So Ty Wigginton got a 2 year/$6 million deal today. Let's frame that in a different light. La Troy Hawkins will make $3.5 million this year. We're going to pay La Troy Hawkins half a million more than it costs to have Ty Wigginton for one year. Hawkins will maybe throw IP. Wiggy would've easily cleared 450 AB's for us in 2009.*
The two million or so we saved in not going to arbitration with Wiggy, we've now spent on the wonderful contributors: Aaron Boone, Jason Michaels, Russ Ortiz, Tobby Hall, and Brian Esposito. Can anyone else think of any more piss poor decision making? I get that we're trying to manufacture competition during Spring Training, but if we're tight on money, shouldn't we drop the charade of Spring Training competition and get down to business? Given the fact that we've avoided arbitration with literally everyone we should have had to go to arbitration with, is it not reasonable to presume that we could have gotten Wigginton at a lot lower price than whatever the Astros feared from the arbiter?
At this point are the people in the front office even trying? Or did everyone just plan extended vacations once the economy became the scape goat of MLB front offices the nationwide? Does Ed Wade just get on his Black Berry, surf over to MLB Trade Rumors list of unsigned free agents and call the least appealing ones and throw them $500,000 and a ticket to Kissmee every Wednesday at 4PM?
Ok. I'll shut up.
*I have to admit that I am borrowing that comparison from Lisa Gray.