Overpaying For Talent

With a few exceptions, it appears the free agent market has evened itself out when compared to previous years. Gone are the days of John Lackey and A.J. Burnett landing 5 year $82.5 million deals. Their relative comparison this offseason is Edwin Jackson, who is without a contract and is expected to sign for roughly half of what Lackey and Burnett made. But even in a more “team friendly” free agent market, overpaying for talent is still a common occurrence. The ironic part of this whole process is the fact that while fans may never know when their team strikes gold on a signing, they are usually the first to know if their team overpaid. The offseason isn’t over yet, but there’s no shortage of bad deals to talk about. 1. Michael Cuddyer – Colorado Rockies: 3 years, $31.5 million. Cuddyer’s contract wouldn’t be so awful if not for some minor details. The first, he’s not a second baseman or third baseman. He’s simply a RF that is a sure-fire bet to produce .270/.340/.450 with 30...