Forbes goes around the diamond to the most underpaid player in Major League Baseball at each position in 2010.
Salaries are compared with each player’s Value Over Replacement Player (VORP) score, with results adjusted to reflect each player’s service time (i.e., a younger player in a lower paying service class isn’t expected to make as much for top production, making him less underpaid than a veteran with similar numbers).
Albert Pujols
First Base
St. Louis Cardinals
2010 Salary: $16 million
VORP: 81.8
Underpaid by: $28 million
That’s right, with the average veteran costing $534,000 per VORP point, Pujols’ huge numbers were enough to merit almost $44 million last season.
Rickie Weeks
Second Base
Milwaukee Brewers
2010 Salary: $2.75 million
VORP: 49.6
Underpaid by: $24 million
Weeks had a breakthrough year at a cheap price in 2010. He’ll cash in beginning in 2012, when a $10 million per year extension kicks in.
Rafael Furcal
Shortstop
Los Angeles Dodgers
2010 Salary: $8.5 million
VORP: 39
Underpaid by: $12.7 million
Missed some time with injuries last season, but still hit .300 with 22 steals.
David Wright
Third Base
New York Mets
2010 Salary: $10 million
VORP: 46.7
Underpaid by: $15.3 million
Over 100 RBI last season after a power drought in 2009. Wright ranks in the top 16 among active players in OPS+ (on-base plus slugging percentage adjusted for a player’s home ballpark), dead even with Joe Mauer and ahead of Mark Teixeira and Kevin Youkillis.
Jose Bautista
Outfield
Toronto Blue Jays
2010 Salary: $2.4 million
VORP: 69.3
Underpaid by: $10.6 million
Came out of nowhere to take over as baseball’s top home run hitter last year. Off to a fantastic start this season too–even his bump in pay to $8 million in 2011 doesn’t do Bautista justice.
Matt Holiday
Outfield
St. Louis Cardinals
2010 Salary: $17 million
VORP: 59.2
Underpaid by: $15 million
A major offensive force who proved he could hit at sea level after Colorado traded him in 2009.
Nick Swisher
Outfield
New York Yankees
2010 Salary: $6.7 million
VORP: 37.6
Underpaid by: $13.7 million
A big year for Swisher, who hit 37 points higher than his career .251 average while slamming 29 homers, was a welcome bang for the buck for a Yankee club that’s accustomed to overpaying for stars.
Jim Thome
Designated Hitter
Minnesota Twins
2010 Salary: $1.5 million
VORP: 42
Underpaid by: $21.3 million
Signed by the Twins as a part-time DH thought to be past his prime, Thome averaged almost a homer every 10 at-bats last year at age 39. He’s back in 2011 at $3 million, closing in on 600 career home runs.
John Buck
Catcher
Toronto Blue Jays
2010 Salary: $2 million
VORP: 25.8
Underpaid by: $12.1 million
Buck came through with his best season in 2010 at age 29, hitting .281 with 20 homers and a .802 OPS.
Tim Hudson
Pitcher
Atlanta Braves
2010 Salary: $9 million
VORP: 60.8
Underpaid by: $23.9 million
One of the great underappreciated aces of the past decade. Hudson enjoyed a better 2010 season than CC Sabathia, who makes almost three times as much.
Sources: Baseball Prospectus, Baseball-reference.com
