It doesn't take a brilliant baseball mind to sign a free agent like Yoenis Cespedes, Zack Greinke or David Price. While the deals the most well-known commodities sign don't always pay off as hoped, it's not a difficult decision to sign a big-time slugger or shutdown ace.
The biggest payoffs often come from those under-the-radar signings, players that, for one reason or another, simply don't garner significant attention on the open market.
Take Colby Rasmus, for example. Houston signed him to a one-year, $8 million deal last offseason. He responded by hitting 25 home runs with a .789 OPS, hit .412 with four home runs and a 1.760 OPS in six playoff games and recently became the first player in major league history to accept a qualifying offer.
While the players that follow offer no guarantee of success like Rasmus enjoyed in Houston, these reclamation projects are worth taking a chance on.
LHP Rex Brothers
Some would consider it to be a knockout blow to a pitcher's career when a perennially pitching-starved team like Colorado designates them for assignment, but in the case of Rex Brothers, all is not lost. At least not yet.
In more than 195 games from 2011-13, Brothers pitched to a 2.82 ERA and 1.37 WHIP, striking out 218 batters in 175.2 innings of work. His 2013 campaign was especially impressive, when he posted a 1.74 ERA and 1.29 WHIP over 67.1 innings, striking out 76 batters while converting 19-of-21 save opportunities.
Brothers looked very much like Colorado's closer of the future. And then it all came crashing down, as he'd finish 2014 with a 5.59 ERA and 1.85 WHIP over 74 relief appearances, the opposition putting up a gaudy .288/.391/.434 triple-slash line against him. He'd spend the bulk of 2015 in the minors.
But you have to take Colorado's home park into consideration when looking at Brothers' numbers.
Those away numbers are impressive, especially when you realize that he pitched to a 2.33 ERA while issuing nearly six batters per nine innings of work. It's not a question of talent with Brothers, it's a question of whether or not he can learn to control his swing-and-miss stuff.
That ability to consistently miss bats makes him a risk worth taking for a team that, unlike Colorado, actually knows how to develop quality major league pitching.
RHP Brandon Beachy
Brandon Beachy was anything but effective in two starts for the Los Angeles Dodgers last season, allowing seven earned runs and 10 hits over eight innings and issuing more walks (six) than strikeouts (five).
But some rust was to be expected, as he'd tossed 111 major league innings since the end of 2011 after undergoing two Tommy John surgeries on his right elbow in the span of 21 months, missing all of the 2014 season as a result.
That he even made it back to the big leagues was a victory in itself, as ESPN Los Angeles' Mark Saxon wrote in July: "Of 29 major league pitchers who have undergone two Tommy John operations, 66 percent have made it back to pitch again, but only 42 percent have managed to pitch 10 games."
While Beachy is nearly five years removed from the 3.68 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 169 strikeouts over 141.2 innings he posted for Atlanta in 2011, he's entering his age-29 season and could have some quality innings left to offer.
The odds may be stacked against him, but Beachy's age, past success and likely low cost to sign (an incentive-laden deal makes sense) is sure to be intriguing enough to at least one team this offseason.
1B/DH Justin Morneau
After suffering whiplash and yet another concussion in mid-May, nobody, including Justin Morneau, knew whether the 2005 American League Most Valuable Player would ever play again. But the 34-year-old did just that, returning to Colorado's lineup in early September.
"I just wanted to prove to myself and everyone else that I could still play and still contribute and still be part of a lineup that can be productive," Morneau told the St. Paul Pioneer Press' Mike Berardino. " ... I wanted to come back at the end and just kind of show that if somebody feels like I can help them, I'm healthy enough to do that."
Morneau would hit .338/.423/.471 with six extra-base hits, six RBI and 10 walks over 68 at-bats down the stretch for the Rockies, posting a .393 batting average (13-for-33) away from the hitter-friendly confines of Coors Field.
While there's substantial risk in Morneau suffering yet another concussion—the next one could easily end his career—he's still capable of being a productive member of a team's lineup.
Best suited for full-time designated hitter duty, as not playing the field would help limit his exposure, he'd be a fit on a handful of American League clubs.
Unless otherwise noted, all statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs. All contract information courtesy of Cot's Contracts (via Baseball Prospectus).
Hit me up on Twitter to talk all things baseball: @RickWeinerBR.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
- Login to post comments