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| Mike Moustakas |
Mike Moustakas is not a very good baseball player -- with one exception.
And that's why he never should have refused a one-year, $17.4 million payday, the Royals' qualifying offer. Yet he did -- presumably on the advice of uber-agent Scott Boras.
Really, who could blame him? Boras is long known for delivering gigantic deals, at times in the eleventh hour when defeat seems certain.
Moustakas -- who sidled back to Kansas City on a one-year, $6.5 million deal Thursday -- represents more than comeuppance for Boras. It's a disturbing miscalculation that should concern all of Boras' clients.
Famous for his hefty three-ring binders of spin on available clients, Boras seemed to think Moose's 38 homers and .272 average would park in the 5 (years) and $75 (million) neighborhood. Minimum.
And it might have -- ten years ago. Boras, 65, is a smart guy. That's why his tactics with Moustakas are so baffling. The game has moved on from 38-homer power hitters who don't do anything else.
Moose is a below-average fielding third baseman whose last stolen base came April 11, 2015. But more importantly, he doesn't get on base. His career OBP is .305. Even in his career year last season, it was just .314.
That doesn't work in today's game where 24 of the 30 general managers are younger than 50. A dozen of those GMs are 40 or younger. They value metrics, versatility and, most of all, on base percentage.
Plodding, poor defensive players who make a lot of outs are not valued.
Moustakas' career year was worth 1.8 WAR, just short of what Baseball Reference considers a "solid starter" (2 WAR). Fangraphs' WAR calculation ranked Moose 184th (2.2).
In short, Moustakas isn't a very good player, with one exception. He was never going to get a $75 million deal, not in this or any other metric-era market.
That Boras didn't recognize that is a fireable offense.
