Busts and Bargains!!!

ANALYSIS: Bottom line busts and bargains of 2008's first half

We interrupt the hype for the upcoming Red Sox-Cubs-Yankees Love Fest, also known as Major League Baseball's All-Star Game, for this bit of perspective. While it may be absurd to have 17 of 62 players from just three teams (while 12 teams have the minimum of one player), what are we to expect? The Red Sox, the Cubs and Yankees' combined payrolls this season push a half-billion dollars -- just under $461 million to be exact. So shouldn't they all be stars, though the logic behind Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek and his .220 batting average defies rational logic? Ignore Fox's lathering on the nostalgia Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium, the All-Star rosters merely prove one thing: Money talks, the rest of it walks. The first-place Tampa Bay Rays (second lowest payroll in the game at $43.7 million) are a notable exception. So consider our annual look at baseball's overpaid and underpaid teams (2008 salary is in parenthesis):

Salary sinkholes

• Catcher: Paul Lo Duca, Washington ($5 million). Signed despite his inclusion in the Mitchell Report, Lo Duca (.213, 0 home runs, 6 RBIs in 33 games) immediately got hurt and now is reduced to a limited role as the wretched Nationals' backup catcher.

• First base: Richie Sexson, ex-Seattle ($15.5 million). The Mariners finally gave up on the woeful Sexson (.218, 11 HRs, 30 RBIs, 497 strikeouts in the past 3 1/2 seasons) Thursday, releasing him as his four-year, $50 million nightmare of a contract expires at season's end.

• Second base: Juan Uribe, White Sox ($4.5 million). Uribe is about the only thing going bad for first-place Chicago. But he is real, real bad (.206, 3 HRs, 17 RBIs, .258 on-base pct.) and has lost his starting job to rookie Alexei Ramirez.

• Third base: Bill Hall, Milwaukee ($4.925 million). Talk about swinging for the fences. Hall (.234, 12 HRs) has 74 strikeouts in 265 ABs. By comparison, Joe DiMaggio struck out 369 times in his entire career. And the Brewers are on the hook for another $15.9 million to Hall in 2009-10. Whoops.

• Shortstop: Derek Jeter, Yankees ($21.6 million). Calm down, Yankees fans. It's not that the sainted Jeter (.286, 4 HRs, 39 RBIs, 5 steals, 8 errors) has been that bad. It's just that when his salary nearly equals that of the Florida Marlins, who have only two fewer wins than New York, something's wrong.

• Outfield: Andruw Jones, Dodgers ($14.72 million). Jones' collapse is one of the more baffling in baseball history. His misery (.172, 2 HRs, 9 RBIs) includes 53 strikeouts vs. only 27 hits and a pathetic .071 average with runners in scoring position. Adding insult, Scott Boras, Jones' agent-thief, got the Dodgers to guarantee $20.68 million for next year. Egad!

• Outfield: Adam Dunn, Cincinnati ($13 million). Are Dunn's 24 homers (third in baseball) and 54 RBIs worth the .227 average and 94 strikeouts (sixth most in baseball)? Dunn will find out this season when he becomes a free agent.

• Outfield: Gary Sheffield, Detroit ($13.32 million). At 39, Sheffield (.222, 5 HRs, 18 RBIs) is aging about as well as three-day-old milk in 90-degree heat.

• Pitcher: Barry Zito, San Francisco ($14.5 million). Another Boras heist, Zito (4-12, 5.73 ERA) is now 15-25 with a 4.91 ERA in 52 games since signing a seven-year deal with the Giants, who still owe him $101.5 million through 2013.

Add it up and these nine will make just under $107 million.

Best-buy bargains

• Catcher: Russell Martin, Dodgers ($500,000). Where would the erratic Dodgers be without Martin, who does it all (.300, 10 HRs, 45 RBIs, 10 steals), even playing third base on occasion.

• First base: Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego ($875,000). A bargain for power-starved San Diego, Gonzalez (.281, 22 HRs, 71 RBIs, giving him 53 HRs, 171 RBIs since the start of last season) is headed for a big payday from somebody.

• Second base: Dan Uggla, Florida ($417,000). A Rule 5 gold mine for the Marlins three years ago, Uggla (.286, 23 HRs, 58 RBIs) looks like the second coming of Ryne Sandberg. And consider that Uggla already has 81 homers, a total Hall-of-Famer Sandberg didn't hit until his sixth season.

• Third base: Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay ($390,000). About the only mistake Tampa made so far was not breaking spring training with the uber-talented Longoria (.281, 16 HRs, 53 RBIs), a runaway favorite for AL rookie of the year.

• Shortstop: Hanley Ramirez, Florida ($439,000). At least the Marlins wised up quickly and gave their future MVP (.313, 23 HRs, 45 RBIs, 23 steals) a new six-year, $70 million contract that starts next year.

• Outfield: Carlos Quentin, White Sox ($400,000). Hot-head manager Ozzie Guillen should ease up on GM Kenny Williams, who fleeced Arizona last winter for the young gem Quentin, who is second in the AL with 21 homers and third with 66 RBIs.

• Outfield: Nate McLouth, Pittsburgh ($425,000). What's not to like? An emerging hitter (.284, 18 HRs, 62 RBIs, 66 runs scored), a great fielder (0 errors in 88 games) and young age (26) makes McLouth a cornerstone for the rebuilding Pirates.

• Outfield: Josh Hamilton, Texas ($396,830). Having finally beaten his personal addiction demons, the former No. 1 pick is now a Triple Crown threat (.313, 21 HRs, 93 RBIs).

• Pitcher: Andy Sonnanstine, Tampa Bay ($395,800). Another of the Rays' emerging talents, he took his lumps last year (6-10, 5.85 ERA). Now, he's tied for third in the AL with 10 wins and is unbeaten since May 27.

These nine produce this much for just $4.238 million, or one-third of the $12.6 million Toronto will pay fading Frank Thomas to play for Oakland.