3 Guys You'd Pay to see Run out of Town

[Dr. Tom 0]

Shamelessly stolen from the "3 Untouchables" thread.

 

So which three players on your favorite team would you like to see tarred, feathered, and sent packing?

 

Orioles:

 

David Segui

BJ Surhoff

Sidney Ponson

 

Segui was a horrible free-agent pickup. Surhoff is just old and taking up a roster spot that could go to Jack Cust. Ponson is a big piece of shit who never should have been signed to a rich contract.

 

Honorable mention to Jason Grimsley, for the dumbfuck trade that brought him to town.

[cue_meanie 0]

why make a topic that could apply to all sports, one-sport specific?

[Precious Roy 0]

At the moment nobody, but I'm not too happy with Giambi's performance the last two years. This guy once hit .340 in Oakland and now he's hitting .240, something is seriously wrong with him.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

I was actually thinking about starting something like this up after the other thread popped up.

 

For the Cubs, it'd be Paul Bako, Ramon Martinez and either Alex Gonzalez or Kent Mercker. Bako's horrible offensively. Defense is one thing, but I think it's a waste to have a guy around if he can't hit. You may save some runs with good defense, but chances are, you'll eventually cost your team as many or more runs when you can't come through offensively. Martinez is an okay utility player, but he's only around because he's one of Dusty's boys. He seems like a nice guy, but his bat is quite weak. Gonzo's great with the glove, but he's too inconsistent with the bat. Mercker just doesn't seem like he was a good pick-up. He struggles a lot, which isn't good for a guy who's basically supposed to be a left-handed specialist.

 

Overall, I guess the only guy I think they REALLY need to drop is Bako, but they've got quite a few older guys who simply drag them down more times than they help.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

why make a topic that could apply to all sports, one-sport specific?

Because who the hell wants to wade through discussion about basketball, football, hockey, soccer, rugby, chess and hop-scotch, if they only want to discuss baseball?

 

At the moment nobody, but I'm not too happy with Giambi's performance the last two years. This guy once hit .340 in Oakland and now he's hitting .240, something is seriously wrong with him.

 

It's this thing called aging. Not everyone is Barry Bonds and gets better with age. Most deteriorate, just as Jason's doing. It's only natural.

[Guest FrigidSoul]

BJ Surhoff is playing for next to nothing though and I don't think Cust is ready for the bigs.

 

For the Red Sox

 

1.) Nomar Garciappara - After wanting almost as much as Jeter to stay, out of a respect thing, its gone completely downhill. He and his agent have talked poorly about the Boston Organisation and The Fans after his numbers dropped and the organisation refused to reoffer him the $16mill a year contract. The wrist injury was the begining of the end.

 

2.) Derek Lowe - The guy is a fucking nut, plain and simple. I really wish the Reds had been willing to take him for Dunn after the 02 season.

 

3.) Byung-Hyung Kim - $10mill for nothing.

 

Mendoza is on the honorable mentions list.

[2GOLD 0]

O's

1. Jason Grimsley (I still don't understand why they wanted this guy...)

2. Sidney Ponson

3. David Segui

 

I have no problems with B.J since he can still hit the ball well enough and it gives Cust another year to develop his contact batting skills.

[therealworldschampion 0]

Phillies:

 

1. Doug Glanville- picking up where he left off in 2002, still can't hit, but is there for "veteran leadership".

 

2. Roberto Hernandez - Check the sig.

 

3. Can managers count too? Because Bowa needs to go, I feel thats the only thing holding the Phils back from running away with the division.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

1.) Nomar Garciappara - After wanting almost as much as Jeter to stay, out of a respect thing, its gone completely downhill. He and his agent have talked poorly about the Boston Organisation and The Fans after his numbers dropped and the organisation refused to reoffer him the $16mill a year contract. The wrist injury was the begining of the end.

 

Is Nomar really an issue anymore? He's got his season batting average over .300.

 

For the Phillies....

 

Roberto Hernandez

Doug Glanville

Paul Abbott

 

No disrespect intended to the players, especially Doug Glanville, who is one of baseball's nicest guys. But they just aren't good enough to deserve their roster spots.

[Guest FrigidSoul]

Is Nomar really an issue anymore? He's got his season batting average over .300.

During the games I guess not, but off the field he's a real pain in the ass still. He's still pissing off his teamates and just sounds like he wants out during interviews. He could be the nicest guy in the world, but if he's stirring up trouble and doesn't want to be here then so be it.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Roberto Hernandez

Mike Lieberthal

Doug Glanville

[2GOLD 0]

I don't blame him for hating the city and the team since 90% of them turned their backs on him the first chance they got.

 

Why should he want to act happy and be there? The city spit in his face and they deserve to have every ounce of it thrown back in their face by him now. He has no reason to give a damn about the city or the fans since most of them didn't give a damn about him when "A-Rod" became available.

[the max 0]

Because baseball is a business. A better deal came along, and it's fully within the team's right to explore all opportunities to improve the team.

 

Not to mention, Manny Ramirez was all but traded to Texas, put on WAIVERS and he's responded.

[Guest FrigidSoul]

He's still making $11mill, so regardless if we think he's an asshole for the way he's gone about trying to be resigned(keep in mind, the Red Sox said they would kill the deal for A-Rod if Nomar was willing to resign) he's getting paid a large chunk of change to shut-up and play.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

ChiSox

 

1. Sandy Alomar - I don't know what's sadder: the fact that he's our best catcher, or the fact that he's still playing.

 

2. Willie F. Harris - oh man, do I hate this guy. My name on Primer is Willie Harris Must Die, which I belive sums up my thoughts on Willie Harris.

 

3. Mike Jackson - relativly harmless, but he's just like Alomar, he's a complete suckfest, but still gets by on reputation, even though he built the reputation like 10 years ago when he was actually good.

[treble 0]

-Chris Woodward

-Justin Speier

-Carlos Delagdo*

 

Woodward's lost his job as the starting SS the past 2 years (Bordick last year, Gomez this year) and the team has a few good middle infield prospects on the way up. Speier isn't needed this year and could probably net a mid-level prospect from a team looking for some bullpen help, there are guys in the minors that can do his job for the rest of the year. Delgado is a special case, as I'd like to see the team get something for him since he's most likely leaving after this season, but he won't waive his no-trade clause (which is understandable and I don't hold it aganist him).

[Precious Roy 0]

At the moment nobody, but I'm not too happy with Giambi's performance the last two years. This guy once hit .340 in Oakland and now he's hitting .240, something is seriously wrong with him.

 

It's this thing called aging. Not everyone is Barry Bonds and gets better with age. Most deteriorate, just as Jason's doing. It's only natural.

Yeah, but he's only 33, he shouldn't be on the downside yet, and the dropoff shouldn't be so immediate. Great hitters hit until they're 36, 37, 38. I thought Giambi was a great hitter, he showed a combination of power and average in Oakland that put him in Manny, Bonds, Vlad territory, but right now he looks more like he's an average-good hitter who had a few great seasons, and right now he isn't even hitting good (when he plays), he's hitting like Matt Stairs or Pete Incavelia.

 

What makes it even worse is that he signed for so much money. I still think he can be the hitter he was, but something is seriously wrong with him either mentally, physically or probably both, which is pretty frustrating to see as a fan.

[treble 0]

At the moment nobody, but I'm not too happy with Giambi's performance the last two years. This guy once hit .340 in Oakland and now he's hitting .240, something is seriously wrong with him.

 

It's this thing called aging. Not everyone is Barry Bonds and gets better with age. Most deteriorate, just as Jason's doing. It's only natural.

Yeah, but he's only 33, he shouldn't be on the downside yet, and the dropoff shouldn't be so immediate.

Prime is 28-32. At 33 you start to decline.

[strummer 0]

Mets

 

1. Joe McEwing- Can play ever position, but can't hit any pitcher

 

2. John Franco- JUST RETIRE. If if he faces a patient hitter who won' t leave the zone to chase his "dead fish" change up, he gets rocked. MLB players can actually hit an 84 MPH fastball over the plate, John.

 

3. Mike Stanton- Has nothing left. His ERA looks respectable but he is often wild and gives up too many homeruns for a relief pitcher. Almost never can throw his curve ball for a strike anymore, which renders it meaningless.

[Precious Roy 0]

In football or basketball, sure, but not in baseball.

[Bored 0]

A's

 

Jim Mecir - Perfect example as to why you don't give middle relievers long term deals. Thankfully his contract is up after this year.

 

Arthur Rhodes - Complete bust and has already managed to piss off most of his teammates. Worst of all he's signed through 2006. If someone is willing to take him off the A's hands between now and August 31st (waiver trade deadline), they'll be more than happy to do so.

 

Barry Zito - I've felt he was already starting to lose it last season. Often last year he just seemed to be just getting by, putting himself in jams but getting out of them most of the time but in the progress racking up his pitch counts where he'd often be at 100 pitches by the 6th. This year he isn't pitching out of those jams and his ERA has skyrocket as a result. It's certainly not impossible that he may turn things around but he seems more focused on off the field matters (music, acting, pussy...not that there's anything wrong with that) than he is baseball. A's have enough pitching depth in the Majors and Minors for him to be expendable and he's a good bet to be dealt this offseason. Too bad it's going to be a year too late after when they really could have gotten some big time talent for him.

[MrRant 0]

Some of the people I wanted to run out of town are already gone...

 

I'd like to make an exception and run Basavi out of the Earth's gravitational pull.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

In baseball, prime occurs around 26-30, leaning towards the earlier stage. For 80-90% of players, the decline stage begins around the age of 30. Usually it is a slow decrease, which speeds up as you age.

 

Great hitters hit until they're 36, 37, 38.

 

Not true. Ernie Banks' production evaporated when he hit 32. Many great hitters, such as Charlie Keller, Arky Vaughan, Vern Stephens, were out of baseball by their mid-30s. In their primes, they could hit just as well as some of the all-time greats, but circumstances caught up to them. The ability to play well past your prime is an indicator of greatness, but it is not the only one.

[Bored 0]

Some of the people I wanted to run out of town are already gone...

Willie Bloomquist is still there. But hey he's scrappy!

[MrRant 0]

Between the M's and the Sonics.... Christ.

 

I hope the Hawk's stay good at least until the dual rebuilding is over.

[Precious Roy 0]

You're still missing my point though. Nobody thought Giambi would fall off so quickly and the Yankees certainly wouldn't have given him all that money if they'd suspected he had peaked. Did one person say it was a bad move because he was 30 when they signed him? Everyone thought the Yankees were getting the Giambi who was the AL MVP. Truely great players keep producing and an MVP caliber player like him should keep producing at an all-star level well into his 30's

 

Of course the average player will start declining around 32, 33, 34, but in baseball you don't expect an immediate drop off from great players, especially not a guy who plays an easy position defensively, and when it happens it's dispointing. Giambi is a guy who's dropped .100 points in average in 3 seasons, well over .100 points in slugging and over .50 points in OBP. He doesn't get a pass because of his age, I'm pretty sure Yankee Nation expected him to be productive for the length of his contract, and because of the money involved he is untradeable.

[Rob E Dangerously 0]

Royals:

 

1. Desi Relaford

2. Brian Anderson

3. Rudy Seanez

[Vern Gagne 0]

Doug Mientwicz (sp)

Corey Koskie

Mathew LeCroy

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

You're still missing my point though. Nobody thought Giambi would fall off so quickly and the Yankees certainly wouldn't have given him all that money if they'd suspected he had peaked. Did one person say it was a bad move because he was 30 when they signed him? Everyone thought the Yankees were getting the Giambi who was the AL MVP. Truely great players keep producing and an MVP caliber player like him should keep producing at an all-star level well into his 30's

 

Of course the average player will start declining around 32, 33, 34, but in baseball you don't expect an immediate drop off from great players, especially not a guy who plays an easy position defensively, and when it happens it's dispointing. Giambi is a guy who's dropped .100 points in average in 3 seasons, well over .100 points in slugging and over .50 points in OBP. He doesn't get a pass because of his age, I'm pretty sure Yankee Nation expected him to be productive for the length of his contract, and because of the money involved he is untradeable.

Should you expect a dropoff? Not really. But players do decline sometime in their 30s, and clubs take a risk when they sign a player in his 30s to a big money contract. The Yankees biggest problem is that because they built their team via free agency, almost all their players are perpetually declining.

 

At baseball-reference.com, they list the ten most similar players to Jason Giambi at the age of 32......

 

1. Mo Vaughn. Sharp decline after 30, and worthless at 35.

 

2. Hal Trosky. Out of baseball at 33.

 

3. Ted Kluszewski. Sharp decline at 32, done at 36.

 

4. Fred McGriff. Productive through 38.

 

5. Larry Walker. Declined at 36.

 

6. Tim Salmon. Declined at 32, but bounced back.

 

7. Gil Hodges. Statistics collapsed at 36.

 

8. Ryan Klesko. Statistics took a dive last year, at 32.

 

9. Kent Hrbek. Retired at 34.

 

10. Wally Berger. Retired at 34.

 

That's ten players, seven of which were unproductive by the time they hit 35. The Yankees should have known the risks they were taking. They have no one to blame but themselves.

[Guest Rrrsh]

Marlins:

 

Our GM