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As good as it gets?
By egrissom | February 3, 2010
Under his new contract, Carlos Ruiz will make $1.9 million in 2010, $2.75 million in 2011 and $3.7 million in 2012. Did the Phillies get a good deal or not? The table below shows, for players across both leagues who got at least 200 plate appearances as a catcher, the top 15 catchers by OPS and their salaries for 2009:
| OPS as C | ‘09 Salary | |
| J Mauer | 1.061 | 10,500,000 |
| J Posada | .891 | 13,100,000 |
| M Montero | .836 | 425,000 |
| B McCann | .830 | 3,700,000 |
| M Napoli | .817 | 2,000,000 |
| C Ianetta | .789 | 415,000 |
| V Martinez | .783 | 5,900,000 |
| C Ruiz | .781 | 475,000 |
| J Baker | .776 | 400,000 |
| AJ Pierzynski | .770 | 6,250,000 |
| M Wieters | .764 | 400,000 |
| R Paulino | .759 | 440,000 |
| G Zaun | .757 | 1,500,000 |
| M Olivo | .755 | 2,700,000 |
| K Shoppach | .750 | 1,950,000 |
Ruiz’s value comes from more than just what he does with the bat, but he fared pretty well with the bat last year as well, even before he hit .341 in the post-season. Only seven catchers across either league put up a better OPS while playing catcher.
Whether the deal is good for the Phillies going forward or not, getting Ruiz for $475,000 in 2009 clearly was. Of the eight catchers who put up a better OPS, only two of them, Miguel Montero and Chris Iannetta, were paid less than Ruiz in 2009. Among all 15 players on the list above, only five made less than Ruiz.
When you consider just the offense, though, I think there are reasons to worry about Ruiz. He just turned 31 and is coming off of what is clearly the best year of his career with the bat. Ruiz hit 255/355/425 in 2009, but came into the season with a career line that was a meager 242/329/359. That .688 OPS is almost a hundred points less than his mark for 2009. His on-base percentage for his minor league career was .331 — much worse than his career-best .355 from 2009.
There were 42 players in the leagues combined that got at least 200 plate appearances while playing catcher in 2009. Had Ruiz put up his career OPS of .688 in 2009 that would have been 27th of the 42. So let’s hope the guys the Phillies are paying $3.7 million a year in a couple of years is closer to the guy who’s eighth on the list than the guy who’s 27th on the list. Offensively, at least, that’s not real hard to replace. Jason Jaramillo, for example, was 29th on the catcher list by OPS for 2009. He hit 255/312/368 for the Pirates this year, a .680 OPS, and he won’t be making $3.7 million in 2012.
I think there are two primary arguments that you can make that the Phillies aren’t going to regret paying Ruiz $3.7 million in 2012. The first is that his production with the bat last year wasn’t a fluke and he will continue to hit that well or nearly that well for the next couple of seasons. If that’s how you feel, I hope you’re right. But again, he’s old and his .781 OPS from last season is better than his career OPS in the minor leagues (.754). The other argument is harder to quantify, but it’s possible that Ruiz is so good defensively and so good at handling pitchers that even if his offense does slide back to his career levels, he’s still worth the investment.
The Phillies were expected to be one of many teams watching Noah Lowry throw yesterday in Arizona, but the workout was postponed. The 29-year-old lefty has a career 4.03 ERA but hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2007 due to thoracic outlet syndrome.
This suggests that Bastardo and Escalona both have real chances to start the season on the active rosters as lefties out of the pen.
This says the Phillies have been trying to sign a veteran lefty and have been trying to ink Alan Embree or Ron Mahay to a minor league deal.
Topics: catching |
February 3rd, 2010 at 1:21 pm
I’d say that’s a good deal, especially when yoou account for Ruiz’s defense.
February 3rd, 2010 at 1:54 pm
I think it’s okay, too. I think there’s a good chance that Ruiz will never be that good with the bat again, but I think it’s reasonable to count on him for good defense for a couple of years. The stakes aren’t too high either — even if it turns out to be a bad signing it’s not like they’re paying him $15 million or anything. It’s a little easier to try to and quantify his offensive numbers than it is to try and quantify the defensive contribution.
February 3rd, 2010 at 4:34 pm
Not that I’m bitter or anything.. but is he making enough now to be able to block a slider in the dirt with a man on 3rd?
February 3rd, 2010 at 10:31 pm
Ruiz did produce offensively once he reached the high minors. His OPS was .768 in two years at AA and .852 in three years at AAA. That’s reason for some optimism that he can repeat his 2009 offensive production in 2010 and beyond.
February 4th, 2010 at 9:32 am
I think that’s a really good point about Ruiz and his numbers in the high minors. He was just awful in the low minors and then at Double-A in 2004 he really smoked the ball, hitting 17 home runs and posting a 284/338/484 line. He followed that up with a good year in Triple-A in 2005 and a great year in Triple-A in 2006. He was pretty old by then, though, 26 in ‘05 and 27 in ‘06.
2008 was a miserable year for him with the bat, which has brought his career numbers down a lot. As you point out, though, it really is the only year for him since 2004 when he’s been awful with the bat.
February 4th, 2010 at 11:43 am
One word: Chooooooooooooch!
In more words, I’m confident that, at the very least, Ruiz is going to perform to his contract’s worth.
If he performs similarly to last year’s numbers, I think we can be very happy with that. If he decides to have a sort of hybrid season, combining his recent regular season performance with his electric postseason numbers, the guy is a bonafide steal with the bat alone, let alone the way he helps a pitching staff.
I’m absolutely not worried about Carlos Ruiz. The image of he and Lidge converging upon the mound after the last pitch of 2008 colors my lenses Phillies red, but I think his performance going forward, at least in the immediate future, will do nothing to invalidate that assessment.
February 4th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
I am pretty sure that if we are looking at Ruiz for his bat, we are harboring a fool’s hope. He handles pitchers and throws very well. I love to watch his ability around the plate when there is a play at home. He seems to be able to hit when it is needed from time to time. But for consistency at the plate? I do not think so.