3 Mythically Good Ballplayers

Folks, do not get confused. I don't want you to read this title and be set up for heartwarming, smile-inducing, and sentimental stories about great ballplayers of old. I am not telling stories about Babe Ruth's called home run, Jackie Robinson stealing home, or Reggie Jackson's October heroics. Those stories have been told too often, and are known so well, there's no need.

What I am writing about today is three players who we as fans, and who some GMs seem to think are good to great players. However, upon further investigation into their stats, we find out these players are really not all they're cracked up to be. Some of these guys might be good, but are simply thought of as great. Others might be terrible but thought of as good. I am not getting into projections about these guys here, so young guys who haven't reached their "potential" are going to be treated as ballplayers who just aren't that good. Of course all this can change with just one or two good seasons ahead, but as of right now, these guys don't meet their hype.

Without further ado here's our list of three players who are living high on reputations without producing.

3. Corey Patterson, CF
This one might not be a secret for many people out there anymore, but every so often you meet someone who believe's in this kid's ability and the hype that surrounded him coming into the league. If he had not been hyped so much by the Cubs at the start of his career, Corey would not be playing in the big leagues. What he has going for him is that he is young [26] and teams like the Cubs and Orioles seem to believe they can get something out of him playing Centerfield. But, consider this: 26 is not that young in baseball terms, and Corey barely has anything to show for his 4 1/2 years of service in the big leagues.
Corey's career numbers are staggeringly low. .252 BA/ 70 HR/ 231RBI/ 86SB over 2176 at-bats doesn't exactly inspire confidence. But when we add to that his horrendous .293 OBP and .414 Slugging we can begin to appreciate just how bad Corey really is. Then there is this stat: 552. Well that's the highest of his career numbers, care to guess what it is? If you guessed strikeouts you are correct. Corey Patterson is a K machine, who makes up for it with neither power, average, or really even speed [If we take 500 ABs to be approximately a full season's work load then Corey is averaging 20 steals per season, a decent performance but not enough to warrant him playing everyday, or at all].
There are probably still those doubters out there who say "but wait, remember that great season he had a couple years ago?" "He showed he is awesome then!" Did he though? Let's examine the numbers there: While Corey's 91 runs, 168 hits, 33 2bs, and 32 SBs are certainly noteworthy, they are hardly great. If you consider that in that same season he hit a barely satisfactory .266 and got on base at a terrible rate of .320, then it is clear that Patterson's "great season" is actually the only season he played like he even belongs in the major leagues, and even then, not as a particularly good player.
Salary: 3.8 million

2. Jose Reyes, SS
Now Jose Reyes is a player that the majority of the fans have not come to realize is a terrible player yet. He does have more going for him than Patterson, as he is younger [23], but is equally frustrating. Over three seasons Reyes has racked up enough at-bats [1190] to be counted as playing for a little over two full seasons, so he is not such a new-comer anymore. In that time he has produced exactly 179 runs, 14 HRs, 104 RBIs, 145 Ks, and a .277 BA. Now, these stats are not terrible by any means, but they are not great either. They are certainly not worth counting him among the top shortstops in the league. This becomes even more clear when we see that Jose's .303 OBP and .395 Slugging are nearly as bad as Patterson's numbers, and actually produce a lower OPS [On Base plus Slugging].
Of course there are a couple stats I was withholding from you here. Reyes's stolen base numbers are quite remarkable, with 60 last year in his first healthy season, and his hits and singles numbers are pretty good, while his doubles numbers are passable. Reyes is not a terrible player, but he sure isn't good either. Until he starts walking he is one batting slump away from being the Corey Patterson of the infield.
Salary: 639,000

1. Javier Vazquez, SP
Our first pitcher on the list might surprise people. Hey he shocked me when I was doing research for this post. The same Javier Vazquez who was the free agent darling two offseasons ago, and who was the frontline starter for the Arizona Diamondbacks last season, is no ace at all. In fact, he is more like a number 4 starter. Let the stats speak for themselves. Through about 8 full seasons of work Javy has provided us baseball fans with 5 winning seasons, and always pitched a ton of innings for whatever team he was on- both admirable qualities for the portly pitcher from Ponce.
However over that same stretch of time Vazquez has gone 89-93. Now we all know pitching isn't all about W's and L's, there are other stats that matter more. Well, let's consider this then: during those long seasons where Javy has averaged 217 innings pitched , he has also averaged 219 hits - thats more than a hit per inning for all you math whizzes out there. Not great. He has also given opposing batters the privelege of hitting enough gopher balls off of him that he may soon have neck cramps from turning his neck to see which part of the stands they land in. Couple this knowledge with his career ERA that hovers around league average and things don't look so good for Javy.
The worst thing about Javy is that he actually appears to be trending downward. His ERA the past two seasons has been above league average while he has had more HRs and less strikeouts. This season may be the first in a while where he is being used in a proper rotation spot. Javy is the fifth starter for the World Champion Chicago White Sox - at least somebody realizes he isn't all that great.
Salary: 11 million

These guys have all got a lot more work to do to live up to their reputations and their salaries. Tomorrow we'll look at three players who are not perceived as good, or who are thought of as past their primes or over the hill, while they are putting up great numbers.

Keep reading, Cheers,
-Fran