8. Christian Vazquez, Boston Red Sox, $2.221 million value, $2.850 million salary
Vazquez is traipsing into that dangerous area for a player where his salary demands begin to outstrip his actual contributions. The Red Sox can live with paying a player a half million or so more than he returns in on-field performance, but assuming Vazquez’s career advances, the price of arbitration will drive up the cost of using him. His value will have to rise with it or the game’s economics will cost him his job.
Vazquez is a solid pitch-caller. At +7 runs saved, he ranks among the game’s 10 best at that skill. His framing talents price out at $288,000, slightly more than the 10 percent of his $2.85 million salary we’ve assigned to them.
He’s competent in receiving skills, although not what he ought to be. At another +6 runs saved, he ranks among the top half, valuing at $230,000. Still, that’s about $600,000 less than the Sox should have expected to receive in exchange for what they paid him.
As a batter, Vazquez is providing value for payment received. His 2.2 WAR adjusts to $1.7 million in value, almost precisely the $1.1 million in production we would expect a MLB catcher being paid $2.85 million to generate.
For Vazquez, the bottom line is $2.21 million worth of value, enough to rank eighth among catchers and enough to keep the Red Sox from feeling ripped off. That defensive number, though, is problematic. If that doesn’t improve this season, his agent is going to walk in asking for enough money to make the Boston front office question the wisdom of their continued relationship with him.