We recently talked on the podcast about the Giants resigning Guillermo Mota to a minor league contract: a move that we both liked considering its decent upside (a decent season from a pretty-good-not-great relief pitcher), and its very low downside. He earned $750,000 in 2010, and will probably earn even less than that this year, particularly if he spends the season in the minors.
I was having lunch with my dad and we were talking about it, and we were a little surprised that he would sign in the minors, considering that he was a big part of the stellar bullpen on the world championship team. He certainly had the swagger of an All-Star, and the game face to give the impression that he was a necessary part of any bullpen. His season numbers told something of a different story.
Still, how could we get such different impressions? The whole notion of statistics is to make evaluations clearer, not muddle things up even more. So let’s take a look.