The Worst of '07

Grandstander · October 2nd, 2007, 08:50 AM

Who were the biggest busts of this past season?

In terms of offensive feebleness, among all batters who were given enough playing time to qualify for the batting title, the least offensive fellow was Twins thirdbaseman, Nick Punto who terrified AL pitchers at a .210-.291-.271 pace. For some reason, this hitting colossus was given 472 at bats by Minnesota.

However, if we allow money to be part of the equation, Punto was a relative bargain at 1.8 million. Compare him to Jason Kendall who received 13.5 million from the A's and the Cubs in exchange for .242-.301-.309. Kendall also supplemented his batting ineptitude by getting caught four times in seven stolen base attempts. Of course he made up for this by being a defensive whiz, right? Kendall threw out 5 baserunners trying to steal, that was out of 57 attempts. Jason nailed .08 % of those thieves.

I'll let someone else search for the worst pitchers.

Grandstander · October 2nd, 2007, 10:24 AM

Another note of performance distinction. Curtis Granderson led MLB in triples this season with 23. Jimmy Rollins was second with 20. In third place is the entire St. Louis Cardinals roster who collectively managed 13 triples.

bigheadache · October 2nd, 2007, 08:20 PM

The Astros paid a pretty steep price for the 2 wins they got from Jason Jennings in the form of Willy Taveras, Jason Hirsh and Taylor Buchholz, plus $5.5 million.

Morgan Ensberg and Jason Lane were pretty pathetic at the plate. Fortunately the Padres were willing to take them for bucket of balls and they'll be someone else's problem next year.

Grandstander · October 2nd, 2007, 09:58 PM

The most inexplicable move of the season had to have been the Pirates trading Rajai Davis for the aging Matt Morris who came with another year owed on his contract. Morris had been pitching well the first two months with an ERA of 2.56 on June the 6th. From then until he was traded on July 30th, he was hammered, his ERA inflating to 4.35. Morris had a distinct pattern of pitching well in only half of any season for several years and the Pirates decided they needed him while he was in the crappy half of 2007. Morris delivered as could be expected, going 3-4 , 6.10 ERA for Pittsburg.

Davis was okay, posting a .743 OPS, but making several spectacular outfield plays and stealing 17 bases in 21 tries. He is easily the fastest runner the Giants have had since their brief flirtation with Deion Sanders a dozen years back.

It is just impossible for me to figure out what the Pirates had in mind by taking on Morris' fat contact. Clearly he isn't going to be one of the guys on the roster the next time the Pirates contend, so why blow the money on him?

Triad · October 2nd, 2007, 10:35 PM

I give you: Jeff Weaver of Seattle

27 GS
146 IP
190 H
6.20 ERA
7-13 record
.315 Opp. BA

With only one winning season in his previous eight-year career, the Mariners figured he was worth $8 million because he had a couple of good postseason games for the Cardinals in '06. That $8 million blunder kept the Mariners from getting another decent player or two, and may have kept them from catching the Angels. Teams that are this stupid simply don't deserve to win a division.

Bet the Mariners will have their eyes on this year's World Series to see who has a good string of two starts, and then ignore that player's history and sign him to replace Weaver.

Bust #2:

Ray Durham

He batted .218 and had a .295 OBP. When's the last time a 35-year-old rebounded from such an awful year? This usually means career basically over.

Grandstander · October 3rd, 2007, 10:47 AM

We should also give some consideration to Richie Sexson. I'm going to guess that for the 15.5 million that the Mariners paid him, they were expecting a lot more than the .205-.295-.399 performance he delivered.

The ultimate in the "Everyone Told You So" category has to be Sarge Jr. Gary Mathews Jr. was a career .750 OPS player through the age of 31 who had a career year at 32 and posted an .866 OPS in the hitter friendly environment of Texas. The Angels then signed him to the sort of contract that one would associate with a career .866 OPS centerfielder...and surprise, surprise, surprise,...Mathews returned to the form he had shown every year other than '06, posting a .743 OPS for Los Angeles.

October 2nd, 2007, 08:50 AM	#1 (permalink)
Grandstander Hall of Famer Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Parts Unknown Northern California Posts: 6,611	The Worst of '07 Who were the biggest busts of this past season? In terms of offensive feebleness, among all batters who were given enough playing time to qualify for the batting title, the least offensive fellow was Twins thirdbaseman, Nick Punto who terrified AL pitchers at a .210-.291-.271 pace. For some reason, this hitting colossus was given 472 at bats by Minnesota. However, if we allow money to be part of the equation, Punto was a relative bargain at 1.8 million. Compare him to Jason Kendall who received 13.5 million from the A's and the Cubs in exchange for .242-.301-.309. Kendall also supplemented his batting ineptitude by getting caught four times in seven stolen base attempts. Of course he made up for this by being a defensive whiz, right? Kendall threw out 5 baserunners trying to steal, that was out of 57 attempts. Jason nailed .08 % of those thieves. I'll let someone else search for the worst pitchers.

October 2nd, 2007, 10:24 AM	#2 (permalink)
Grandstander Hall of Famer Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Parts Unknown Northern California Posts: 6,611	Another note of performance distinction. Curtis Granderson led MLB in triples this season with 23. Jimmy Rollins was second with 20. In third place is the entire St. Louis Cardinals roster who collectively managed 13 triples.

October 2nd, 2007, 08:20 PM	#3 (permalink)
bigheadache Moderator Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roswell, NM Posts: 945	The Astros paid a pretty steep price for the 2 wins they got from Jason Jennings in the form of Willy Taveras, Jason Hirsh and Taylor Buchholz, plus $5.5 million. Morgan Ensberg and Jason Lane were pretty pathetic at the plate. Fortunately the Padres were willing to take them for bucket of balls and they'll be someone else's problem next year.

October 2nd, 2007, 09:58 PM	#4 (permalink)
Grandstander Hall of Famer Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Parts Unknown Northern California Posts: 6,611	The most inexplicable move of the season had to have been the Pirates trading Rajai Davis for the aging Matt Morris who came with another year owed on his contract. Morris had been pitching well the first two months with an ERA of 2.56 on June the 6th. From then until he was traded on July 30th, he was hammered, his ERA inflating to 4.35. Morris had a distinct pattern of pitching well in only half of any season for several years and the Pirates decided they needed him while he was in the crappy half of 2007. Morris delivered as could be expected, going 3-4 , 6.10 ERA for Pittsburg. Davis was okay, posting a .743 OPS, but making several spectacular outfield plays and stealing 17 bases in 21 tries. He is easily the fastest runner the Giants have had since their brief flirtation with Deion Sanders a dozen years back. It is just impossible for me to figure out what the Pirates had in mind by taking on Morris' fat contact. Clearly he isn't going to be one of the guys on the roster the next time the Pirates contend, so why blow the money on him?

October 2nd, 2007, 10:35 PM	#5 (permalink)
Triad Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Oregon Posts: 252	I give you: Jeff Weaver of Seattle 27 GS 146 IP 190 H 6.20 ERA 7-13 record .315 Opp. BA With only one winning season in his previous eight-year career, the Mariners figured he was worth $8 million because he had a couple of good postseason games for the Cardinals in '06. That $8 million blunder kept the Mariners from getting another decent player or two, and may have kept them from catching the Angels. Teams that are this stupid simply don't deserve to win a division. Bet the Mariners will have their eyes on this year's World Series to see who has a good string of two starts, and then ignore that player's history and sign him to replace Weaver. Bust #2: Ray Durham He batted .218 and had a .295 OBP. When's the last time a 35-year-old rebounded from such an awful year? This usually means career basically over.

October 3rd, 2007, 10:47 AM	#6 (permalink)
Grandstander Hall of Famer Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Parts Unknown Northern California Posts: 6,611	We should also give some consideration to Richie Sexson. I'm going to guess that for the 15.5 million that the Mariners paid him, they were expecting a lot more than the .205-.295-.399 performance he delivered. The ultimate in the "Everyone Told You So" category has to be Sarge Jr. Gary Mathews Jr. was a career .750 OPS player through the age of 31 who had a career year at 32 and posted an .866 OPS in the hitter friendly environment of Texas. The Angels then signed him to the sort of contract that one would associate with a career .866 OPS centerfielder...and surprise, surprise, surprise,...Mathews returned to the form he had shown every year other than '06, posting a .743 OPS for Los Angeles.