Black Friday has become synonymous with deals and discounts, so what better time to take a look at the Yankees’ best bargains and biggest busts from 2010.
Player Value Versus Salary, Offense
| Name | WAR | Value ($mn) | Salary | Difference | Premium/ Discount |
| Brett Gardner | 5.4 | 21.5 | $452,500 | $21,047,500 | 4751% |
| Francisco Cervelli | 1.1 | 4.4 | $410,800 | $3,989,200 | 1071% |
| Austin Kearns* | 0.3 | 1.2 | $249,975 | $950,025 | 480% |
| Robinson Cano | 6.4 | 25.5 | $9,000,000 | $16,500,000 | 283% |
| Curtis Granderson | 3.6 | 14.3 | $5,500,000 | $8,800,000 | 260% |
| Marcus Thames | 0.6 | 2.3 | $900,000 | $1,400,000 | 256% |
| Nick Swisher | 4.1 | 16.4 | $6,850,000 | $9,550,000 | 239% |
| Jorge Posada | 2.4 | 9.7 | $13,100,000 | -$3,400,000 | 74% |
| Mark Teixeira | 3.5 | 14 | $20,625,000 | -$6,625,000 | 68% |
| Alex Rodriguez | 3.9 | 15.4 | $33,000,000 | -$17,600,000 | 47% |
| Derek Jeter | 2.5 | 9.8 | $22,600,000 | -$12,800,000 | 43% |
| Juan Miranda | 0 | 0.1 | $400,000 | -$300,000 | 25% |
| Nick Johnson | 0.1 | 0.3 | $6,850,000 | -$6,550,000 | 4% |
| Lance Berkman* | 0 | -0.2 | $4,828,500 | -$5,028,500 | NA |
| Randy Winn | -0.3 | -1 | $1,100,000 | -$2,100,000 | NA |
| Ramiro Pena | -0.2 | -0.8 | $412,100 | -$1,212,100 | NA |
*Based on pro-rated salary.
Source: fangraphs.com, Cots Contracts and Baseball-reference.com
On offense, Brett Gardner gave the Yankees the biggest bang for their buck by providing over $21 million in value, according to fangraphs.com, while only being paid a shade above the minimum. Interestingly, the Yankees four highest paid offensive players underperformed their salaries by at least 25%. Even if you take into account the flaws in UZR that make up a portion of fangraph’s player values, the upside down nature of the chart above is still rather striking. Aside from Gardner’s extraordinary outperformance, the biggest surprise on the list is Cervelli, who provided value at over 10x his salary. However, that assessment seems to be one that is out of whack with both Cervelli’s real performance and the market value for players of his ilk.
Player Value Versus Salary, Pitchers
| Name | WAR | Value ($mn) | Salary | Difference | Premium/ Discount |
| Phil Hughes | 2.4 | 9.5 | $447,000 | $9,053,000 | 2125% |
| Ivan Nova* | 0.5 | 1.8 | $98,765 | $1,701,235 | 1823% |
| Joba Chamberlain | 1.4 | 5.5 | $487,975 | $5,012,025 | 1127% |
| David Robertson | 0.7 | 2.9 | $426,650 | $2,473,350 | 680% |
| Boone Logan | 0.4 | 1.5 | $590,000 | $910,000 | 254% |
| CC Sabathia | 5.1 | 20.4 | $24,285,714 | -$3,885,714 | 84% |
| Andy Pettitte | 2.3 | 9.2 | $11,750,000 | -$2,550,000 | 78% |
| Mariano Rivera | 1.7 | 6.7 | $15,000,000 | -$8,300,000 | 45% |
| Kerry Wood* | 0.4 | 1.5 | $3,499,965 | -$1,999,965 | 43% |
| A.J. Burnett | 1.3 | 5.2 | $16,500,000 | -$11,300,000 | 32% |
| Sergio Mitre | 0 | 0.1 | $850,000 | -$750,000 | 12% |
| Javier Vazquez | -0.2 | -0.8 | $11,500,000 | -$12,300,000 | NA |
| Damaso Marte | -0.1 | -0.6 | $4,000,000 | -$4,600,000 | NA |
| Chad Gaudin | -0.7 | -3 | $737,500 | -$3,737,500 | NA |
| Dustin Moseley* | -0.4 | -1.7 | $217,500 | -$1,917,500 | NA |
| Chan Ho Park | -0.2 | -0.7 | $1,200,000 | -$1,900,000 | NA |
*Based on pro-rated salary.
Source: fangraphs.com, Cots Contracts and Baseball-reference.com
Not surprisingly, Phil Hughes provided the most value in excess of his salary. The premium contributions of the next four pitchers on the list, however, are eyebrow raising. Otherwise, every other member of the staff underperformed their paycheck. It should be noted, however, that both C.C. Sabathia and Andy Pettitte provided immense value, while closers like Mariano Rivera tend to be undervalued using WAR. By far, the Yankees biggest bust was Javier Vazquez, who actually provided negative value despite earning a hefty $11.5 million. Salary aside, Chad Gaudin proved to be the biggest drain on the team by posting a negative contribution of $3 million, or $1 million more than the salaries of the Hughes, Nova, Chamberlain, Robertson and Logan…combined.
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