Burleson is a star

[hugeCardfan]

MattMitch has a great formula for a great team, with something like percentages of highly paid vets, low-paid youngsters, and the affordable but not too expensive good middle players. WC is in the highly paid vets category.

The only players on the Cards not worth their weight are Arenado and Mikolas. Gray is overpaid, but that's what happens when you sign most free agents. https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resour ... /cardinals

Willson is not even in the top 66 players in AAV per this website: https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/ ... 030848007/

So, .257 HR 19 RBI 73 R 64, is that a star...an $18M star? Weren't we looking for a catcher to replace Yadi?

Star's make in excess of 30 mil in free agency. If you expected star production for 18 mil you're living in a dream world.

Sure. Albert was a star for 11 years in St Louis. I don't think his salary exceeded 16M as a Cardinal. On the other hand, I'm holding out for heaven as my dream world.

I highlighted in red the part you seem to have missed. And Albert was signed to that contract almost 20 years ago. When Albert signed the FA contract it was 26 mil, if he was same age as he was in 2011, with the same history he had he'd been fielding 40+ mil offers today, and you know it or should.

Edit: the extension Albert signed was Feb. 19 2004 - over 21 years ago.

Yeah, I know when it was and how CT squawked because he only had 3 years under his belt and they were paying him "star" money. Best 21st century contract extension ever.

Albert's FA contract was an overpay despite his credentials. He was cresting and BDW and Mo knew it. Artie Moreno saved their butts. History is replete with bad "star" contracts. Some take longer than others to play out. In case you misunderstood, I never thought Contreras was a necessary sign. 18M for a catcher who wasn't very good defensively and couldn't stay healthy behind the plate...might just be overkill. That's the Cardinal dilemma. This team fits like a 1913 pitcher's glove. We waste entirely too much time excessing over Burleson's shortfalls.

All the bit.ching about Burleson, from he can't hit to he can't field... ignores the fact that he is growing up in the majors with us at virtually minimum wage. If you haven't figured out that I don't really consider Burleson a star, let me clarify. It was a fun post after he had an awesome night. Doesn't change the fact that he is one of our best, if not the best hitter on our roster. Folks can biatch about him until the cows come home but, on this roster, he's a bargain. So is Ivan Herrera who also doesn't have a position. What futures they have is more problematic.

That’s all you have? He’s cheap ?

Is that all you discerned?

[Shady]

Well, maybe it took 11 pages and a mini slump by Burly, but now we get the OP to admit that Burly is "NOT" a star.
You know, for all the abuse it takes by some on here, WAR simply tells us that in a snapshot if you have trouble digesting and then consolidating all the variables that effect a players value to a team. Currently AB has a +1.6 bWAR, which is 6th among position players on this sub .500 team. Well, that's ok.
It's not AB's fault Shady's obsession has helped turn AB into an emotional weather vane on here, and AB is a good player to have while cost controlled like many other Card players have been, past and present. Now whether AB can continue to get better or if this is his plateau will help determine his future value. Currently he's a fine player to have on the 26.

"It's not AB's fault Shady's obsession has helped turn AB into an emotional weather vane on here." Many CT posters' silly obsession with everything I post is what is the actual "emotional weather vane on here".