Thursday, July 10, 2008

Who do you think is overrated?

Over at Papercuts there was a recent discussion of the most overrated and underrated baseball players. The post was sparked by a recent Sports Illustrated list (in which Derek Jeter figured prominently and not in a good way). Jeter is also a big part of book on this very same subject that came out last year. From the Papercuts post:

If it makes Jeter and his minions feel better, he came in second to A-Rod the previous week, when the question was “Whom would you pick to build a team around?” Also, in a book published last year, “The Stark Truth: The Most Overrated and Underrated Players in Baseball History,” Jayson Stark of ESPN calls Jeter the second most underrated shortstop of all time, after Barry Larkin. (Phil Rizzuto, he says, is the most overrated.) We hear the usual blather about how “there are elements of greatness which numbers can’t quantify.” Unfortunately for Jeter - who has obviously been a wonderful postseason player - more things are measured statistically these days, even fielding range. The Baseball Prospectus 2008 sounds a warning: “For years, Jeter’s offense has made him a net positive at shortstop despite his defense. The second half of 2007, taken together with his age, suggests that the day of reckoning has finally arrived.” Only a raging Yankees fan (or someone who lives outside the New York area, as Stark does) could think that Derek Jeter is underrated.


My vote for overrated is Pete Rose, but then again, I'm with Bartlett Giamatti all the way on that subject.

3 comments :

Doret said...

Overrated Mike Piazza- Catcher is and always will be a defense postion. He doesn't belong in the HOF
Also Jeff Kent- His numbers are so good because he hit in front of Barry Bonds all those years, and got some great pitches to hit

Colleen said...

That's an interesting way of looking at Kent's numbers - as they relate to Bonds.

Of course Bonds is a whole other discussion.... :)

Doret said...

Kent is a good and smart player. A great 2 strikes out hitter, but again I think he got good pitches to look at but to his credit Kent did take advantage. However, there are a lot of great MLB players who don't or didn't have a power hitter in there lineup so they can be condsidered one of the best offense players for their position.