I’m not sure any single piece of news has been forwarded my way more than today’s news that Matt Capps avoided arbitration with the Twins by signing a one-year/$7.15 million deal. There’s nothing particularly surprising in the news itself; Capps made $3.5 million last year coming off of a bad year in which he was non-tendered, but he put up solid save numbers last year, made an All-Star team, and the Twins traded a prospect to get him down the stretch. I would imagine those are all compelling arguments in an arbitration case. The price tag is maybe a little high, but not terribly so.
Why I think this is noteworthy is this line of reasoning: Capps is in his third year of arbitration, which means that if the Pirates wanted him he’d still be a Pirate. The Pirates have found better back-end bullpen guys in Hanrahan and Meek, but the bullpen would still be better off with Matt Capps in it in some capacity. But in his last year of arbitration, ie the last year the Pirates should’ve had price control over Capps, he’s making an obscene amount of money that’s not out of line with his value within the system. Which is just a little more proof that the system in baseball isn’t terribly friendly to teams in the Pirates’ position. As if you needed more proof of that.
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