Was the Freddy Sanchez Acquisition Worth it?

In 2009, after being acquired by the Giants in exchange for Tim Alderson -- who had been ranked as the Giants' fourth-best prospect by Baseball America -- Freddy Sanchez didn't do much. He played 25 games, batted .284 without much power, and only drew two walks. His defense, nevertheless, was solid. Giants fans, however, were dissatisfied, as they had given up a promising arm in exchange for an injury-prone second-baseman without much speed nor power. The cost for that 2009 performance was roughly $2MM, not worth it by any measure.

In October of 2009, Freddy re-signed with the Giants on a two-year $12MM contract. To add insult to injury, (or I guess in this case, injury to insult), he started the 2010 season on the disabled list. Eventually, he played his first game of the season on May 19. By August 11, he hadn't put together much of a season. He was batting a dismal slash line of .255/.317/.319; that would, however, be the turning point, as he would go on to put up a .356/.402/.500 slash line for the month of August, and a .304/.340/.500 slash line for September/October. Sanchez was starting to look like the second baseman that had won a batting title in 2006. He finished the regular season with decent numbers: .292/.342/.397 with seven home runs and 2.7 Wins Above Replacement. It wasn't terrific production, but for a second baseman with a great glove, it was certainly worth $6MM. Fangraphs estimates his 2010 production value at $10.6 MM, and in the World Series he demonstrated that value, playing slick defense throughout, and hitting three doubles in Game One.

Looking back now, it's easy to say that his acquisition was worth it. Although things weren't looking great around August, he had a major turn-around at that point, and his glove had been consistently great throughout his tenure with the Giants. Meanwhile, Tim Alderson, the price of acquiring Freddy, has not done much of anything for the Pirates. In 2009, he put up a 4.66 ERA in seven AA starts, and in 2010, he had a 5.62 ERA in 18 AA starts.

Needless to say, the acquisition of Freddy Sanchez was a gamble. The Giants gave up a top-notch prospect in order to acquire the injury-prone nearly-powerless second baseman, but it turned out that they got one of the key players that brought them a 2010 World Series title.

He has one year remaining on his contract -- he'll be making $6MM in 2011. His Bill James projections predict modest numbers for him next season -- a .285/.330/.401 slash line. If he does put up those offensive numbers, and remains healthy throughout the season -- playing the same quality defense that he has over the past two seasons, he will definitely be worth $6MM.

At this point, though, he doesn't even have to do much to justify this acquisition. He played an important role in bringing home that 2010 World Series trophy, and that is of the utmost importance. Had Tim Alderson done anything for the Pirates, it might be a different story. But acquiring Sanchez was a good move, and paying him $12MM over two years also appears to have been the right move.