Orlando Hudson
by Jon ~ December 19th, 2008
We haven’t talked much (if at all) about Orlando Hudson as a potential free agent target for the Seattle Mariners this offseason. We haven’t had much of a reason to. Last offseason we might have predicted him as a top target for us a year later, but Jose Lopez emerged as a legitimate bat and bought himself another year. However, now that new manager Don Wakamatsu has stated that Lopez could become a full-time first baseman in 2009, Hudson suddenly becomes a viable option once again.
Hudson is generally regarded as one of the best fielders in the game. He’s slipped in recent years, and the various fielding metrics are all over the map on him. John Dewan’s +/- system pegged him as a great defender as recently as 2007. bUZR hasn’t had him as an above average glove since before he moved to the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2006. PMR is the only one of the three that has him as a plus defender this year, but he still landed in the middle of the pack. Either way, the chances of him being a defensive upgrade over Lopez are still high even at age 31, and it’s entirely possible that he rebounds enough to become a great defender once again.
Fortunately, the defense isn’t the only thing he offers at this point in his career. Hudson, a switch hitter, can hit for a decent average and would have the highest walk rate on the Mariners right now by a good 2%. He’s got some gap power as well, and would plug in great in the 2-hole behind Ichiro.
The market for Hudson is very small right now, and contains a lot of ifs. The Washington Nationals are interested, but only if they don’t land Mark Teixeira or perhaps Adam Dunn. The New York Mets like him, but they’ll only pursue if they can move Luis Castillo and his awful contract. The Kansas City Royals want him, but would have to find a taker for Jose Guillen.
The Cleveland Indians and Los Angeles Dodgers were interested at one point, but have already moved on and are unlikely to reconsider. The New York Yankees were thought to be shopping Robinson Cano for pitching, in which case they’d sign Hudson as a replacement. Obviously the free agent acquisitions of CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett erase that possibility.
The San Francisco Giants were interested at one point, though I’m not sure if the signing of Edgar Renteria changes things. Other teams that seem to have a fit would include the Colorado Rockies, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago White Sox and the Arizona Diamondbacks, but none of those teams have been connected to him recently. (Of those teams, I’d bet that the White Sox are most likely to increase their interest.)
Basically, there doesn’t seem to be any teams that want Hudson under any circumstances. It’s not that he’s a bad player (obviously); he just picked a bad year to become a free agent.
Initial reports were saying that he was looking for something close to $15M annually. The chances of him getting anything close to that seem pretty remote, and I’d expect him to receive $8-10M annually instead. Perhaps his injury history keeps the price down to the lower end of that range.
If his wrist is healthy and doesn’t affect his offensive game, a 3 year deal worth ~$27M seems like a pretty good deal to me. I wouldn’t go longer than 3 years though, and fortunately it doesn’t seem like it would be necessary. Hey, maybe he can be snagged on a two year deal with the way the market is looking for him!
For what it’s worth, Matthew Carruth (of StatCorner and Lookout Landing fame) valued Hudson at between $11-17.5M per season in a post at FanGraphs.
Hudson is getting a bit old, but I would love to have him and his hilarious personality in a Seattle Mariners uniform next season.
9 Responses to Orlando Hudson
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seatown27
December 19th, 2008 at 9:30 am
i would love orlando hudson as well… but then what do we do with clement? let him be the catcher against right handers and kenji against lefties, while branyan DH’s? seems someone needs to go in order for this to work. i prefer to go the route of trading lopez, and betancourt too while theyre at it.
Walrus
December 19th, 2008 at 11:44 am
I have the same question with Clement.
Per other sites, Clement’s value is all over the map…can you add your 2 cents worth to this.
I have read that it is too early to trade Clement, because he is still young and developing…and there is virtually nothing better than a young, left handed pwer hitting catcher.
Then on the other hand, you read thatClement has had 2 knee surgeries in three years, has over 300AB’s and he has yet to show he can hit major league pitching, and his defense will never get to be league average, and worse yet, Clement’s minor league numbers do not project Clement to be a good enough hitter to be a 1B / DH type.
Help please!!1
BoiseM
December 19th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
If you can get Hudson at $8mil or so per year…I’d take three years of that.
Clement might just prove to be a better hitter if the pressure is taken off from catching. As a guy with two bad knees I can tell you it affects everything physically. Squatting is about the worst thing you can do, yet alone 200 times a day.
pmbaseball7
December 19th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Yeah but I think Joe Mauer had a knee surgery or two and they were worried about the same thing and look how he turned out. Anyways O-Dawg would be awesome, the way he plays and the energy he brings to the clubhouse is exactly what the M’s need.
Jon Shields
December 19th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
RE: Clement’s value
Here’s a watered down rundown of the value debate with Clement:
The only reason Clement was taken so high in the draft is that it’s very difficult to find left-handed power hitting catchers. How many will there be in the bigs next year? Off the top of my head, only Brian McCann and Matt Wieters (switch) come to mind. There are surely others, but those are the most high-profile ones that I can think of on the spot.
Clement’s expected offensive output from the catcher position is an amazing boost from a spot that is right up there with SS as positions where offense is typically abandoned. That said, as a 1B/DH, Clement’s potential output is only about average for those positions. So basically, if Clement is moved it would be a wasted draft pick.
All said, how much choice does Seattle really have? Kenji is locked up for 3 more years, Rob Johnson is a solid game caller/defensive backstop, and Adam Moore looks to be a better all around player than CLement. Someone has to be moved.
So then the topic of whether or not to move CLement. Right now, he can still be shopped as a catcher with left handed pop. But as soon as he’s moved out of the position permanently, that value is gone.
Personally, I would like Clement to be the primary backstop this season, getting at least 100 games behind the plate. I wouldn’t be worried about improving Kenji’s value right now. Clement’s development is more important than Kenji’s albatross of a contract.
pmbaseball7
December 19th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
I am still baffled from why he who must not be named gave Johjima three more years.
Jon Shields
December 19th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
I’m assuming the “he who must not be named” you’re referring to is Bill Bavasi, but that deal was made above his head. Bavasi didn’t want to extend Johjima. That was all Yamauchi/Nintendo.
Yamauchi/Nintendo is looking like they’re about ready to cut ties with the Mariners in the next year or two, and they were looking to “take care” of Johjima before they got out.
We have a post or two back in the archives. Feel free to use the search function and take a look.
pmbaseball7
December 19th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Thanks I wasn’t to sure if that was true or not.
Seattlenhl2009
February 15th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
I hope Orlando is still a FA because the Ms are waiting to see how the Griffey situation settles. If Griffey goes to ATL, the Ms must sign Orlando to a three year deal. It will put them up there with Oakland and Anaheim.