Much has been made of the Angels and all the crazy money they doled out this off-season. That is as it should be since the Halos have been spending money like some redneck in trailer park who just won the lottery. (Did I just accidentally imply that Jerry Dipoto is trailer trash? I think I did, oops! Not my intention at all. Sorry, JeDi.)
Anyway, I figured if everyone is going to constantly focus on how much the Angels are spending, we might as well take a look at exactly what they are paying for. The only way I can figure to do that is by looking at the 2011 fWAR of each player and the associated monetary value of those wins and then comparing that to their 2012 salary. That is far from perfect, but it is the best that I can come up with. So, without further adieu, here is that comparison for what I project the 25-man roster to be:
(I assumed $5 million per win above replacement and assumed that all pre-arbitration eligible players for the Angels would be paid the league minimum of $480,000)
| PLAYER | 2011 fWAR | 2011 $ VALUE | 2012 SALARY | DIFFERENCE |
| Dan Haren | 6.4 | $32,000,000 | $12,750,000 | +$19,250,000 |
| C.J Wilson | 5.9 | $29,500,000 | $10,500,000 | +$19,000,000 |
| Howie Kendrick | 5.8 | $29,000,000 | $4,850,000 | +$24,150,000 |
| Jered Weaver | 5.6 | $28,000,000 | $14,200,000 | +$13,800,000 |
| Albert Pujols | 5.1 | $25,500,000 | $12,000,000 | +$13,500,000 |
| Peter Bourjos | 4.3 | $21,500,000 | $480,000 | +$21,020,000 |
| Erick Aybar | 4.0 | $20,000,000 | $5,075,000 | +$14,925,000 |
| Alberto Callaspo | 3.6 | $18,000,000 | $3,150,000 | +$14,850,000 |
| Chris Iannetta | 3.3 | $16,500,000 | $3,633,333 | +$12,866,667 |
| Torii Hunter | 2.5 | $12,500,000 | $18,500,000 | -$6,000,000 |
| Mark Trumbo | 2.3 | $11,500,000 | $480,000 | +$11,020,000 |
| Maicer Izturis | 2.0 | $10,000,000 | $3,966,667 | +$6,033,333 |
| Ervin Santana | 1.7 | $8,500,000 | $11,200,000 | -$2,700,000 |
| Jordan Walden | 1.7 | $8,500,000 | $480,000 | +$8,020,000 |
| Scott Downs | 0.9 | $4,500,000 | $5,000,000 | -$500,000 |
| LaTroy Hawkins | 0.7 | $3,500,000 | $3,000,000 | +$500,000 |
| Rich Thompson | 0.6 | $3,000,000 | $480,000 | +$2,520,000 |
| Bobby Abreu | 0.4 | $2,000,000 | $9,000,000 | -$7,000,000 |
| Hisanori Takahashi | 0.4 | $2,000,000 | $4,200,000 | -$2,200,000 |
| Jerome Williams | 0.4 | $2,000,000 | $820,000 | +$1,180,000 |
| Vernon Wells | 0.3 | $1,500,000 | $21,000,000 | -$19,500,000 |
| Bobby Cassevah | 0.3 | $1,500,000 | $480,000 | +$1,020,000 |
| Bobby Wilson | 0.0 | $0 | $480,000 | -$480,000 |
| Jeremy Moore | 0.0 | $0 | $480,000 | -$480,000 |
| Kendrys Morales | 0.0 | $0 | $2,975,000 | -$2,975,000 |
| TOTAL | 58.2 | $291,000,000 | $149,180,000 | +$141,820,000 |
So what does this really tell us:
- Vernon Wells is even more overpaid than we realize
- Old guys pretty much don’t justify their contract value. This bodes quite poorly for the Albert Pujols signing.
- Just look at how much Peter Bourjos is over-producing given his salary. This is reason #523,163 why the Angels shouldn’t trade him.
- Even with as good as Scott Downs was, he still isn’t earning his contract. This is precisely why I hate the idea of spending big money on relievers.
- Hey, look! The Angels are awesome and totally haven’t overpaid on the whole. That’s probably true for just about everyone in the league, but I’m not going to take it that far because I really only did this because I am bored and can’t think of anything else to write about.
- Imagine how much different that table could look if we used Kendrys Morales’ 3.4 fWAR 2009 season.
- Imagine further what the table would look like if Mike Trout makes the team and has a breakout season while making the league minimum.
Of course, none of this really matters because the players may produce totally different fWAR levels next season. The 2011 Angels actually generated 43.6 total fWAR, so jumping all the way up to 58.2 fWAR seems a bit ambitious. Or maybe it isn’t, I don’t know. You can go ahead and stare at that table for awhile and draw your own conclusions.