Free Agent Watch: Chris Capuano

Chris Capuano made just 1.5 million in 2011 and had a 1.7 WAR. This was after putting up a .9 WAR in 2010 in just 66 innings. He would have had 2.54 WAR if he could have went 186 innings like in 2011. Either way, his 2011 season is worth 5.1 million dollars. Surprisingly, the Mets got good value out of a player. As a starter he had a solid .43 PE in 2011, slightly better than his still pretty good .82 PE. He has a decent TR of 9.09 in his career, and it was slightly better in 2011 with a 9.46 TR. His 2011 season looked profoundly mediocre with a 4.55 ERA, but he had a 4.05 FIP, which is not bad at all. He was also a sufferer of a slightly high BABIP at .311 (his career average is about the same as league average at .300). He is a groundball pitcher, getting more grounders than flyballs. When he does get flyballs, it is not usually good news though as he gives up way to many bombs (1.28 HR/9IP). He is a pretty good strikeout pitcher for a starter, and he doesn't walk many, and with an average BAA and WHIP, you can almost stomach the home runs. With the constant need for starting pitching, sometimes decent pitchers can be given way too much money in free agency. However, if not offered more than 5 million dollars, he can be a very nice number 3 starter or a serviceable number 2 (which may be a reason the Red Sox tried to trade for him toward the end of the season).