Fat Cats S54

 Jessica Fletcher - contributing reporter

Fat Cat - noun
/ˈfat ˌkat/ 

1. A player whose contract outweighs their performance. 
2. A Canadian whose downed too many Tim Horton timbits.

Let's see who makes that phat pay check but giving the team diet production. 

• Positions Players
• Catchers
• Norichika Zhou (Pittsburgh Yinzers - 28 yr old) is still young but considering his limited range in the field, lack of quality pitch calling, and season lows across the board; he gets the fat cat label for making $4.8M this year. Compared to other catchers in that same range, he's definitely bottom of the list for production. Assuming he turns the offense around we might not see him on the list next season, the final year of his current contract. But the fact that he's lacking on the defensive and pitching call side stands. 
• First Basemen
• Alex Tarraga (Buffalo Bisons - 36 yr old) still has 2/$13.2M remaining on his contact, now while that isn't an awful contract as the power drops he'll eventually become a role player for the very same Bisons team he used to lead into the playoffs. Another player setting career lows, this one going from a 1.000+ OPS just two seasons ago to a .808 that he currently has this season. Next year that could easily fall below .600 if he's not careful with his offseason regiment. His ratings have held up over the course of the season better than expected. 
• Al Martinez (Chicago Gunslingers - 33 yr old) is a bit pricey for his production this season but as he ages that goes up an additional $1M next year. While I don't expect any drop in ratings, he's definitely not the same 42 HR, 130 RBI hitter he was back in S51. Unless he can improve on that .716 OPS, $8.3M is a lot to pay for that production; not to mention the $9.3M next season. Luckily it's a mutual option that could be decline. 
• Eugene Daniels (Vancouver Canucks - 30 yr old) has the 7th highest salary for a 1B but he's garnered less than 100 ABs this season and not because of injury. This guy BANKED in arbitration, going from $1.5M in Arb1 to $6.3M in Arb2. Last season he had just 151 ABs and hit .185.
• Second Basemen
• Harry Padilla (NY Empire - 35 yr old) is on the final year of a max contract and without much power, as his contact and splits continue to dip; so does his production. He's been a .290 hitter throughout his career but is seeing drastic career lows across the board. Now don't get me wrong, I think part of this season struggles are just a down year, but it doesn't set a strong precedence for the years to come. 
• Shortstops
• Sammy Figureoa (Austin Son's of Odin - 28 yr old) is still owed another $11.2M next year, but even if the price of shortstops has risen in recent years, you'd expect more value out of a top earner in the league. An OPS below .700 and only 2 plus plates, though he's not making errors either. If this was in the $5-6M range it'd likely be more acceptable league wide. 
• Norberto Martinez (Anaheim Diablos - 31 yr old) signed his 3/$20.2M deal just this past offseason while that's not a truly hefty deal for a defensive shortstop, Martinez's OPS is down below .600 in the awful range. But he is 6-1 on plus/negative plays, however his 15 errors puts him towards the top of the list of errors at Shortstops. 
• Third Basemen
• Juancito Uribe (Seoul Bears - 28 yr old) is signed through S56 at $6.8M per and owner foolsgold hopes the extension the previou owner made wasn't a big mistake. In Colorado he was a .300+ AVG / .880+ OPS hitter but moving with the franchise to Seoul his average has dipped below his 181 lb frame and closing in on half the OPS he hit before. 
• Corky Jones (Austin Son's of Odin - 29 yr old) has another year on the books at the same salary as this year, $6.3M; that's a lot to be paying for a bench player whose played in under 40 games with less than 100 ABs. The OPS is under .650 as well. At least there's no expecting ratings drop coming. 
• Rafael Rodriguez (Oklahoma City Barons - 27 yr old) signed a fresh 5/$37.5M deal so this ink is still somewhat fresh. His defense plays just shy of a SS but should be a plus defender at the hot corner. And perhaps he doesn't belong on this list because of the value he provides at 3B but with an OPS that hovers around .670 he's below average at the plate, quickly approaching being poor quality. That's often acceptable for Shortstops but not a great solution at 3B. The positive thing about his new deal is the $7.5M bonus, meaning the deal is really only $4/24M beyond this season. 
• Left Fielders
• Ernest Collins (Milwaukee Metronomes - 32 yr old) is yet another player having a down year, but when a player of his ability starts to have a down year, his OPS starts to drop and it's currently just a hair above .600; and could easily drop to the Awful range with just one cold spell. He's signed through S56 at $6.1M per, so let's hope he turns it around and maybe finds a way to exclude himself from this list next year. 
• Center Fielders
• Yuniesky Tavarez (Santa Fe Riders VIII - 30 yr old) has the ability to play Shortstop where he'd likely have the opportunity for more plus plays, but he's been shifted to Centerfield, and will likely be so for the remainder of this year and next; but he makes this list because of his $9M salary and his below .600 OPS production. 
• Fergie Barbosa (New York Empire - 34 yr old) is in the final year of his deal and has seen a flicker of his ratings begin to fall; his .651 OPS starts to fall between the Poor and Below Average range but still seems to be keeping catchers on their heels a bit with 26 stolen bases this season. 
• Pinky Salazar (Philadelphia Harpers - 28 yr old) was acquired by Philly this season so we assume they know what they were getting; seems to be your average center field defensively but his .601 career OPS mark leaves a lot to be desired; this season it's down below .550. That's 20 ticks below Awful!
• Right Fielders
• None. As an easy position to fill, there's no surprise there aren't any Fat Cats here. 
• Designated Hitters
• Vic Nova (Colorado Springs From My Loins - 34 yr old) is yet another player having a down year and has multiple years left on his contract; signed through S57 but thankfully after this season it drops down to $5M per. Yes, his age 37 season he will be making $5M. There was no indication this was going to be a down year for Nova; but that .609 OPS proves just how poor of a season it's been so far. 
• Pitchers
• Starters - It's understandable that some teams need a body to fill, and there are anywhere from 128-160 starters at a minimum for each team but what exactly is the value of a back of the rotation arm; which is likely where most of these guys fall. 
• Ray Aaron (Boston Baseball Team - 27 yr old) is being paid nearly $6M for his 1.36 WHIP and 4.53 ERA. And the thing is, that's an improvement upon the previous two seasons in Boston. Next year he's Arb3, so we'll see if he's brought back or not. 
• Albert Torrez (Santa Fe Surf Riders VIII - 31 yr old) is nearly the definition of Fat Cat and just might be the fattest of cats with his $6M salary for this season and next. And sure while he plays half his games in homer happy Sante Fe, that bloated 1.69 WHIP and 7.00 ERA over 19 starts is a tough pill to swallow.  
• Jeimer Escobar (Boston Baseball Team - 32 yr old) is the second Boston starter on this list. I stand by my colleague who said if Boston improved their starting pitching, they might very well be in the chase for a wildcard spot. Much better than the 8 games they are behind now. Escobar's 1.43 WHIP and 5.37 ERA isn't helping the situation. 
• Kolten Pujols (Montreal Fighting Poutine Plates - 33 yr old) it would be expect to see some of the rebuilding team's players on this list and Pujols is no exception. He's not had a WHIP below 1.52 or an ERA below 5.28 the last three seasons. We doubt he finds a home anywhere in the majors next season. 
• Roger Walsh (Austin Son's of Odin - 34 yr old) hasn't faired well since coming to Austin. Signed for 5 seasons at $8.3M per; he spent the first year in AAA. Since the promotion back to the major leagues he just hasn't found his groove; this season he's up to a 1.53 WHIP and 4.38 ERA over 19 starts. That not the output you'd expect for someone making that much money. 
• Rougned Pulido (Pittsburgh Yinzers - 34 yr old) is being paid $9.8M this year and next; but thankfully the Yinzers signed two other starters to help lead their rotation as the Pulido experiment didn't quite work out. He's down to a 1.41 WHIP and 4.82 ERA. Not the worst and likely equal for a back of the rotation arm; but he's being paid like a #1; with only 8 pitchers making more money than he is. 
• Onelki Manuel (Dover Hazmats - 35 yr old)'s ratings have been holding tight for his age, but the production dropped off the face of the planet to the tune of a 1.82 WHIP and 7.71 ERA. If those numbers are going to approach his career numbers you better watch out because he will go on an absolute tear during the second half. He's being paid $15M this year and $16M next. You'd have to trade this writer the #1 overall pick from this season for me to take on the contract of Manuel. 
• Relief Pitchers
• Eric Pennington (Dover Hazmats - 40 yr old) has recently shifted into a starting role, but he's made 20 relief appearances this season but not great results; 2.44 WHIP and a 13.12 ERA. He's still owed $6.3M next season as well. Given the drop in his ratings so far this season, you wonder if his comps will be Rookie level players for S55. He might just very well challenge Torrez for fattest cat. 
• Peter McCarthy (Santa Fe Surf Riders VIII - 36 yr old) is having a good year compared to the previous two, but it's still a 1.43 WHIP and 5.07 ERA. He's yet another player who has been transition into a starting role. But luckily this is the final year of his contract. 

There you have it folks, the Fat Cats of S54!