Polaroid
I need a tittle
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- Jan 21, 2010
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You sometimes have to wonder if baseball journalists are lazy or don't pay enough attention to the sport they cover. Or maybe they just think that if it doesn't happen in New York or Boston then it's not important. Just over a week into the 162 game season, it's hard to avoid a story about David Ortiz and his (lack of) hitting success as if he's the first power hitter to see a drop in performance in their mid 30s. Ortiz, Boston's designated hitter in the final year of his contract, is hitting .136 with no home runs and striking out in half of his at bats. But there are 750 players on the active rosters in the big leagues and a good number of those warrant a better story than Big Papi. So here are five players who should be making more headlines than Ortiz.
Carlos Lee
It sure seems a long time since Lee notched up two All Star appearances and a Silver Slugger award in 2005/6 before he signed a six year $100 million contract to play left field with the Houston Astros. Despite a second Silver Slugger award in 2007, Lee has failed to deliver the performance to match the $16.67 million salary; the sabermetric monetary value of his performance (the Wins Above Replacement metric converted to a dollar scale) was $13.8 million in 2007, rising to $15.4 in 2008 before dipping to $11.3 last season. And this season has started just like last season ended when Lee failing to record a RBI in the last four games of the 2009 season; and he hasn't managed one in the first seven games in April. Not much of a surprise to see that he is 3-for-27 so far this year. And things aren't much better on the defensive side Lee posted the league's worst range factor among qualified players last year of 1.56, so far in 2010 it is 1.06. It's not much of a surprise either that the Astros are 0-7.
Ben Sheets
It certainly raised a few eyebrows when Oakland Athletics signed Sheets to a $10 million contract as someone who hadn't pitched a competitive game since 2008. Although he has picked up no decisions in both of his starts and has posted an ERA a shade over 4, it's the other statistics that are more worrying. His career KK/9 and BB/9 are 7.57 and 2.00 respectively but this season Sheets has only managed 3.27 KK/9 and is having control issues as the BB/9 has jumped to 5.73. And he has lost 1.4 MPH on his fastball since 2008 which equates to about an extra 0.4 runs given up per 100 pitches (other factors being equal). For a normally frugal Billy Beane, it doesn't appear to be the best $10 million he has ever spent.
Brandon Wood
When the Anaheim Angels lost third baseman Chone Figgins to the Seattle Mariners via free agency, in addition to the losses of John Lackey and Vladimir Guerrero, there was a gaping hole to fill in the lineup. Unfortunately for the Angels, Brandon Wood was used to plug that gap. Wood, a 25 year old from Austin TX, was a highly touted prospect and named the Angels top prospect and #3 overall prospect by Baseball America in 2006 but his major league career has failed to shine. And that's putting it mildly at the moment he's in danger of being the Mario Mendoza of the post steroid MLB era. Coming into this season, Wood was batting .191 (43-for-224) over his three seasons in the majors and this season is nothing short of a disaster as he has only a single hit in 19 at bats. And that was a single. Brandon Wood makes Ortiz look like Albert Pujols.
Teixrod
Teixrod AKA Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixiera. Maybe it's not got the roll off the tongue appeal of Brangelina, but it's still a decent attempt - I can possibly see this catching on.
After questioning the reporting bias towards New York and Boston, I picked a pair of Yankee players but it's an aspect which has been overlooked as the Yankees have come out of the starting blocks with a 4-2 record after their first six road games. First up we have Teixiera who is in the second season of his $180 million 8 year deal. After struggling in last year's World Series, as he hit .136 and only .180 overall in the postseason, he is off to another slow start and he is hitting just .125, through three singles and a double, and only the ability to draw walks turns a horrendous OBP into a merely a very poor one.
And then we have Rodriguez who is in year three of the $275 million ten year contract which will see him in pinstripes until he hits his early forties. After a successful 2009 in the playoffs, where he hit .365 along the way to his first World Series ring and with more RBIs than his previous seven postseasons combined, his power numbers are showing no signs of returning. After signing the contract which started in the 2008 season, his home count run has dropped from 54 in 2007 to 35 in 2008. Even new Yankee Stadium couldn't help him as he could only manage 30 in 2009 or six more than Johnny Damon. His WAR dollar rating has slipped from $39.1 million in 2007 down to $27.1 and $19.1 over the past two seasons which suggests the Yankees are going to be paying big bucks to an ineffective DH 5+ years from now. And his on base percentage this season is currently .310. Ouch.
And still people say David Ortiz has problems.
.
Carlos Lee
It sure seems a long time since Lee notched up two All Star appearances and a Silver Slugger award in 2005/6 before he signed a six year $100 million contract to play left field with the Houston Astros. Despite a second Silver Slugger award in 2007, Lee has failed to deliver the performance to match the $16.67 million salary; the sabermetric monetary value of his performance (the Wins Above Replacement metric converted to a dollar scale) was $13.8 million in 2007, rising to $15.4 in 2008 before dipping to $11.3 last season. And this season has started just like last season ended when Lee failing to record a RBI in the last four games of the 2009 season; and he hasn't managed one in the first seven games in April. Not much of a surprise to see that he is 3-for-27 so far this year. And things aren't much better on the defensive side Lee posted the league's worst range factor among qualified players last year of 1.56, so far in 2010 it is 1.06. It's not much of a surprise either that the Astros are 0-7.
Ben Sheets
It certainly raised a few eyebrows when Oakland Athletics signed Sheets to a $10 million contract as someone who hadn't pitched a competitive game since 2008. Although he has picked up no decisions in both of his starts and has posted an ERA a shade over 4, it's the other statistics that are more worrying. His career KK/9 and BB/9 are 7.57 and 2.00 respectively but this season Sheets has only managed 3.27 KK/9 and is having control issues as the BB/9 has jumped to 5.73. And he has lost 1.4 MPH on his fastball since 2008 which equates to about an extra 0.4 runs given up per 100 pitches (other factors being equal). For a normally frugal Billy Beane, it doesn't appear to be the best $10 million he has ever spent.
Brandon Wood
When the Anaheim Angels lost third baseman Chone Figgins to the Seattle Mariners via free agency, in addition to the losses of John Lackey and Vladimir Guerrero, there was a gaping hole to fill in the lineup. Unfortunately for the Angels, Brandon Wood was used to plug that gap. Wood, a 25 year old from Austin TX, was a highly touted prospect and named the Angels top prospect and #3 overall prospect by Baseball America in 2006 but his major league career has failed to shine. And that's putting it mildly at the moment he's in danger of being the Mario Mendoza of the post steroid MLB era. Coming into this season, Wood was batting .191 (43-for-224) over his three seasons in the majors and this season is nothing short of a disaster as he has only a single hit in 19 at bats. And that was a single. Brandon Wood makes Ortiz look like Albert Pujols.
Teixrod
Teixrod AKA Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixiera. Maybe it's not got the roll off the tongue appeal of Brangelina, but it's still a decent attempt - I can possibly see this catching on.
After questioning the reporting bias towards New York and Boston, I picked a pair of Yankee players but it's an aspect which has been overlooked as the Yankees have come out of the starting blocks with a 4-2 record after their first six road games. First up we have Teixiera who is in the second season of his $180 million 8 year deal. After struggling in last year's World Series, as he hit .136 and only .180 overall in the postseason, he is off to another slow start and he is hitting just .125, through three singles and a double, and only the ability to draw walks turns a horrendous OBP into a merely a very poor one.
And then we have Rodriguez who is in year three of the $275 million ten year contract which will see him in pinstripes until he hits his early forties. After a successful 2009 in the playoffs, where he hit .365 along the way to his first World Series ring and with more RBIs than his previous seven postseasons combined, his power numbers are showing no signs of returning. After signing the contract which started in the 2008 season, his home count run has dropped from 54 in 2007 to 35 in 2008. Even new Yankee Stadium couldn't help him as he could only manage 30 in 2009 or six more than Johnny Damon. His WAR dollar rating has slipped from $39.1 million in 2007 down to $27.1 and $19.1 over the past two seasons which suggests the Yankees are going to be paying big bucks to an ineffective DH 5+ years from now. And his on base percentage this season is currently .310. Ouch.
And still people say David Ortiz has problems.
.
