"When we offer these early long term deals to players like Brandon Webb and
Chad Tracy, there is a certain discount that we expect," Byrnes told FutureBacks
Tuesday, "because what we're doing is making an investment. We think it's
a good one."
Some people question the value of signing young players to long-term deals
before they are Free Agent eligible. Alfonso Soriano provides the best answer to
this question; he lost his arbitration hearing this winter and still received a
record $10 million this year. If Chad Tracy continues to perform at this high
level, he would have demanded similar sums in arbitration.
And there’s little reason to believe that Tracy won’t continue to improve. His
one red flag this year is his strikeout rate; he’s whiffing once every 4.1 at
bats this year compared with once every 6.4 in 2005. On the other hand, Tracy
has finally learned how to hit the southpaws. He entered the season with a .224
batting average versus lefties in 189 at bats. This year, he’s hitting them at a
.317 clip through 63 at bats, and has displayed impressive power in those
situations as well.
As versatile as this makes him on offense, it’s nothing compared to how
versatile he’s become in the field. Chad has made just one error at the hot
corner this year, meaning that he could now man any of the corner infield or
outfield spots comfortably in a pinch. This is important because of the large
number of high-ceiling hitting prospects currently in the Diamondbacks
organization.
It may very well be that Carlos Quentin and Scott Hairston man the corner
outfield spots for the foreseeable future and Tracy never needs to play anywhere
but third base again. On the other hand, 3B James D’Antona currently leads the
Diamondbacks’ Double-A affiliate with nine homers this year. Or perhaps young 3B
Ricardo Sosa shoots up through the system and makes it before some of the other
outfield talent. Having a star hitter like Tracy able to accommodate whatever
unpredictable happenings transpire in the farm system looms large for a young
franchise like the Diamondbacks.
The best case scenario is that all of the Diamondbacks’ prospects pan out and
the club has no need to exercise its $7 million option on Tracy for 2010. But as
we all know, many of these top prospects will falter, and the safe money is on
the Diamondbacks either picking that option up or renegotiating another
long-term deal to a player who may be an elite hitter in the league at that
point. Move over, Gonzo, Chad Tracy has become the new face of the Diamondbacks’
offense.
Read more from Keith Glab at www.baseballevolution.com