Jorge Cantu is likely to stay in a Marlins uniform in 2010, MLB.com's Joe Frisaro is reporting. Cantu's coming off of a couple of decent seasons in Florida after being pulled off the scrap heap by the Fish in 2008, so this sort of news should be unsurprising. Of course, when talking about the Marlins and keeping people around, one can't take anything for granted. This move is likely made possible by the Marlins' plan to trade Dan Uggla, who's looking at a substantial raise on his $5.35 million salary in arbitration this spring. Cantu, on the other hand, made $3.5 million last year and will probably be looking at a smaller raise in his second year of arbitration.
Still, I guess the parts don't all add up for me with this decision. That's probably because Uggla is a much better and more valuable player than Cantu. According to FanGraph's Wins Above Replacement, Uggla was worth almost three wins while Cantu was worth a little more than 1 1/2. That's because on top of being a better hitter (.813 OPS to .788 with a .353 OBP compared to Cantu's career high of .345), neither is a great fielder, but at least Uggla is a poor fielder at a tougher defensive position.
I know that the Marlins are planning on moving Chris Coghlan to second and giving some young players a chance in the outfield and that they'll save money and get a better trade return for Uggla, but isn't there something to be said for keeping a better playing around and trying to contend? The Marlins weren't that far back in the NL East or NL wild-card race. If they move Uggla to third (where his glove would theoretically improve a bit) and traded Cantu, wouldn't that be worth the $3 or $4 million extra in salary?
Ah, I guess in the end we're still talking about the Marlins. So of course the answer to that question is "no."
