Some said that for the $14 million the Braves spent on Santana, the Braves could’ve re-signed Hudson. Signing 31 year old Santana was a much better move than re-signing a 38 year old pitcher coming off a major ankle injury. Nobody is going to have good numbers when they play for the Kansas City Royals. Had to be a letdown to Santana to be traded from the contending Angels to the bottom dwelling Royals. His won-loss record was below .500 last year, but is over .500 for his career. Santana’s ERA and WAR (Wins Above Replacement) were much better than Hudson’s. Any truly dominant pitcher would’ve cost $25 million a year. These days most veteran starting pitchers are making $10-15 million a year. Santana is above average and seems to have matured as a pitcher.
PL ERA GS IP WHIP.WAR.age
ES 3.24 32 211 1.142 2.9 31
TH 3.97 21 131 1.188 1.0 38
Considering the Braves will start the season with three starters and a top reliever (Venters) on the DL, signing one of the top free agent pitchers of the off-season is a great move. Before the signing many experts were already saying the Braves had the most productive off-season in all the MLB. Not bad for a team that won 95 games and the division championship last year. I predict a repeat.
By the end of the day Thursday I was starting to get a headache. Should’ve taken a pill but waiting until 8:30. Left work at 6:30 and drank a diet Mountain Dew for the caffeine. Crashed in the bed until dinner at 8:30 (fish tacos – I had beef tacos). Ceil was watching Project Runway, so I went back to bed. Didn’t even feel like reading. Woke up early this morning and packaged and mailed an eBay purchase. Stopped by McDonalds again and made it to work earlier than usual.
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