Fan Graphs has a nifty little tool that shows what the player’s approximate value if he was a free agent based on 2009 stats. We can compare that to what the player’s 2009 salaries were to see which players played up or down to their contract this past year. Today we take a look at five guys that I found intriguing. We’ll work through all of the players on the roster over the next week or so.

Derrek Lee
2009 Salary: $13 mil
2009 Value: $23.8 mil
Comment: I’ve already cooked and eaten my batch of crow on Lee. He carried this team and I’d hate to think of how bad it could have gotten without him.

Ryan Theriot
2009 Salary: $0.5 mil
2009 Value: $11.9 mil
Comment: He takes a lot of grief for his play at SS. You either love him or hate him. Regardless of where you stand on his ability, you can’t argue that he outplays his near-league minimum contract.

Aramis Ramirez
2009 Salary: $15.65 mil
2009 Value: $11.5 mil
Comment: We didn’t get as much as we paid for with Rammy, but I understand. I can deal with it if he comes back next year with a completely healthy shoulder.

Kosuke Fukudome
2009 Salary: $11.5 mil
2009 Value: $10.8 mil
Comment: Fukudome just missed playing up to his contract, though I feel like we paid for what we expected to be more run production from a power standpoint. We were told that he wasn’t going to be a 40 HR guy, but I’ve been disappointed with the power we’ve seen. Overall, I think he’s gotten more of a bad rap than he really deserves.

Jeff Baker
2009 Salary: $0.415 mil
2009 Value: $6.1 mil
Comment: In my opinion, Baker is the guy I want at 2B come opening day. The only way I consider otherwise would be if we saw someone like Chone Figgins or Brian Roberts brought in or if the great and mighty Starlin Castro comes up to play SS, which would move Theriot to 2B.