61.104 - Is Michael Buckley Worth $5.5M
Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2024 4:22 pm
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It's a Question as Old as Time
September 24, 2061: FOREVER LAND - Last season about this time, we asked if Michael Buckley was worth $4M. The team decided he was, and Buckley immediately went about proving them wrong.
It's been a mostly ugly, mostly injury-riddled season for the growing not-so-young outfielder which saw him sidelined with back problems three times, and other leg ailments twice. In the meantime, his tepid 2060 numbers (.221/.307/.450, good for a 104 OPS+) have crumbled to simply obscene (.210/.293/.415, 88 OPS+). No, GM Collins, Michael Buckley was not worth $4M.
Don't get us wrong. It's clear that the kid can hit the ball a ton. I mean, power oozes out of him like a wind turbine in a gale. But right now that gale is finding as many ways to miss his bat as Buckley is finding to miss the breaking ball. And it's not like this is a sample size thing. His BABIP in 2060 was .221. It's .228 in 2061. That's in 689 major league plate appearances. So, really, that's the question come arbitration time, which Buckley is entitled to if the club will offer it. One year is possibly an aberration. But two?
So, is Michael Buckley worth $5.5M?
Right now the club has been quiet about Buckley's future. But you have to wonder.
September 24, 2061: FOREVER LAND - Last season about this time, we asked if Michael Buckley was worth $4M. The team decided he was, and Buckley immediately went about proving them wrong.
It's been a mostly ugly, mostly injury-riddled season for the growing not-so-young outfielder which saw him sidelined with back problems three times, and other leg ailments twice. In the meantime, his tepid 2060 numbers (.221/.307/.450, good for a 104 OPS+) have crumbled to simply obscene (.210/.293/.415, 88 OPS+). No, GM Collins, Michael Buckley was not worth $4M.
Don't get us wrong. It's clear that the kid can hit the ball a ton. I mean, power oozes out of him like a wind turbine in a gale. But right now that gale is finding as many ways to miss his bat as Buckley is finding to miss the breaking ball. And it's not like this is a sample size thing. His BABIP in 2060 was .221. It's .228 in 2061. That's in 689 major league plate appearances. So, really, that's the question come arbitration time, which Buckley is entitled to if the club will offer it. One year is possibly an aberration. But two?
So, is Michael Buckley worth $5.5M?
Right now the club has been quiet about Buckley's future. But you have to wonder.