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Indians
sign David Dellucci to a 3 year deal
by CSF
Staff
11-27-2006
Pending a
good physical, the 33 year old outfielder will sign the 3 year deal
worth $11.5 million.
There are
reports out that Dellucci will be the every day left fielder
with Shin-Soo Choo moving to right field and Casey Blake moving
to 1st base. That would just about ruin the whole value in
acquiring Dellucci. Let's look at his numbers:
2006 in
Philadelphia: 264 at bats, .299 AVG, .375 OBP, .529 SLG against
RH pitching.
20 at
bats, .200 AVG, .292 OBP, .550 SLG against LH pitching.
2005 in
Texas: 402 at bats, .251 AVG, .369 OBP, .525 SLG against RH
pitching.
33 at
bats, .242 AVG, .342 OBP, .364 SLG against LH pitching.
2004 in
Texas: 303 at bats, .254 AVG, .354 OBP, .472 SLG against RH
pitching
28 at
bats, .107 AVG, .212 OBP, .107 SLG against LH pitching
The lefty
throwing/batting Dellucci cannot play against left handed
pitching or it ruins what hitting production he does bring to
the team. He is not a good defensive outfielder so what little
defensive fielding value there is at that position is out also.
All we can
tell about him as a hitter is that over the last two years he
put up good power numbers in power hitting ballparks - Arlington
in Texas and Citizens Bank in Philadelphia. His batting average
has been bad (.251 & .254) in two of the last three years in his
most ideal situation, against RH pitching. His on base
percentage has been about average in that respect.
To give
some perspective, Jason Michaels - another ex Philly platoon
player, had better OB splits against lefties and a longer track
record when the Indians traded for him last year. Michaels was
also three years younger. What happened with Michaels in 2006
was that his weakness against RH pitching was exposed with more
playing time against them, and the fact that he faced much
tougher LH pitching over more at bats in the tough AL Central,
Santana, Buehrle, & Rogers to name a few.
Dellucci's
agent is reported as saying the Indians promised him the every
day LF job. I don't doubt this as I've seen reports before the
trade that playing time was going to be a big factor in where he
would sign this offseason. There was interest from multiple
teams. My guess is that the Indians wouldn't have gotten him if
a couple of the other teams had promised him the same role. This
GM has a history of coming up just a little short any time there
is competition for a free agent. The fact the Indians signed him
for three years at more than the minimum means they are married
to him now barring a future trade.
So, this
move is a negative from this corner. Dellucci is a good hitting
role player not an every day one. But the Indians will treat him
as such and lose the value he does bring to the table. They have
a history of doing this: Ben Broussard, Casey Blake, Jason
Michaels, Aaron Boone - all are/were players that were either
4th OF/platoon types or not good enough to hold down a position
full time. This signing just continues the pattern.
The other
big negative here is the domino effect thiis will have on the team.
If Dellucci has LF nailed down this basically rules out Shin-Soo
Choo having a significant role in 2007. Choo is a more talented
Dellucci type player and 10 years younger with similar issues
against LH pitching. Well, we think he has those issues. It is
not like he's had a legitimate shot at them in the majors yet.
Best case scenario for Choo would be if the Indians platooned he
and Blake in RF but it would be a surprise if the Indians did
this. Both Mark Shapiro & Eric Wedge have stated this offseason
that Blake is considered a full time player somehwere on
the field. So either he will be in RF and costing Choo time or
1st base and costing Ryan Garko time.
Either
scenario is bad for the Indians. Keep in mind this front office
has preached for the last five years that prospects/strong farm
system is the way to the promised land for a team in this
market. Translation: the owner cannot/will not compete with even
their division rivals when it comes to player salaries. So it is
very disheartening, as one of the few diehards left that stuck
it out because of the plan, to watch this young GM doing
everything humanly possible to block good to great ML ready
prospects. And they are not being blocked by difference making
veterans but the likes of Broussard, Blake, Michaels, etc..
The
handwriting was on the wall when Shapiro signed a chronically
injured Juan Gonzalez to play the outfield(!) because he was too
scared to allow a rookie in his outfield in the first predicted
contending year - 2005. Fortunately, Jobu saw to it that Grady
Sizemore would get his opportunity. And just two years in he is
considered one of the best players in the game. That is what you
call terrible player evaluation. Both Choo and Garko are not on
the same level as Sizemore. But both players, if given the
chance, will outperform these part time veterans that Shapiro
keeps signing or holding onto. There will be people that will go
on about Garko's defense at first base. To them I say two
things: 1-This GM, after preaching about defense all off season,
just signed a bad defensive outfielder who is 33 years old to a
multi year deal. 2- It is not possible that there are players
that cannot attain the lofty defensive status of the likes of
Ben Broussard, Jose Hernandez, and Eduardo Perez.
I guess
Franklin Gutierrez goes back to Buffalo being that Jason
Michaels is still here. So there's another good prospect
blocked.
This
signing could have a similar negative impact at other positions
like what the Jason Johnson signing did to the young pitching
last year. And as the numbers above show, even in the best case
scenario, that Dellucci only plays against RH pitching, there is
just as good a chance that he repeats the Jason Michaels mistake
as repeat his good 2005 numbers in Texas. Dellucci's 264 at bats
in Philadelphia in 2006 is not enough of a sample size to show
anything. Maybe if he had three years of 350-400 at bats in
somewhat neutral hitting ballparks the Indians could make a
valid argument but that is not the case. Dellucci won't hit for
the same power in Cleveland and if he plays full time the
quantity and quality of left handed pitching in the Central will
dampen his numbers in a significant way. In that case, he's a
marginal upgrade on Jason Michaels that ultimately blocks
two-three very good prospects from starting their Major League
careers.
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