It looks like the Texas Rangers are close to extending Michael Young’s contract to the tune of five years and $75 million. Young is one year younger then Carlos Guillen and you can argue that both are pretty comparable players. If the Rangers do work this deal, it means the market price for Guillen could sky rocket to the point that we might not be able to re-sign the All Star shortstop.
You only have to back to around 2000 when the Tigers played the matching game with Bobby Higginson. Jeremy Burnitz, who was considered a comparable player to Higginson, signed a big deal with the Brewers that the Tigers eventually gave to Higginson. I don’t remember the numbers but we were talking a multi-year deal worth somewhere between $8-10 million per. Guillen is one of our best players, but the injuries concern me. Also, you have to take into account that he could be finding his way to first base, which would drop his value a bit as well (and would mean maybe Michael Young isn’t as comparable as we thought). Regardless, it’s a development that bears watching.
Which stats would those be? Carlos Guillen has had EQA’s of .303, .278, and .305 the past three years. Michael Youngs have been .268, .298 and .270. Batting average they’re about equal the past three years and Guillen has a better OBP and slugging.
So I disagree. Guillen is as good as Michael Young.
--[…] Earlier today, I mentioned a Detroit News story that talked about how a big Michael Young contract extension would boost the cost of Carlos Guillen and I mentioned that Guillen and Young are pretty comporable. I got a comment from Rangers blogger Joe Siegler that disagreed and I countered with some numbers. He brings up some good points in Young’s favor on his blog but he also includes Guillen’s season from four years ago (ancient history) when he was a part timer with the Mariners. […]
--[…] but “worth” is a hard thing to define given some of the recent contracts handed out. Brian compared the two players, and while Guillen is the better offensive player, Young laps him in terms of […]
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I’m not terribly sure you need to worry about Guillen’s contract being affected by Michael Young.
Guillen isn’t a $15 a mil year player. He’s good, I don’t doubt that for a minute, but Young’s got him beat in just about every measurable stat.
--Posted by Joe Siegler on March 1st, 2007 at 12:53 pm