Thursday, August 13, 2009

Orlando Hudson Is Getting Paid (A Little More)

Remember what a steal the Orlando Hudson signing seemed like at the beginning of the season? Ned Colletti got a lot of credit for this bargain-basement find. But Hudson has played beyond expectations, and thankfully he's making more money with each plate appearance.

The details of Hudson's signing, from Cot's Baseball Contracts:

  • 1 year/$3.38M (2009)
    • signed by LA Dodgers as a free agent 2/20/09
    • $0.38M signing bonus (deferred, without interest)
    • 09:$3M
    • $4.62M in performance bonuses: $0.15M each for 150, 175 PAs; $0.2M each for 200, 225, 250, 275, 300 PAs; $0.25M each for 325, 350, 375, 400, 425, 450, 475, 500, 525, 550, 575 PAs; 10,000 for each PA 576-632
    • bonuses beyond 550 PAs deferred without interest
    • Hudson to donate $25,000 to club charity

Hudson is currently at 489 plate appearances, so:

    $3M base salary
    +$0.38M signing bonus
    +$0.15M 150th PA
    +$0.15M 175th PA
    +$0.2M 200th PA
    +$0.2M 225th PA
    +$0.2M 250th PA
    +$0.2M 275th PA
    +$0.2M 300th PA
    +$0.25M 325th PA
    +$0.25M 350th PA
    +$0.25M 375th PA
    +$0.25M 400th PA
    +$0.25M 425th PA
    +$0.25M 450th PA
    +$0.25M 475th PA
    -$0.025M charitable donation

    =$6.405M
    FanGraphs value: $11.0M

O-Dog is still a great deal for the Dodgers, just not quite the heist everyone was imagining. But if he stays healthy, he'll certainly be able to parlay his 2009 season into a multi-year contract.

(Thanks to Sports Agent Blog for the idea.)

photo by Jon SooHoo/Dodgers

12 comments:

rbnlaw said...

My concern is that the multi-year K will not be with the Dodgers.

Also, O-Dog leads all major league 2nd basemen in Web Gems, according to ESPN.

Dusto_Magnifico said...

The issue becomes, how much is the asking price next year? We only have about 25 million coming off the books, and we need a 4th and possibly 5th starter. Though I think we would do well to go with internal options there (5th).

Greg Zakwin said...

Let him walk, let Dewitt play. Younger, cheaper.

T-Bone Shelby- I don't think we have the slightest need to acquire another pitcher.
1. Kershaw
2. Billsingsley
3. Kuroda
4./5. -McDonald, Elbert, Haeger, Wolf (if re-signed, I assume he will be)

Plus we have so much pitching in the pipeline, why block them with mediocre free agents? As long as Wolf is re-signed for no more than 2 years, I could live with it, though my personal philosophy would be to just go with what we have in the system and let Wolf walk.

Wesley Vento said...

there are some goods hitting Free Agency next year in terms of pitching and at 2nd base if O Dogg goes elsewhere.

2010 Free Agents

rbnlaw said...

I wouldn't mind the following 3 FA pick-ups:

1. John Lackey- go with 3 aces and a pair of workers for a full house.
2. Bengie Molina- He's 6 years younger than Ausmus and can still hit for power at times. Besides, he's a Dodger killer.
3. Freddy Sanchez at 2nd if O-Dog jumps for the $$$.

Mr. LA Sports Czar said...

I'm a big John Lackey fan, so I'm with Rbnlaw.

koufax said...

I dont know how many fans im going to win with this opinion, but i think the dodgers should go after smoltz if the sox release him. I have seen him pitch 3 or 4 times this year and I have taken away that his fastball is 91-94 still. His problem seems to be location and a lack of bite on his breaking pitches. I would be more than willing to give him the pro-rated league minimum for the rest of the year to see if he can figure out his command and off-speed stuff. Plus I think he would be a good guy for kershaw to follow around for a month or two...

I Alivandi said...

Sanchez will have his $8.1m option vest, so no go.

I would love to see the Dodgers get Lackey, but only if they can confirm he will stay healthy. I bet he comes cheaper than exppected, but I think the Halos resign him.

As for Bengie, I like him as a backup but I don't think he is willing to play that role. Ausmus is fine in the role. Bengie's brother Jose wouldn't be a bad choice either if the Wanks let him go.

Greg Zakwin said...

I Alivandi- You beat me to Benji, completely agree. No way he accepts a backup role next year. Some team will look at his RBI totals in SF and sign him to start.

rbnlaw- Sanchez is garbage offensively and 32 at the start of next season.

JuanLove said...

garbage offensively?
you're being harsh KempKershaw.

rbnlaw said...

Didn't realize Sanchez' option vests. You could probably get O-Dog for close to that for 2 years and get better defense.

Agree as to Molina. It's my wish list, but I don't think he'd take to playing every 5 days. Jose, on the other hand. . .

Greg Zakwin said...

JuanLove- Sanchez's numbers via B-R.com:

2009 Totals:
OBP: .337
SLG: .442
OPS: .779
OPS+: 108

Career:
OBP: .336
SLG: .421
OPS: .757
OPS+: 98

I'd be willing to give up offense at 2nd, but not that much. Not that Hudson is much better though.