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Monday, February 09, 2009
Measuring the immeasurable
Cliff Floyd signed a one-year contract with the San Diego Padres yesterday – and took Matt Bush’s spot on the 40-man roster. Bush was designated for assignment as the Padres agreed to give Floyd $750,000 to serve the Padres as a left-handed pinch-hitter, spare outfielder and designated hitter for interleague games in American League ballparks. “I doubt Cliff will play a lot of outfield for us,” Padres General Manager Kevin Towers said yesterday afternoon. “But he gives us a solid left-handed bat and brings some intangibles to the clubhouse that we need down there. He’s a great guy with leadership qualities. “Cliff reminds me a little bit of Mike Cameron.”
Cliff Floyd seems be the opposite of Matt Bush. Where Matt Bush, first pick overall five years ago as a non-pitcher, converted to pitcher after a few years, and involved in off-field activities that led to suspensions, Cliff Floyd is all about heart, determination, and grit.
Cliff Floyd is forecast to be a league average hitter. And a league average hitter who cannot (or is not expected to) play the field is the very definition of a replacement-level player. Indeed, the GM of the Padres agrees with this assessment, as his stated role is also the very definition of replacement-level player. That replacement-level player, with ordinary heart and determination, will cost you 400,000$. Cliff Floyd however is going to cost 750,000$.
When people say that you can’t measure the intangibles, remind them that those intangibles are being paid for with tangible dollars. And the value of those intangibles, as determined by MLB, is $350,000. If it was worth more, then some team would have paid more. They didn’t.