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The American League's All-Star starting third baseman, Alex Rodriguez, has a salary of more than $25 million this season. The National League's starter at third base, David Wright, is making less than $400,000. Who's the better buy?
| MLB Best/Worst Buys |
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• Vote for your best/worst buys • Chat with Kieran Darcy |
Well, that's easy. But is Wright the best buy in baseball? Is A-Rod the worst? Those questions aren't nearly as simple.
After poring over every MLB roster, I've come up with 10 best/worst buy candidates in five salary categories. These were tough decisions -- there were many more players on my lists for each category. But these 50 players stood out the most.
So take a look. And vote on the best, or worst, buy in each category. Help Page 2 crown the best and worst buys in Major League Baseball.
| WORTH EVERY MILLION, AND MORE (Salary more than $10 million this season) | ||
|---|---|---|
| PLAYER | SALARY | STATS |
| Lance Berkman | $14,500,000 | .317, 24 HR, 79 RBI |
| The take: Not quite as high-profile, but his numbers are awfully similar to the player below him. | ||
| Albert Pujols | $14,000,000 | .316, 29 HR, 76 RBI |
| The take: Could have challenged Bonds' single-season home run record if he hadn't gotten hurt. | ||
| Vladimir Guerrero | $13,500,000 | .299, 18 HR, 62 RBI |
| The take: And who dares to run on his right arm? | ||
| Andruw Jones | $13,500,000 | .271, 20 HR, 75 RBI |
| The take: He also slugged 51 homers last season. | ||
| Curt Schilling | $13,000,000 | 10-3, 3.60 ERA |
| The take: Who would you rather have on the mound in the postseason? | ||
| Roy Halladay | $12,750,000 | 12-2, 2.92 ERA |
| The take: Could very well be headed for Cy Young Award No. 2. | ||
| Ichiro Suzuki | $12,530,000 | .343, 6 HR, 31 RBI |
| The take: Already 129 hits, headed for another monster total. | ||
| Scott Rolen | $12,456,336 | .331, 14 HR, 57 RBI |
| The take: Don't forget he's also won six Gold Gloves. | ||
| Miguel Tejada | $11,811,546 | .315, 17 HR, 62 RBI |
| The take: Might he be moved before the trading deadline? | ||
| Mariano Rivera | $10,500,000 | 4-4, 1.76 ERA, 19 saves |
| The take: The best big-game closer ever is a bargain at this price. | ||
| MORE GREAT DEALS ($1M-$10M) | ||
|---|---|---|
| PLAYER | SALARY | STATS |
| Johan Santana | $8,750,000 | 9-5, 2.95 ERA |
| The take: Hard to believe he might not be the best pitcher on his own team anymore. | ||
| David Ortiz | $6,500,000 | .278, 31 HR, 87 RBI |
| The take: Uh, that's a pretty good full season for most players. | ||
| Vernon Wells | $4,470,000 | .311, 21 HR, 66 RBI |
| The take: Plus he's won two consecutive Gold Gloves in center field. | ||
| B.J. Ryan | $4,000,000 | 1-0, 0.84 ERA, 24 saves |
| The take: Seems like Toronto suits him, eh? | ||
| Ramon Hernandez | $4,000,000 | .273, 15 HR, 61 RBI |
| The take: He's thrown out 28 baserunners as well, which leads the majors. | ||
| Joe Nathan | $3,750,000 | 5-0, 1.75 ERA, 15 saves |
| The take: Eighty-seven saves the past two seasons too. | ||
| Travis Hafner | $2,700,000 | .322, 25 HR, 74 RBI |
| The take: Pronk deserves a significant pay bump. | ||
| Carl Crawford | $2,625,000 | .319, 13 HR, 46 RBI |
| The take: His 32 base swipes put him third in the big leagues. | ||
| Brandon Webb | $2,500,000 | 9-3, 2.65 ERA |
| The take: Pretty good price to pay for a No. 1 starter, huh? | ||
| Jason Bay | $1,000,000 | .284, 21 HR, 66 RBI |
| The take: The best $1 million man in the game. | ||
| BARGAIN BASEMENT (Under $1M) | ||
|---|---|---|
| PLAYER | SALARY | STATS |
| Chase Utley | $500,000 | .312, 16 HR, 53 RBI |
| The take: You take those numbers from your second baseman at practically any price. | ||
| Miguel Cabrera | $472,000 | .334, 15 HR, 61 RBI |
| The take: Only 23 years old, but feels like he's been around forever, right? | ||
| Jose Reyes | $401,500 | .300, 8 HR, 41 RBI |
| The take: Good at short, and leads the majors with 39 steals. | ||
| Joe Mauer | $400,000 | .378, 7 HR, 45 RBI |
| The take: A catcher leading the majors in batting average? Good deal. | ||
| Justin Morneau | $385,000 | .300, 23 HR, 73 RBI |
| The take: Young slugger having a fantastic season. | ||
| David Wright | $374,000 | .316, 20 HR, 74 RBI |
| The take: Only 23 years old, and a legit MVP candidate. | ||
| Scott Kazmir | $371,700 | 10-6, 3.27 ERA |
| The take: Another bargain for the Mets ... oh, wait. Whoops. | ||
| Ryan Howard | $355,000 | .278, 28 HR, 71 RBI |
| The take: And this year's Home Run Derby champ. | ||
| Jonathan Papelbon | $335,400 | 2-1, 0.59 ERA, 26 saves |
| The take: It'll be tough to convert him back into a starter with those numbers. | ||
| Francisco Liriano | $327,000 | 10-1, 1.83 ERA |
| The take: It took too long, but at least he was finally added to the All-Star team. | ||
| BIG RISK, SMALL REWARD ($1M-$10M) | ||
|---|---|---|
| PLAYER | SALARY | STATS |
| Matt Clement | $9,825,000 | 5-5, 6.61 ERA |
| The take: Great first half last season, has really struggled since. | ||
| Odalis Perez | $8,750,000 | 4-3, 6.67 ERA |
| The take: Plus, only seven wins in each of the past two seasons. | ||
| Darin Erstad | $8,750,000 | .220, 0 HR, 5 RBI |
| The take: Yes he's hurt, but even when healthy he's not worth that much. | ||
| Carl Pavano | $8,000,000 | None |
| The take: Pavano's only stat this year? One bruised behind. | ||
| Dmitri Young | $8,000,000 | .169, 0 HR, 4 RBI |
| The take: Not to mention his domestic violence arrest and stint in rehab. | ||
| Russ Ortiz | $7,875,000 | 0-6, 7.88 ERA |
| The take: Already dumped by one team this season. | ||
| Jarrod Washburn | $7,450,000 | 4-9, 4.58 ERA |
| The take: 18-6 in 2002, but his pitching since doesn't justify this salary. | ||
| Steve Finley | $7,000,000 | .248, 5 HR, 34 RBI |
| The take: He's 41 years old ... it's not going to get much better. | ||
| Jeromy Burnitz | $6,000,000 | .228, 12 HR, 37 RBI |
| The take: Not exactly the smartest signing by the Pirates. | ||
| Kyle Farnsworth | $5,416,667 | 2-4, 4.31 ERA |
| The take: Yanks were clearly desperate giving him this much money with his track record. | ||
| WORST BUYS OF ALL (More than $10 million) | ||
|---|---|---|
| PLAYER | SALARY | STATS |
| Alex Rodriguez | $25,680,727 | .282, 19 HR, 65 RBI |
| The take: Justifies the highest salary in the game with his clutch play, right? | ||
| Barry Bonds | $20,000,000 | .249, 12 HR, 39 RBI |
| The take: Steroids or no steroids, he's very mortal now. | ||
| Jeff Bagwell | $19,369,019 | None |
| The take: Won't play this season ... talk about money down the drain. | ||
| Andy Pettitte | $16,428,416 | 7-9, 5.28 ERA |
| The take: A tad overpaid even if he didn't have such a bad first half. | ||
| Randy Johnson | $15,661,427 | 10-7, 5.13 ERA |
| The take: The Big Unit is no longer a big-time pitcher. | ||
| Chan Ho Park | $15,333,679 | 6-4, 4.29 ERA |
| The take: Was he ever really a big-time pitcher? | ||
| Mike Hampton | $14,475,185 | None |
| The take: Out for the year, Tommy John surgery. | ||
| Kerry Wood | $12,000,000 | 1-2, 4.12 ERA |
| The take: Gone for the year now too -- will he ever really make it back? | ||
| Adrian Beltre | $12,900,000 | .254, 7 HR, 35 RBI |
| The take: Year 2 in Seattle ain't goin' much better. | ||
| Eric Gagne | $10,000,000 | 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 save |
| The take: Elbow problems, now back surgery. Can it get any worse? | ||
Kieran Darcy is an editor at ESPN.com and a contributor to ESPN The Magazine. You can e-mail him at kieran.d.darcy@espn3.com.
