On the heels of the previous announcement, the Valencia front office has announced that they are putting another veteran under the rosterial knife.
Third baseman Tim Bartlett has just been released from the Stars' squad. Bartlett was originally on a 6-year/$57M contract and has three years remaining with 2064 paying him $9.5M and 2065/2066 being a team option.
The Stars will be on the hook for the $9.5M this season and a $3M buyout hence saving them $17M over the the next three years.
Bartlett had a breakout season in 2060 prior to signing the six-year deal when he hit .270 with 26 homers and 87 RBI. Bartlett's WAR for 2060 was 4.6. The following three seasons he has hit .246, .240 and .238 although the home run numbers stayed somewhat decent with 22, 17, 20 respectively. His WAR over the next three seasons averaged 1.8 which the front office was not enough to justify his salary.
Rookie Jorge Garcia took over the job at third base about halfway through last season hitting .299 with 10 homers. While Bartlett's glove is a touch better than Garcia's, it was not enough to justify an extra $9M on the payroll.
The move leaves the Valencia payroll at $19.1M and a full cash balance of $20M heading into free agency. The fan interest when the Valencia faithful heard the news did drop one point down to 57.
