Bob Aspromonte

Just trying to get some eyeballs on this posting...and make it past the censors.

Corge Coolio's standard-setting dump deal on Tuesday has the whole applecart in a tizzy. Let's not assume Aaron Heileman is a real player and call a spade a spade. 3 studs (regardless of their current woes) and one very servicable player (3.5 for 1 ratio):

All of them have their issues:

Zambrano - needs anyone but Dusty and a winning team behind him
Edmonds - needs an ab blaster
Winn - needs July
Counsel - needs the Snakes to keep winning and to stay healthy to keep his job, as Drew is tearing it up on the Farm

..for one BABI god:

David Wright F'08 20X

How much is Wright worth on the open market on draft day in BABI? Juding by the $41 that was paid for Beltran, probably $45 tops. Guess what---he's not that good at $45 (when you have to take on a $1 player to afford him). And, as we've seen, when you pay top, top dollar for a player, and he gets hurt, your team loses 10 pts. IN ONE WEEK and really has no recourse (unless you consider a 48 year old pinch hitter a suitable replacement).

What is Corge getting for his $25 per year savings on Wright in '07 and '08? I don't know.

I do know that he could have gotten Weeks (when extended, would be $15 F'08X) for just Zambrano and Edmonds, because he turned down that deal. What would Weeks go for on Draft Day in '07? $30 at the very least, given the way he's (finally) playing since 5/1/06 (and the crazy money paid for pure SB guys like Pierre and Furcal)--Weeks has power and hits for average on top of that, a true 3 category player in the leadoff spot. Will probably be the top RBI guy from the leadoff spot throughout the Majors, so a 3.5 category guy. But let's just call it $30 for now to be VERY conservative.

So that would have saved him at least $15 per year on Weeks over the same two years.

With Wynn and Counsel, he could have gotten another keeper. Some possibilities would include Uggla for $10 and Burke for $5. Both of those are at least $10 under value if they were available on Draft Day in '07.

Who would you rather have at the end of draft day?

Weeks and Uggla (or Burke)

or Wright and a Neifi, Jose Hernandez, Wes Helms, etc.

...essentially the same money Corge (if all were available at full market value).

But, of course, they will not be available.

So, as keepers:

Corge gets Wright at $20 and Neifi at $1 for a total of $21 (actual locked-in salaries)

Will they outperform Weeks at $15 and Burke at $5 for a total of $20.

Answer: quite possibly, but a Neifi is going to negate any BA that Wright gives you. Does Wright outhomer both Weeks and Burke combined? Probably not. Will he out-RBI the combo? Maybe, but not if they keep Burke in the middle of the lineup (or even batting second).

Weeks out-Steals Wright on his own, hands-down (and Burke projects to be a pretty good SB guy, too).

So, do you distribute your risk over two undervalued keepers, or put your eggs all in one Phat Al Basket?

(FYI, While we never discussed it, I wouldn't have traded Weeks and Burke for those 3.5 bums, so maybe Kevin got the best deal that was out there, as Geo isn't trading Freel (or Uggla in all likelihood), Boofs has Felipe Lopez under wraps, and Hobos love their cheap starters TOO much--and they now are somewhat damaged goods right now anyway. Sounds like a pretty good reason to me to get the one guy you really want--Wright).

By the way, here's Aspromonte's career numbers (not that he has anything to do with anything):

http://www.baseball-reference.com/a/asprobo01.shtml