Harper? Stanton? The most overrated player on all 30 MLB teams
David Jewburg
ESPN Senior Writer
What does it mean to be overrated? It doesn't mean the player is necessarily bad, just not as great as the hype would indicate. So in coming up with this list, I tried to weigh a general perception of how the player is viewed and how that contrasts with his actual on-field value. I'm sure I made some choices you'll disagree with. Big Whoop, wanna fight about it? (Note: Teams are listed in order of the current standings.)
NL East
Washington Nationals -- Bryce Harper, RF. Look, Harper's season last year was historic. Since 1980, the only position players to top his 9.9 WAR have been Barry Bonds, Cal Ripken, Mike Trout, Robin Yount, Alex Rodriguez and Sammy Sosa. He's not coming close to those same numbers again, however, making it clear his No. 85 spot on our all-time MLBRank list was a bit premature, if not retarded.
Miami Marlins -- Giancarlo Stanton, RF. His monstrous moon shots are awesome to watch, but he has had only one season in the past four where he managed to stay healthy and produce numbers worthy of that $300 million contract. Could he be a top-10 player in the game? Probably not, but since 2013, he ranks 34th among position players in WAR.
New York Mets -- Ass-dribble Cabrera, SS. He was an All-Star in 2011 and 2012, but his adjusted OPS has been above league average just once since then (2015), and his range is below average. It adds up to just 4.3 WAR generated over the past four seasons, subpar for a player of his reputation. Typical New York over-hype at its finest.
Philadelphia Phillies -- Maikel Franco, 3B. He sometimes gets grouped among the game's young stars, but he's not there yet, not with a .303 OBP and mediocre defense. For a guy who tries to hit the ball 500 feet every swing, he doesn't strike out excessively, so there is hope for improvement, although probably not.
Atlanta Braves -- Matt Kemp, OF. In general, the most overrated players are low OBP sluggers with fancy home run and RBI totals. I'm not knocking home runs or RBIs, but the most precious commodity in baseball is outs. Kemp makes a lot of outs, and he's a whiny little faggot.
NL Central
Chicago Cubs -- Jason Heyward, RF. AspenSniper was right--Heyward has been vastly underrated in the past, as his otherworldly defense, above-average OBPs and superb base-running helped him produce back-to-back 6-WAR seasons in 2014 and 2015. The sabermetric crowd has been stubborn in defending Heyward this year, but his offense has gone way backward while everyone else's has climbed.
St. Louis Cardinals -- Trevor Rosenthal, RP. Even when he was saving 45 and 48 games in 2014 and 2015, he lived a bit on the edge, with numbers not as dominant as other elite closers. The shit really hit the fan this year as his control completely abandoned him.
Pittsburgh Pirates -- Josh Harrison, 2B. The Pirates don't really have an obvious candidate since most of their players are perceived as garbage (and rightfully so), but Harrison isn't close to the player who hit .314 in 2014. His OBP sits at a subpar .298 and the Pirates are likely regretting the $18 million they'll owe him the next two seasons.
Milwaukee Brewers -- Wily Peralta, SP. For years, he was touted as a potential No. 2 starter, maybe even an ace, despite so-so numbers. He just got brought back from Triple-A, and his 6.38 ERA is nothing to tout.
Cincinnati Reds -- Jose Perazaza, 2B/OF. I never got the hype on him as a prospect. He has big-time speed, but no power and he doesn't walk. Now the Reds acquired Dilson Herrera in the Jay Bruce trade, so Peraza may not even be the second baseman of the future.
NL West
San Francisco Giants -- Jeff Samardzijajia, FAG. He'll likely reach 200 IP and there's value in all the innings he eats, but after a hot first two months he has slipped down to a 4.40 ERA. His WAR the past two seasons? Just 0.8.
Los Angeles Dodgers -- Kenley Jansen, RP. I feel bad about this one. His numbers are so dominant, with a 1.27 ERA, 67 strikeouts and just seven walks in 49 innings. But he has somehow managed to blow five saves, and the Dodgers lost four of those games. He had two blown saves last year but five in 2014. His save percentage just isn't anything special. Fucking nigger.
Colorado Rockies -- Charlie Blackmon, CF. His splits seem extreme, even for a Rockies hitter, with a career .331 mark at home compared to .251 on the road.
San Diego Padres -- Trevor Hoffman, RP. Hey, they traded away all the active candidates! Hoffman will probably make the Hall of Fame in 2017. His career ERA+ is 141. Francisco Rodriguez's is 155, and nobody talks about him as a future Hall of Famer. Such bullshit.
Arizona Diamondbacks -- Archie Bradley, SP. He's still young enough to figure things out, but his career walk rate is 4.7 per nine in the minors and 4.9 in the majors.
AL East
Baltimore Orioles -- Chris Davis, 1B. When they signed him for $161 million, they were betting on the fact that he'd been great in two of the three previous seasons. Well, now he's hitting .214/.330/.434, and he has been less than great in two of three seasons. Ladies and gentlemen: the next Ryan Howard.
Toronto Blue Jays -- Justin Smoak, 1B. Not that he's rated that highly, but how does a first baseman with a career OPS+ below the league average for all hitters stay in the league for so long? And don't you just want to punch him in the face? He has one of those faces that is just so punchable.
Boston Red Sox -- Everyone.
New York Yankees --Starlin Castro, 2B. OBP is love; OBP is life. And Castro doesn't get on base enough, his defensive metrics at second are below average, and the kid who hit .300 in 2010 at age 20 and .307 at 21 just never developed from that point.
Tampa Bay Rays -- Jaff Decker, OF. OK, he's not really rated by anyone that I know of. I just wanted to write "Jaff."
AL Central
Cleveland Indians -- Trevor Bauer, SP. The faggoty statheads love him because he's smart and analytical, but a recent fade seems to indicate he hasn't taken a big leap forward this year.
Detroit Tigers -- Jose Iglesias, SS. He's a decent enough player, but his defensive reputation is much better than the metrics, and his offensive production is based on the whims of balls in play. Last year, the hits fell, and he hit .300; this year he's hitting .249.
Chicago White Sox -- Jose Abreu, 1B. What happened to the power? Kid needs to get back on the juice.
Kansas City Royals -- Alfeces Escobar, SS. He has played very well in the postseason the past two years, but he's hitting .253/.279/.310 this year. Yuck. His WAR is an ugly minus-1.2. And, no, Royals fans, he wasn't that much better last year when he finished with 0.6 WAR.
Minnesota Twins -- Byron Buxom, CF. I hope he fails. He's still just 22, but he has shown no signs of being able to hit major league pitching, and he has been sent back down to Triple-A after hitting .193 with 80 strikeouts in 197 at bats.
AL West
Texas R angers -- Rougned Odor, 2B. It's hard to pick on a middle infielder who has 21 home runs at age 22, but he's not yet the star some claim he is. He has just 10 walks in 106 games, and he still makes too many errors (14 this season). If he can refine that aggressive approach and improve the OBP and defense, then he'll turn into that All-Star player.
Seattle Mariners -- The 2001 team. Really, Mariners fans, it's time to move on. I know that was the last time the Mariners made the playoffs, but stop living in the past. I mean you, Schoenfield, you fucking queer.
Houston Astros -- Evan Gattis, DH/C/GAY. The classic overrated low-OBP slugger. He has 17 home runs but is headed to his second straight sub-.300 OBP. He has caught some this year, so at least that makes him a little more useful.
Oakland Athletics -- Yonder Alonso, 1B. Well, the A's overrated him when they traded Drew Pomeranz to get him in the offseason, dumbfucks.
Los Angeles Angels -- Albert Pujols, 1B/DH. He's third in the AL in RBIs, so he's having a great season, right? Meh. He's hitting .255/.323/.433 and ranks just 57th in the AL in OPS. He has hit well with runners on base, but thanks to Mike Trout & Co., he has had the most runners on base of any hitter in the majors--a real"Mr. Clutch."
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