Risk versus reward.
My definition of “value” is based on two simple things: what will a player cost your team versus what will the player provide on the field.
Some players may be injury-prone or coming off a bad season, while others haven’t been good in a few years, but what all of these players have in common is upside with minimal risk. Think along the lines of Nelson Cruz’s one-year, $8 million deal the Orioles signed him to last offseason as opposed to the Shin-Soo Choo seven-year, $130 million deal. Cruz had a checkered past, but the potential value was always there.
It’s often the value deals that create championship teams. Just ask the Giants and these two moves that helped secure a couple of World Series heroes. Max Scherzer and Pablo Sandoval may be the cream of the crop in terms of production, but in terms of potential value, the players on this list will dwarf their deals.