Giants Re-Sign Angel Pagan
Remember the super-athletic speed burner lacking baseball instincts who used to run around center field and the bases like a chicken with its head cut off? Well, according to various reports, Angel Pagan just agreed to a four-year, $40M deal with the Giants.
As much as I liked the triples machine that Pagan was in Flushing, his brain farts were absolutely maddening. In hindsight — i.e., after watching Andres Torres for a full season — maybe Pagan wasn’t all that bad after all. But gee whiz, $40M for four years? Yikes!
Apparently there is a heckuva lot of money to throw around in MLB — except for the Mets of course. Pagan gets 4/$40M, Russell Martin gets 2/$17M, Andy Pettitte gets $12M for one season … wow, talk about inflation. And we haven’t even seen any of the really big names get signed yet.
I guess that’s one less CF option for the Mets — though I doubt they ever were seriously in the mix.
What do you think – is Pagan worth the dough? Should the Mets have made a play for him? Answer in the comments.
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Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers. Follow Joe's baseball tips on Twitter at @onbaseball and at the On Baseball Google Plus page.
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Congrats to Angel but I think the Giants overpaid. I would not be happy if the Mets did this deal, even though they need a CF/leadoff hitter.
As for the trade, yeah it stunk, but look at it this way: at least we don’t have to cry about losing Pagan to a team that can actually pay a salary above the MLB minimum.
$5MM of the $40MM is from his signing bonus.
Actual Salaries:
2013: $7MM,
2014: $9MM,
2015: $9MM
2016: $10MM
Overall, though – something just doesn’t pass the sniff test for me, doling out $40MM smackeroos for Pagan…..but this seems structured as “fairly” as it’s gonna get.
You just hope he stays healthy if you’re a Giant fan. He’s a streaky player to begin with.
Just have to remind yourself that guys like B.J. Upton are getting $15MM a season, and it starts to “normalize”.
It will be very interesting to see how Pagan responds to a VERY big expectation-level placed upon him this year. Last year was a change of scenery, and still very streaky spurts. It’s who he is as a player.
Understand he has periods of solid production, but will it become more consistent as he ages?
I’d hope, for a $40MM commitment. He gets moved out of CF – for any reason, and he becomes a tremendously overpaid corner outfielder – for what he actually brings to the table.
Good for him, though.