Yesterday, one of the last remaining medium-profile free agents finally got a contract, as first baseman Russell Branyan inked a minor league deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Branyan is coming off of two consecutive seasons with at least 25 homers, so it comes as a surprise he couldn’t land a big league deal. Or does it?
Between Cleveland and Seattle, Branyan hit .237/.323/.487 last year, a season after hitting .251/.347/.520.
Largely a DH at this point, Branyan only played the field in 51 of his 109 games last year, all at first base. He does play a competent first, so contrary to popular belief, he won’t be a defensive liability in the NL. However, he’s dealt with numerous injuries, and full-time duty at first base puts him at an elevated risk to miss significant time.
Branyan still strikes out a ridiculous 35% at the time, and doesn’t walk as much as his reputation suggests–46 times in 109 games. That means his contributions are basically limited to slugging against righties, against whom he hit .254/.352/.522 (as opposed to .190/.236/.390 vs. LHP).
Arizona doesn’t really need Branyan any more than they needed last year’s first baseman, Adam LaRoche. They’re a building team that is biding its time at first base until top prospect Paul Goldschmidt is ready to come up and smash pitches out of Chase Field.
What’s the best strategy to employ in that time? Probably to give Brandon Allen, who hit .267/.393/.400 in 56 plate appearances last year (with a .351 wOBA to Branyan’s .350), a chance. Allen is more athletic than Branyan, and he’s eleven years younger. The 25-year-old has a similar skillset–lots of power, lots of strikeouts, a good dose of walks, and good defense at first base.
Granted, Branyan is better than Arizona’s other option, 27-year-old career .253/.330/.458 hitter Juan Miranda, who doesn’t have the offensive skill to do much at the position, but it seems clear that Allen is the superior option due to his youth.
Of course, Branyan is on a minor league deal, so Arizona could still give the job to Allen, and perhaps if Allen outhits Branyan in camp, the new signee will simply get cut in favor of the young slugger. Still, it seems that Allen, an accomplished Triple-A hitter, won’t benefit from further minor league time, so Arizona would be best off giving him an extended look before Goldschmidt, who will start 2011 in Double-A, is ready for the majors.
Branyan’s not a bad player, and he could be useful to teams. It’s tough to see Arizona as one of them.