How about Drew Stubbs ?

[OsEatAlEast]

We have some guys that can mash but we need a few gnats too. Not necessarily Aoki but one or two similar contact guys. Guys who walk as much as they strike out are few and far between these days.

[Ruzious]

We have some guys that can mash but we need a few gnats too. Not necessarily Aoki but one or two similar contact guys. Guys who walk as much as they strike out are few and far between these days.

You can have 2 gnats, and I'll take an .850 OPS guy.

[sportsfan8703]

I'm not sure that I agree with you that paying a player an amount that is basically the value of 1 WAR is too much to pay a platoon player. Stubs was very good (.944 OPS, 166 OPS+) vs. LHP last year and was actually serviceable vs. RHP (.757 OPS, 115 OPS+).

Used as he was last year in COL - starting vs. all LHP and sitting vs. the tougher RHP - I can see Stubbs as being a productive player in Baltimore.

The challenge is to find a reasonable price to pay in trade. COL reportedly wants pitching, but who do we give up whose loss wouldn't negate the value that Stubbs would bring?

Ubaldo.

[Three Run Homer]

The O's need a platoon partner for De Aza. Stubbs would be a good choice if he were a free agent one a cheap short-term deal. But considering that the O's would need to part with talent and pay Stubbs an arbitration-inflated salary, I don't see this as a good idea.

[Number5]

Sanity now! The last time Stubbs played in a normal park with normal conditions, he OPS'd .665 overall. .718 vs LHP and .637 against RHP

To just use his numbers, while playing in Colorado, is foolish. In fact, his .999 home OPS and .616 road OPS are a lot more telling than his splits vs. RH and LH pitching. He's a career .666 OPS player against RHP. Since that's who the great majority of pitchers are, yes he's a platoon player. He's a career .823 OPS player against LHP. He should be used almost exclusively against LHP's. So his salary of 5-6M in 2015 is a lot more than you would ordinarily pay such a player. His calling card is his defense in CF. He should be plus in RF as well. He just can't hit. One year in Colorado shouldn't fool anyone into thinking anything different.

Really? Yeah, far too risky to pay $5.7 million for one year for a guy coming off a good season that fits a need.

The issue with Stubbs would be finding a player that would work for both teams to trade. A player that might be worth losing for the O's may not be enough for COL, and vice versa.

In any case, his salary is right at his projected production, and it is a one-year obligation. The risk is clearly very low. To argue against this kind of possibility based on a projected salary that would indicate paying for a less than 1 WAR production is just plain short-sighted.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Not totally against Stubs but I would be against 1/5.7 and players for him.

[SteveO]

Drew Stubbs hit .356 with 12 HRs at Coors field in 2014 (208 AB)

He hit .211 with 3 HR's on the road (180 AB)

http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/splits...11/drew-stubbs

The guy was a turd when not playing in the friendly confines of Coors field.

Now if the Rockies wanted Ubaldo straight up for him, I would do that simply to be rid of that contract. Other than that, why would we want to pay 5 million + for a guy who will likely perform no better and likely worse than Lough?

[Number5]

Let's play a little game. Which of these does not seem like the others

2011 OPS + 86 WAR 1.8

2012 OPS + 63 WAR .2

2013 OPS + 88 WAR .3

2014 OPS + 115 WAR 2.7

Stubbs was basically a replacement level player in both 2012 and 2013. And it wasn't like he was a part time player. 136 games and 544 plate appearances in 2012. 146 games and 481 plate appearances in 2013. Yet, you want to judge him on a season in Colorado. That's funny. I agree. The risk is low on a 1 year contract. Unfortunately, you have to give something up and pay him 5M or whatever for something you can find for 500K or 1M. Heck, Steve Pearce is a much better bet to give you more value for less money and he's already on the roster. David Lough has as much chance of putting up the same or better WAR than Stubbs on a 500K contract, batting against both RHP and LHP.

Depending on the contract, Alex Rios would be a better bet for full time duty and require no player compensation going back to Colorado. Stubbs is basically a good defensive player who might hit a little against LHP. He's pretty useless against RHP. People want to platoon De Aza and he's got a higher career OPS against LHP than Stubbs has against RHP, and we'll know that their are a lot more RHP's than LHP's.

Is there a lot of risk in acquiring Stubbs and paying him 5-6M for one year? No, but why waste 5-6M buck when you don't have to?

But you just go ahead and keep on evaluating Stubbs on his year in Colorado as if that's what we can expect going forward.

The bolded part of your post makes sense. The rest? Not so much.

His projected salary matches his projected WAR of slightly less than 1. It will be a one year contract. He is not going to be paid based on his 2.7 WAR 2014.

Once more, the issue on Stubbs is what the player asset cost would be in a trade. That is the challenge that makes a deal doubtful, IMO. His salary is most certainly not the issue. We aren't talking $107 million here.