The Best Players Signed for Under $3 Million This Offseason

Mark Duncan/Associated Press

In an offseason highlighted by Robinson Cano's $240 million contract and more recently, per Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal, Masahiro Tanaka’s for $155 million, it’s easy to forget about the more "salt of the earth" millionaires during free agency.

And while Cano and Tanaka are sure to help their respective organizations more than the Nick Puntos and LaTroy Hawkins’ of the world, MLB teams are still just as obligated to prudently add roster-fillers as they are All-Stars.

Take maligned closer Chris Perez, for example. After pitching his way into an offseason release, the Los Angeles Dodgers inked the exiled right-hander to a mere one-year, $2.3 million contract. Even though Perez is at least third in line for saves with the Dodgers, Steamer projects that the 28-year-old will toss a 3.29 ERA (versus a 3.60 FIP) in 2014.

This makes Perez's minuscule salary an instant win for the spendthrift organization.

Read on to see all the best players signed for under $3 million this offseason.

 

All statistics sourced from FanGraphs.com and Baseball-Reference.com. 

Note: Paul Konerko and his one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Chicago White Sox is excluded from consideration because it was a special-case scenario (i.e. he specifically wanted to re-sign with the White Sox or retire).