I'm loving this baseball season
The Sox are off to a good start, and the Cubs....well at least they are doing better than their 1997 0-14 start. Add Lou Pinada to most over-rated manager list along with with the following players: Zabrano (most over-rated ace), Soriano (most over-rated utility player), and Ramirez (most over-rated whatever-position-he-plays). The Cubs are so bad this year I don't even have to mention Kerri Wood or Prior-ly a good player. From the Tribune
Only a few thousand fans out of an announced crowd of 34,382 remained [at Wrigly Field] till the bitter end, seemingly hanging around just to heckle reliever Scott Eyre [a Cub], who has been shifted to mop-up duty for the time being.
That's how grim it has become.
posted by Roy at 09:45
5 Comments:
Actually, for the last few years Soriano's been one of the best hitters in baseball (especially when he played second base, a position that, until lately, was not one where players were blessed with power). I wonder when players are going to learn that signing a big contract with the Cubs is essentially guaranteeing their own injury. It's been like this ever year since the playoff run (the Bartman Curse?). Numbers wise, Zambrano is not overrated, but he's much like Sammy Sosa--a very stupid human being blessed with extraordinary talent. Possibly an idiot savant. Like Sosa, eventually his stupidity will screw up everything (and it looks like that's beginning to happen this season). Ramirez is an average fielder and slightly above average hitter. He's been great at times, but also has been plagued by injuries lately. He's a more consistant hitter than Joe Crede, probably. At least Ramirez is willing to take a walk. But I'd take Crede any day for his hard-nosed Midwest gumption.
One of the best hitters in baseball??!? You are insane. He is a career .279 who is milking his two great seasons (2002-2003) into $10 million. His career on base % is .325 and to put that into perspective, 27/35 teams had better on base percentages last year. And his career K/BB ratio is almost 4.
As for Zambrano, I actually upgraded him from most over-rated pitcher (not true) to most over-rated ace (still true). So actually that was a compliment.
You're not kidding about every single Cub getting injured. I think the over-under on Lily is June 3rd.
As a sox van I was a little worried by all the moves the cubs made, but by the end of April I feel comfortable that there is something (mysterious force) that makes everyone in the cubs organization from the general manager, to the manager, to the players a 'luvable loser'.
You're right; I retract that last statement about Soriano, but don't forget about his stolen bases and runs scored, which are incredibly high for a power hitter. Last year, he had 119 runs and 95 RBIs, ON THE NATIONALS. He also stole 41 bases. Like many power hitters, he strikes out a lot, thus hurting his BA and OBP, but he's a different kind of offensive player, and I'm not sure you can assess his value simply on BA and OBP. And I don't think anyone can argue that he didn't have a great season last year, especially considering where he was playing. Plus, he's adapting to his role as an outfielder, and he's got a great arm, especially for a left fielder. I believe he led the league last year with 22 assists. Taking all that into consideration, I still believe the Cubs overpaid, which in a sense makes him overrated.
Good arm. The outfielder that leads the league in assists is either a rookie or an established chump. Rock Raines was always in the top few and his arm sucked. Players run on outfielders with bad arms and if you throw enough you will occasionally get an assist. Soriano is a crappy outfielder and way over paid as an outfielder, not so overpaid as a second baseman.
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