Sunday, March 27, 2011

If Only We Could Yell At Them

The Chicago Cubs are paying Carlos Silva $11.5 million dollars to stay away from the team this year. Silva was released by the Cubs early Sunday morning with one year remaining on his contract. He left the Cubs kicking and screaming, starting fights with Aramis Ramirez during the team's first Spring Training game, and ending his tenure with a loud tirade against Cubs pitching coach Mark Riggins when he learned that he was going to get demoted to Triple-A.

Carlos Silva's contract was more disastrous than the contract ex-Mets general manager Omar Minaya gave lefty Oliver Perez. Silva signed a 4 year $48 million dollar contract with the Mariners in 2008; Perez signed a 3 year $36 million dollar contract with the Mets in 2009. Each earned $12 million dollars annually, but which $12 million was more poorly spent?

Since signing his contract (between 2009-2010), the always erratic Oliver Perez had a combined 6.81 ERA and had more walks (100) than strikeouts (99) and refused a demotion early in 2010 because he felt he was better than the minors. During those two years Perez posted a total of 3 wins to go alongside 9 losses while averaging a 1.995 WHIP (2 base-runners an inning is horrific!).

Silva didn't fare much better than Perez. His two years with Seattle netted him a total of 5 wins, two more than Perez, but also tagged him with 18 losses, twice as much as Perez. Silva's ERA matched Perez at 6.81, but he posted less strikeouts (79) to go along with almost half as many walks (43). His WHIP was more efficient (1.62), but an efficient 1.62 WHIP is like jumbo shrimp, an obvious oxymoron.

Between the two, who was worse?


Oliver Perez and Carlos Silva were absolutely atrocious for the Mets & Mariners/Cubs respectively, earning $12 million dollars annually to produce Single-A numbers.

If I had my choice I would take Perez on my team. Now, certainly I wouldn't want either of them, but for arguments sake I would choose Perez. He at least struck fear in the opposing batters; they never knew when they would be hit by a pitch. His different arm angles were laughable, and his pitch location could have been more pathetic than a drunk guy trying to walk a straight line. But when all is said and done Perez showed up when it mattered most (sometimes). Without having the stats in front of me, Perez pitched very well when he played against great teams like the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees. He was able to hold them down at times, but at other times he could barely record an out against the Washington Nationals. He amazingly pitched 7 stellar innings against the Cardinals in game 7 of the 2006 NLCS, the same game that Carlos Beltran left the bat on his shoulder as Adam Wainwright threw a full-count curve ball for a strike to end the game and to send the Cardinals to the World Series. If Perez would have gotten that win he may have been New York's newest hero.

Carlos Silva was a disaster from the start. He is a perfect example why you shouldn't base a contract off of one season (especially when it's a contract year). Just look at Gary Matthews Jr., or Milton Bradly, who's hot tenure with the Cubs got him traded to the Mariners in exchange for Silva before the 2010 season. Silva was awful, yet posted decent stats for the Cubs (10-6, 4.22 ERA, 1.27 WHIP). But with one more year than Perez (and thus another $12 million), Silva loses this debate. Never did he show promise or poise past the first 4 games he pitched with the Mariners (he went 3-0 with a sub 2.75 ERA). Perez left with class, I guess. He didn't bad mouth anyone, and never complained that he didn't receive a fair shot (the Luis Castillo treatment). Silva did the opposite. He was a terrible player to have on your team, a terrible fantasy pickup for anyone stupid enough to draft him, and a cancer to your rotation.

Both of these players are going to go down as two of the WORST contract signings in the history of the game. Neither of them deserve the contracts they received, and if this were like the NFL, where contracts aren't guaranteed, neither player would have lasted longer than their first season. In the end, Perez was the lesser of two evils. But when you look at it from a broader perspective, they were both laughable players from hell.