To Beltre or Not To Beltre: A Conundrum for G.M. Z

Adrian Beltre has been a frustrating signing for the fans of Seattle. A player coming off a career year in 2004, Beltre was signed, along with Richie Sexson, to provide the Mariners with more pop at the corners. 

G.M. Bill Bavasi had a decision. The Mariners needed offense in a bad way. They had one of the worst seasons in recent memory, finishing dead-last in both the AL West, with a record of 63-99, as well as the AL since they were outscored by an abysmal 125 runs.

The solution, or so it appeared, was at hand, with two big-time sluggers available via free agency. Richie Sexson was signed to a four year contract, but we're going to focus on Adrian Beltre.

In 2004, Beltre batted .334 with 48 home runs and 121 RBI, to go along with a 1.017 OPS and 200 hits, all career highs. To top it all off, he played great defense at the hot corner. 

Bavasi immediately jumped in with both feet, signing Beltre away from L.A. to the tune of five years, $64 million. Why not? He just put up the best numbers of his career in a pitcher's ballpark, and, at 25, he was young. 

Now, in the final season of Beltre's contract with the Mariners, we have a more guarded perspective on Adrian Beltre. While he may not have lived up to the expectations of fans following his monstrous 2004 campaign, I'm here to shock you ladies and gentlemen. He was worth it. Every penny. Every last dime of that $12.8 million a year deal, and I'll explain why. 

First let me start out by comparing two third basemen. 

Player A's career stats: .268 BA, 777 RBI, 229 HR, six Gold Gloves. 

Player B's career stats:  .271 BA, 893 RBI, 247 HR, two Gold Gloves.

Pretty similar numbers, especially when you take into account that both have played 12 seasons. 

Player A is Eric Chavez of the Oakland Athletics. Player B is Adrian Beltre. 

While it may be unfair that Chavez and Beltre be compared considering Chavez's recent injury history, what is fair is to compare their production. Even without Chavez being injured, they would have very similar production at the hot corner. 

Both have some power, both drive in runs, and both have excellent gloves. 

Chavez, in the last four seasons, earned $11.5, $9.5, $9.5, and $8.5 million, respectively. 

Beltre, in the last four seasons, has earned $13.4, $12.9, $12.9, and $11.4 million respectively. 

Now, there are a lot of things to be said about a player who makes that much money and hasn't hit more than 30 HR or driven in more than 99 runs in his Mariners career, most of them bad, but that is only if you look at the offensive side of things. 

Looking at it from a different angle provides a bit more perspective. 

Third basemen are usually good offensively or defensively, not both. There are several other positions on the baseball field that are similar in that respect, such as centerfield. 

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (or whatever they are called these days) are paying Torii Hunter somewhere in between $16.5-18 million per year to roam centerfield for them.

Over his career, Hunter has a .274 BA, 854 RBI, 230 home runs and 8 Gold Gloves. In other words, the Angels are paying Hunter roughly $18 million per year, over five years, for a player who is essentially the outfield version of Adrian Beltre. 

This goes to show that players who can swing a decent stick and keep runs off the board with their defense generally sign huge contracts. 

As far as I'm concerned Beltre's defense, along with his production (such as it is) at the plate and his toughness (he refuses to not play, even when hurt, as demonstrated by his return from surgery in July about five weeks ahead of schedule), are worth $12-$13 million a year. 

Finding a defensive minded third baseman who is willing to sacrifice his body to help the team, even though there is a chance he won't make as much money on his next contract, is priceless. Having a guy who will do that, and drive in runs, is even better. 

This is one signing that Bill Bavasi made that might not have been completely bullheaded. This is one signing that, given the benefit of hindsight, might not be changed were the M's given the opportunity to do it all over again. 

The contract may have been a little expensive, but given his production the year before, and the Mariners abysmal record in that same year, he could have asked for a lot more. 

Beltre is one guy I hope that the M's re-sign at the end of the year. Chances are, he'll be a whole lot cheaper. But even then, he's worth every penny.