher: Kiko Calero*, Marlins, $500,000 (60 IP, 1.95 ERA)

*Denotes players that did not appear on the player tables because they had plate appearances below the 502 minimum necessary for inclusion.

Slideshow: The best value all-stars

The best and worst free agent signings

Baseball Salaries 2009: The best and worst value teams

Baseball Salaries 2009: Blue Jays crash and burn

Baseball Salaries 2009: The CBO Fan Value Index