At the height of the free-agent shopping season, the average baseball fan was paralyzed with fear about the credit crunch, the housing meltdown, rising unemployment numbers and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
The average MLB executive was, too. So it was understandable that once Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and a few other players received their big-ticket deals, general managers throughout the game spent a lot of time trolling for bargains.
Which teams did the best job? In this week's edition of Starting 9, we take a look at nine players who've given their clubs valuable contributions at very affordable prices.
(1) Russell Branyan, Mariners ($1.4 million)
The Mariners announced the Branyan signing in early December on the same day they named Rick Adair pitching coach and John Wetteland bullpen coach. Suffice it to say that the M's did not have to bring in emergency phone operators to handle the barrage of ticket requests.
But first impressions can be meaningless. Branyan is tied for third in the American League with 19 homers, and he has a better slugging percentage (.606) than Mark Teixeira, Kevin Youkilis, Carlos Pena, Justin Morneau and Miguel Cabrera. Even if those numbers don't get him to the All-Star Game, his professional renaissance is heartening.
"For whatever reason, I've always been enamored of the guy," a veteran scout said of Branyan. "The strikeouts have always been the biggest knock against him. But sometimes with guys like that, you just have to keep putting them out there."
For years, Branyan was viewed as more a Rob Deer-like curiosity than a threat to play every day, but Seattle general manager Jack Zduriencik believed that he had more to offer.
Seattle's 2008 first-base contingent of Richie Sexson, Miguel Cairo and Bryan LaHair ranked last in the American League with a .680 on-base plus slugging percentage. The Mariners were willing to live with the strikeouts in exchange for some pop. Branyan, having a career year at age 33, has given the team power and a whole lot more.
What a great signing Branyan has been for the M's.
