With Prince Fielder almost a sure bet to sign somewhere else this off-season the Brewers desperately needed someone to replace his production. Ramirez most likely won't be as good as Fielder was but he should be able to give some production. The contract is for 3 years for a total of $36 million dollars. The downside is that Ramirez is 33 and will be 36 when the deal is over.
Since 2001 Ramirez has been a really good player. He's had a WAR above four five times and has had a WAR above five twice. When Ramirez arrives in Milwaukee he will bring some above average talents with him. He's a power hitter and has an above average ISO. His career .358 wOBA is also league average and should help the Brewers much more than Casey McGhee's .272 from a season ago. Last year he showed that he still can be an offensive producer, his 133 wRC+ last year is a testament to that. His defensive is horrible though, his career UZR is -30.1. Going back to McGhee, last year he was horrible. His ISO, OBP and wOBA were all about as bad as it gets. Ramirez should step in and be much better.
If Ramirez can have WARs of 3, 2.5 and 2 during the three years of the deal he'll give the Brewers $35.2 million dollars of value, which is essentially a push. With Ryan Braun also most likely being suspended this is a move that the Brewers desperately needed to make if they want to make the post-season for the second year in a row.
A career UZR of -30 isn't bad when you're talking about 10 years of data. -3 per year isn't horrible. It has declined the past 2 years, which means he probably will end up being poor defensively, but the career total isn't that bad. His offense has been at least 24% above average 7 of the last 8 seasons, which I believe you are understating. It looks like you hastily threw this together, so I won't be too harsh.
ReplyDeleteYah, this was a quick one. My future ones won't be as sloppy. UZR is one of the statistics I don't really get to be honest..I have to read the articles on fangraphs when I have time.
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