Torii Hunter? He's with stupid.

“It isn't the high price of stars that's expensive, it's the high price of mediocrity.”
--Bill Veeck

News: Torii Hunter signs with the Angels for 5 years/$90m

First, let me say this. Taking both offense and defense into consideration, Torii Hunter is less valuable to a team than David Ortiz, Jorge Posada, Albert Pujols, Grady Sizemore and Miguel Cabrera. In simpler, schoolyard terms, Torii Hunter is not as good as they are. Yet, Torii Hunter will make more than all of them and significantly more than some of them.

Just what in the world were the Angels thinking? They remind me of Yankee teams past where they would penny-pinch on superior talents like Carlos Beltran but overspend on mediocre players like Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright. Two mediocre players have less value than one great player.

I thought that signing Johnny Damon was only going to be a good deal in the first two years and an absolute migraine to contend with the last two years. Torii Hunter changes all of that. Suddenly in light of market value, Johnny Damon looks like a fantastic bargain. Every member of the New York Yankees is an incredible bargain if a decidedly mediocre (and overrated) player like Torii Hunter commands $18 million a year.

What effect does this have? Suddenly teams in need of an outfielder are going to be much more open to trades. Any team in need of a center fielder or lead-off man will be interested in Johnny Damon. Teams looking for more power are going to inquire about Hideki Matsui or Bobby Abreu. Many teams have already inquired about Melky Cabrera. This puts the Yankees in the driver's seat in the off-season as they are going to have a resource that many other teams would be interested in.

This is a very poor deal but as a Yankee fan, I love it.

($90m would make me smile like this too.)