How The Best Players in the AL Were Acquired

Every off season fans of teams teams rest there hopes for the upcoming season on who their team can sign as a free agent.  However signing free agents often come at a premium cost and substantial risk, therefore is it really worth it?  With all the talk, myself included, of suggesting the Blue Jays going out and sign one of Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder as a free agent, I thought I would do a little digging to how the best players in the American League in 2011 were acquired.

The Hitters...

I've compiled a list of all the hitters in the American League that posted a 3.0 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) or better, which resulted in total of 37 players, and detailed in the chart below how their teams acquired those players:

Chart 1 - How AL Hitters with a WAR of 3.0 or Greater in 2011 Were Acquired

How Players Were Acquired?	Total Number of Players
Trade	19
Amateur Draft	13
Amateur Free Agent	3
Free Agent*	2
Total	37

Not counting teams that resigned their own players as free agents, surprisingly Adrian Beltre and David Ortiz were the only hitters acquired via free agency that posted a 3.0 WAR or better in 2011, and Ortiz first signed with his respective team as free agents well before becoming established players.

* Paul Konerko and Jhonny Peralta were re-signed by their existing team as a free agent and not included in these totals.

The Pitchers...

Similarly I have compiled a list of all the pitchers in the American League that posted a 3.0 WAR or better, which resulted in total of 28 players, and detailed in the chart below how their teams acquired those players:

Chart 2 - How AL Pitchers with a WAR of 3.0 or Greater in 2011 Were Acquired

How Players Were Acquired?	Total Number of Players
Amateur Draft	14
Trade	5
Amateur Free Agent	4
Free Agent**	3
Via Rule 5 Draft	1
Waivers	1
Total	28

Again, C.C. Sabathia, Brandon McCarthy and Freddy Garcia were the only pitchers to be acquired via free agency.

** Mariano Rivera was re-signed by his existing team as a free agent and not included in these totals. 

Moral of the Story...

Out of a total 66 players in the American League who posted a WAR of 3.0 or greater in 2011, only 5 or 7.5% of these players were acquired as Free Agents.

There might be something to Alex Anthopoulos' theory that the best way to acquire talent, other than through the amateur draft, is through trades.  At least this theory holds true above when it comes to the hitters, and even with pitchers more top players were acquired via trade than through Free Agency.

That being said, I'm a gluten for punishment an would still support either an Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder signing.