When looking at the top free agent signings, it’s easy to simply take a look at how players preformed and rank them based on that.  However, everyone knows that the amount of money committed to a player is just as important as how they play.  If someone posts 3.0 WAR in a season, that’s a solid year from a performance standpoint.  If they’re doing that on a $1 million dollar salary or a $30 million dollar salary, though, makes a world of difference.

Last time we ranked the top players based strictly on performance.  This time, we’ll take a look at several top signees based on performance who did so for pennies on the dollar.  There won’t be a strict ranking of $/WAR, more a glance at the list of top WAR players who were relatively big surprises, bargains, or both.  I’m far less interested in players who posted a 1.0 WAR season for the league minimum than those that were at solid regular to All-Star level.  These are players who came in and played well above expectation and had bargain contracts to boot.

SP Luigi Bright (NO) – 4.5 WAR – 1 year, $3M – $667K/WAR

We’ll start with Bright, who we covered in the previous discussion as posting the 5th highest WAR among 2031 free agents.  He was a superb find for the Trendsetters that every other team whiffed on.

SP Jonathan Sherwin (NT) – 4.3 WAR – 1 year, $7.2M – $1.7M/WAR

Sherwin’s 2031 salary is the highest on the list, and he’s the highest $/WAR on the list, but his performance merits placing him here.  Heck, someone’s gotta be highest.  Sherwin went 18-6 with a 3.34 ERA for the Akira as they won 104 games on the year.  His signing was a great value and would’ve been possible for just about any other team in the league.

SP Kyoichi Gato (AMA) – 4.0 WAR – MLC – $127K/WAR

Gato is listed here as a starter, because that’s what he is, but it’s worth pointing out that he was signed as depth and didn’t even make the major league roster out of Spring Training.  He was called up to the PEBA after injuries and ineffectiveness in the rotation, and then proceeded to lead the Lions in ERA and WHIP.  It’s not like the rotation was lousy either.  As a group, Amsterdam’s starters were 5th in the IL in ERA, with 2 starters other than Gato posting sub-3.00 ERA’s.  Gat0’s 2.53 ERA was 9th in all of PEBA.

1B John Lawson (MAD) – 3.8 WAR – 3 years, $18.5M -$1.49M/WAR

Up to last year, Lawson had spent his entire career with Reno.  He had some good season, including 2026 which was pretty similar to what he did this year, but it had been some time since he had shown that level of play.  Over the four seasons heading into free agency, he had posted declining WAR every season.  Had he posted something close to the 0.8 WAR he put up in 2030, this contract would’ve been a bit of an overpay.  Instead, he found new life with the Malts and was a nice find for the team in their new home.

3B Michael Lee (KAL) – 3.4 WAR – 1 year, $3M – $882K/WAR

A couple of top prospects living up to expectations and a smart FA signing like this one gave the Badgers the offense needed to contend for the first time in a long time.  Lee was pretty far down the list of a loaded third base class in last year’s free agent pool, but Kalamazoo gave him a shot and he delivered.  Always known for power, Lee stayed healthy enough to put up 24 home runs and a respectable average while playing passable defense at the hot corner.

(Dis)Honarable Mention: SP George Lee (MAN) – 2.0 WAR – MLC/$1.5M – $750K/WAR

I really wanted to include Lee on this list as his 2.0 WAR is a pretty good total for a guy who got an invite to Spring Training with a promise of $1.5 million if he made the big league rotation.  He did make it, and proceeded to post a 3.80 FIP on the year.  Unfortunately, that FIP didn’t translate into actual results.  His “real” numbers were a 3-14 record with a 5.64 ERA.