A Look at 1997 FA Signings: Starters edition

[lchronister]

Having reached the All Star break, it's time to take a look at the major free-agent signings from the offseason and early in the season to see who has helped their team the most. For the purposes of this not taking all day to put together, I'm considering only signings of more than $1 million a season to be "major".

Best Signings
1) Gerardo Grillo, Vancouver ($6 million)
The only offseason signing to be named to the All Star team, Grillo easily tops this list. He doesn't have as many wins as a couple other free agents, but at 9-2 with a 3.05 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 31 VORP and 149 ERA+ in 17 starts (121 IP), the 29-year-old hurler has been a bargain at his current price. The question now is whether this season is a fluke and if the Mounties should sign him to an extension.

2) Israel Martinez, Greenville ($7.82 million)
Obviously I'm a bit biased, but the 6-7 Dominican has been a godsend to the Moonshiners. He's tied for second in the Johnson League with 10 wins (to just 1 loss, for a league-best .909 winning percentage) and has a 3.28 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 28.7 VORP and 138 ERA+, making him probably the best No. 4 starter in the MBBA. He's on pace for career bests in every category, which could bode poorly for his post-break performance, but he showed quite an improvement last year in Hawaii (3.57 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 43.1 VORP) so his second-half slide shouldn't be too horrible.

3t) Hipolito Pichardo, Greenville ($7.5 million)
Maybe again with the bias, but Pichardo's 10-4 record, 3.89 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 23.7 VORP and 117 ERA+ have been worth far more than his contract. His four complete games have kept the Moonshiners bullpen from being overworked, and he's just gotten better month by month (5.50 ERA in April, 3.43 in May, 2.87 in June).

Honorable Mentions:
John Doherty, Louisville ($14.24 million)
Doherty shared top billing in the SP FA market with Pichardo and has posted very similar numbers (3.51 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 27.1 VORP, 129 ERA+). He would have been No. 3 on this list if 1) he weren't costing nearly twice as much as Pichardo and 2) someone besides the Greenville GM had put this feature together. His 6-5 record isn't his fault, but rather that of the Louisville offense, which is averaging 1.6 runs per Doherty loss.

Pat Combs, Omaha ($6.92 million)
Combs has been a very solid No. 2 starter for the Barnstormers, going 6-5 with a 3.82 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 21.6 VORP and 119 ERA+. He'd be doing better (and maybe made the top three in this list) if it weren't for bad luck and bad defense (-11.4 zone rating) leading to a .346 BABIP mark.

Denny Gonzales, Omaha ($4.69 million)
The 30-year-old southpaw has suffered the same defensive issues behind him as Combs (.339 BABIP), but still is putting up pretty solid numbers (7-4, 4.67 ERA, 1.63 WHIP, 11.5 VORP, 97 ERA+). If the Barnstormers could actually get to more balls in the field, there's a good chance they wouldn't be facing a 5-game deficit behind the Madison Wolves.

Worst Signings
1) John Davis, Hawaii ($2.56 million)
The 32-year-old was so bad in 5 starts (0-4, 11.29 ERA, 2.07 WHIP, -12.0 VORP, 40 ERA+) that the Tropics let him go midway through June. However, this probably was a perfect example of small sample size, as Davis had been a pretty league average before this year, his ratings didn't drop in the offseason and he was having atrocious luck (.446 BABIP on a team with a positive zone rating). It's not like him turning things around would have put the Tropics into the playoffs, but it's not like his replacement (38-year-old Timothy Regina) is a better long-term solution.

2) Nate Hollins, Seattle ($10.55 million)
A star pitcher from 1990 to 1995 with Valencia (including a ridiculous 1995 season), Hollins started to drop off a bit last year (3.98 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 110 ERA+), but no one could have seen this year's stumble. The 35-year-old is 4-5 with a 6.31 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, -4.3 VORP and 72 ERA+. Part of it is luck (.342 BABIP), but even that doesn't make sense since the Storm have a 34.9 zone rating (but they do have just a .666 DEF mark).

[scottsdale_joe]

Grillo was a shot in the dark that has paid off handsomely.
He's still arbitration eligible next year so he'll likely be around Vancouver for at least one more season to prove his potential long term worth.

[lchronister]

Oh, I missed that he's arbitration eligible. An even better signing, if that's possible