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The New York Yankees are usually in the conversation for every big-name free agent who hits the market. Now, they have an opportunity to re-sign one of next year’s top free agents — their own Harrison Bader — before the rest of the league sees how valuable he is.<\/p>\n
In August 2022, New York acquired Bader from the Cardinals for left-hander Jordan Montgomery. At the time, it seemed like a ho-hum roster move for a platoon player.\u00a0In the postseason, however, Bader won over Yankees fans by\u00a0batting .333 with five home runs.<\/p>\n
Remember this blast to give the Yankees the lead in the ALCS against Houston?\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
This season, after a stint on the injured list because of an oblique issue, Bader has helped lift the Yankees (26-20) back into contention in the AL East. Since coming off the IL, he has a slash line\u00a0<\/a>of .278\/.316\/.834 with three clutch homers, 12 RBIs, nine runs and two stolen bases.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bader is one of the more underrated outfielders in the MLB. Counting the postseason, he is slashing \u00a0.269\/.305\/.783 with the Yankees over the past two seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n Comparing players from different teams can be tricky, but a statistical metric called weighted runs created plus<\/a> can help us. WRC+ measures the runs created by a player, taking into account different league factors.<\/p>\n Bader’s 2023 wRC+ of 127 <\/a>is comparable to the figures for Cedric Mullins<\/a> of the Orioles (130), Dansby Swanson (116)<\/a> of the Cubs and Mookie Betts (137)<\/a> of the Dodgers. It’s only a matter of time before the analytics departments of other teams dig into the stats on New York’s center fielder.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bader — who turns 29 on June 3 — is also terrific defensively.\u00a0<\/p>\n If Bader continues to produce at his current output, his agents could use the Swanson and Betts contracts as a comparison for a potential Bader deal. In July 2020, the Dodgers signed Betts to a 12-year, $365M deal<\/a>. In December, the Cubs signed Swanson to a seven-year, $177M contract<\/a>.<\/p>\n