May 24, 200719 yr A huge part of this website is disagreements, some for fun, some for not. make of this what you will but I like this topic as an arguement jayson stark has a new book of the most over and under rated people in the game of baseball. Im just going to do a OVER RATED thread of todays game so here it is... http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/stor...&id=2880887 his list is 10- Jeff Suppan 9- bob Wickman 8- richie sexson 7- alfonso soriano 6- brain giles 5- bobby abreu 4- juan pierre 3- andruw jones (most over rated cf EVER-according to him) 2- jd drew 1- barry zito----waiting for your response zito75 im sure this will be fun... so lets go
May 24, 200719 yr how is Bobby Abreu overated? the guy has been an allstar ONCE and year in and out puts up numbers. its not his problem that he has a huge contract, thats the phillies fault.
May 24, 200719 yr I don't get the Andruw Jones one. Watching the guy since for over 10 years now in our division, he is by far the best defensive CF I've ever seen. He is just so smooth, he makes line drives that other guys(Torii Hunter) would have to dive for or not get to(just about anybody else) look easy and routine. I don't give a damn about the zone rating crap either. Watch the guy play defense in center and you don't need to use "zone ratings".
May 24, 200719 yr Jimmy42Jack0 and TheDon and their perceived Jeter-haterism. :shifty Also, while I defended Andruw in an earlier thread, I'm okay with him being on this list based on Stark's criteria. He has "superstar" appeal [and salary] but has never really put up those types of numbers. I think he has some amazing talent in CF, but I have also seen him botch a bunch of plays he was trying to hotdog. I will admit that I have never been a fan of Andruw so take whatever I say regarding him with a grain of salt!
May 24, 200719 yr 5- bobby abreu 3- andruw jones (most over rated cf EVER-according to him) 1- barry zito----waiting for your response zito75 Stark is an idiot. Other than that there's nothing to say.
May 24, 200719 yr If we're talking salary vs performance, those 3 are right near the top. Especially this year. If we;re talking about perception, I'll say Tony Gwynn. The guy was a fat singles hitter who played mediocre defense.
May 24, 200719 yr Jeter is a very good ballplayer(lacking defensively...gold gloves be damned), but is still overrated. He is the only guy besides Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds that gets routine plays in web gems constantly.(the running catch where he flew into the stands...the fact that that was even a web gem period is testament to Jeters overratedness). I do like Jeter however.
May 24, 200719 yr 10- Jeff Suppan 9- bob Wickman 8- richie sexson 7- alfonso soriano 6- brain giles 5- bobby abreu 4- juan pierre 3- andruw jones (most over rated cf EVER-according to him) 2- jd drew 1- barry zito----waiting for your response zito75 im sure this will be fun... so lets go There are 4 underrated players on that list (Drew, Sexson, Giles, and Abreu), 1 overrated player (Pierre), 2 guys who are pretty fairly rated for the most part (Soriano, Zito)and a bunch of guys who don't really even register. Unless it's by salary, in which case any player to sign a contract in the past 10 years is overrated.
May 24, 200719 yr If we're talking salary vs performance, those 3 are right near the top. Especially this year. If we;re talking about perception, I'll say Tony Gwynn. The guy was a fat singles hitter who played mediocre defense. That's a little unfair. You're mostly talking about Gwynn from 35 years of age on. Early in his career he was a pretty good base-stealer. He's also 22nd all time in doubles. And even if you want to characterize him as a singles hitter, he's one of the greatest singles hitters ever.
May 24, 200719 yr 10- Jeff Suppan 9- bob Wickman 8- richie sexson 7- alfonso soriano 6- brain giles 5- bobby abreu 4- juan pierre 3- andruw jones (most over rated cf EVER-according to him) 2- jd drew 1- barry zito----waiting for your response zito75 im sure this will be fun... so lets go There are 4 underrated players on that list (Drew, Sexson, Giles, and Abreu), 1 overrated player (Pierre), 2 guys who are pretty fairly rated for the most part (Soriano, Zito)and a bunch of guys who don't really even register. Unless it's by salary, in which case any player to sign a contract in the past 10 years is overrated. Not really sure how you can call J.D. Drew underrated. The only time he has ever performed to his potential was his contract year in Atlanta. Sexson is overrated as well.
May 24, 200719 yr Yeah, Soriano is overrated THIS YEAR, but look at what he did last year. I think he was looking at a really small window- like since spring training - and then pulled in some career numbers for backup. I don't care how hard you hate, you can NOT call Jeter overrated with a straight face [didn't he go something like 8/16 with a HR in their loss to Detroit?]. And FWIW trying to minimize the importance of the play he made full speed into the stands is a terribly weak argument. :thumbdown That's a little unfair. You're mostly talking about Gwynn from 35 years of age on. Early in his career he was a pretty good base-stealer. He's also 22nd all time in doubles. And even if you want to characterize him as a singles hitter, he's one of the greatest singles hitters ever. Agreed.
May 24, 200719 yr And FWIW trying to minimize the importance of the play he made full speed into the stands is a terribly weak argument. :thumbdown Its just that him flying into the stands is why it is lauded. Only problem is he caught it well before even the warning track and flying into the stands had nothing to do with the actual play. It is probably the most overrated play in the history of baseball. It was a nice running catch, nothing more nothing less and not a great defensive play.
May 24, 200719 yr 10- Jeff Suppan 9- bob Wickman 8- richie sexson 7- alfonso soriano 6- brain giles 5- bobby abreu 4- juan pierre 3- andruw jones (most over rated cf EVER-according to him) 2- jd drew 1- barry zito----waiting for your response zito75 im sure this will be fun... so lets go There are 4 underrated players on that list (Drew, Sexson, Giles, and Abreu), 1 overrated player (Pierre), 2 guys who are pretty fairly rated for the most part (Soriano, Zito)and a bunch of guys who don't really even register. Unless it's by salary, in which case any player to sign a contract in the past 10 years is overrated. Not really sure how you can call J.D. Drew underrated. The only time he has ever performed to his potential was his contract year in Atlanta. Sexson is overrated as well. Just my opinion, but I think both of those players are so widely considered overrated that I now consider them underrated. They aren't as good as people said they were, and they aren't as bad as people say they are. I mean, if we are doing this by contract, then yes they probably make more money than they should, but so does every player in the league except Hanley Ramirez.
May 24, 200719 yr If Drew played to his potential he would be one of the top players in baseball year in and year out. While he universally considered overrated, there is a reason for it. He could change that but he doesnt.
May 24, 200719 yr andruw jones is not overrated. the problem is that he has the best glove in the league, but his offense is pretty iffy outside of 2004 and 2005. he has underachieved a bit in that area all career long, especially coming out as a 19 year old with the two homers, i guess they expected him to be a big time offensive guy, and didn't really pan out. he's underachieved, not overrated. but dl drew is overrated, as outside of the braves year, he gets injured and seems to sit out during nagging injuries. one off year doesn't mean zito is overrated. hudson was mediocre last season, and now he's back to his old self. i think this list is mostly stupid, based on people having off years this season.
May 24, 200719 yr Author Just another thought, and you can also find this on espn from stark.... over-rated isnt saying hes bad, in fact sometimes its saying that the players are good, but they dont meet the great expectations that we give them. its not saying they suck. which can be reasoning for sexson and drew being on the list. they dont perform to their contract but they are still good players on MLB teams that gave them money to be there. andruw is prime example of this based on historical numbers and what we expected him to be today.
May 24, 200719 yr i think this list is mostly stupid, based on people having off years this season. My sentiments exactly. Then again, we ARE talking about it and that was the point, right? :mischief2
May 24, 200719 yr How has Andruw Jones underperformed? His most similar players list is littered with Hall of famers. If he keeps up his play he's a surefire hall of famer. What did we expect from him?
May 24, 200719 yr Andruw Jones can only be brought up as "overrated" for his average....... the guy is a career .265 hitter but even that's not too horrible. Besides strikeouts he is dominant in nearly every aspect of the game. His defense is stunning and he hits moonshots. To hit as many home runs at the center field position like he does is just a bonus to what he can already do out there. Barry Zito is definitely #1 overrated he's getting paid the money of a #1 starter to perform like a #3-4 guy. And while he'll improve, he still just isn't THAT great of a pitcher. Or at least not good enough to earn as much money as he did.
May 24, 200719 yr 10- Jeff Suppan: How is he overrated? He's a mediocre starter at best. 9- bob Wickman: See Suppan 8- richie sexson: Only overrated because of his insane salary 7- alfonso soriano: Should be higher 6- brian giles: Agreed 5- bobby abreu: Agreed 4- juan pierre: Maybe if teams didn't overpay him so much.... 3- andruw jones: Shouldn't be on this list... 2- jd drew: I wasn't aware that he has played that well to be considered overrated... 1- barry zito: I don't think he's overrated. Overpaid, perhaps. I would also have to agree that Jeter's perceived 'clutch' ability is overrated, thanks to Yankees fans.
May 24, 200719 yr Here's my list: 1) David Wright 2) JD Drew 3) Adrian Beltre 4) Brian Giles 5) Juan Pierre 6) AJ Burnett 7) Barry Zito 8) Daisuke Matsuzaka 9) Derek Jeter 10) Torii Hunter/Dontrelle Willis And, my 10 underrated players: 1) Roy Halladay (every bit as good as Johan but 1/4 the press) 2) Hanley Ramirez (how can a player not get any respect when he out OPS's the "best" shortstop in baseball by .100 and has scored more runs in fewer games in an inferior lineup?) 3) Cla Meredith 4) Mark Teahen 5) Travis Hafner 6) Todd Helton (seriously, has a career .334 hitter ever gotten this little love?) 7) BJ Upton 8) Roy Oswalt (career .675 win percentage and 104-50 lifetime. crazy good) 9) Jake Peavy (a one time all-star, pitched with an essentially blind left eye, and has never finished top 20 for a Cy Young) 10) Brandon Webb
May 24, 200719 yr Burnett has to be in the Top 3. It's a little early to make a judgement on someone like Daisuke Matsuzaka. I have to agree with everyone on your underrated list, particularly pitchers like Halladay, Oswalt, Webb, and Peavy.
May 24, 200719 yr Halladay is a good pitcher, but he's not in the same league as Santana. And he may just be the 2nd best pitcher in the league. Thats how good Johan is.
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.