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Lopez is getting what, $5, $5.5M for 2011?
$ per WAR was wayyyyyyyyyyy down this winter -- all the way down to $3.5m per win. At Jose's salary you'd be paying him for 1.5 WAR in 2011 -- i.e., paying him to be a below-average player.
Lopez was at 2.6 WAR last year. And he was 25 years old: he has upside, not downside, from here.
..............
There may have been some nice-looking bargains this winter, but the industry average is still the industry average. In 2011 Lopez will be 27 years of age, and will yield 2.5 to 3.5 WAR (if not a Carlos Guillen-like 5.0 WAR) for verrrrrrrry controlled dollars.
If I'm San Diego, I'd L-O-V-E to lock in Jose Lopez for $8m combined the next two seasons. He was worth $11.6 just last year.