Chicago Cubs Baseball

Chicago Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee has always been a curiosity to me. Then again, most quiet guys are.

Heading into his fifth season with the Cubs, Lee has established himself as the consummate blue-collar ball player. He comes to work everyday, plays the game hard and plays the game right (throwing haymakers at San Diego’s Chris Young aside).

Qualities any of us in Cubdom who strap it on and head out the door each day can appreciate.

Lee’s hard work has paid off. A three-time Gold Glove winner at first base (2003, 2005, 2007), an all-star selection in 2005 and third in the National League’s MVP voting that same year.

He’s also made a boatload of cash. In 10 major league seasons, Lee’s salary totals $45 million. Which is pretty good coinage for someone who batted .333 with exactly zero RBIs in the 2007 NLDS .

Ironically, over half of Lee’s salary total was earned these past two years. Following his MVP-type season in 2005. Lee signed a five-year, $65 million deal through 2010, which pays him approximately $13.25 million annually.

What has Chicago Cubs baseball got in return? In 2006, Lee missed the majority of the season with a broken wrist, while 2007 saw the first baseman bat .317 with 22 home runs and 82 RBIs.

Hardly the stuff of a baseball player who, along with 123 others, holds a contract worth more than $8 million annually. Or is it?

According to an article by David Pinto of the Sporting News, of those 123 Lee is one of 86 players classified as overpaid based on salary and production. Pinto came up with his list based on a “Win Shares” metric developed by Bill James.

In brief, the metric evaluates the number of wins contributed by a player against the value of the player’s contract. The average Win Shares 1.4 for those 86 categorized as overpaid. The Cubs’ Lee Win Shares average is 1.1. He does have some good company, including Jim Edmonds, J.D. Drew, Hideki Matsui and Nomar Garciaparra.

This week Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella mused about changing the lineup to include Lee in the cleanup spot. After reading Pinto’s article, it looks like Lee is cleaning up already.