Most Overrated/Underrated MLB Players

[Guest]

I don't think Wood's overrated anymore. He's so hurt that he never even plays.

[naiwf 0]

The most underrated pitcher in all of baseball is Roy Oswalt, but that's probably because of his reserved attitude. However, after he wins 20 straight games for the third season in a row and gets the Cy Young award that he deserved in 2004, people hopefully will start to notice him. He deserves it...except last nite. He was pretty bad last nite, but he's usually good. Yeah...really good.

 

I think the most overrated pitchers in baseball are the two Cubs' aces, Wood and Prior. Every single year it's the same thing. People get all excited, they start the season the DL. People get all excited. They come back, pitch a few games, go back on the DL. Kerry Wood struck out 20 Astros in one game, but if he ever starts 20 games in a season, color me surprised.

 

How is Oswalt underrated when he's widely regarded as one of the top 5 pitchers in baseball?

[Guest Princess Leena]

Oswalt is still rarely mentioned though when the best pitchers come up.

[naiwf 0]

Oswalt is still rarely mentioned though when the best pitchers come up.

 

Harold Reynolds just called him the best pitcher in the NL on Baseball Tonight yesterday. There has been debate that behind Astros Clemens and the Diamondbacks two headed monster of Schilling/RJ he's been the best pitcher in the NL for the last few seasons. People who actually follow baseball and aren't bandwagon fans know that some of the best pitchers in all of baseball easily include lesser known/small market names like Oswalt, Santana and Halladay. While the top of the line starters for the Yankees, Mets, Cubs or BoSox get more attention, it doesn't mean they're actually better.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Even with the Clemens monster season last year, I always thought Oswalt was considered to be the best of the Astros' three aces.

[The Man in Blak 0]

However, after he wins 20 straight games for the third season in a row and gets the Cy Young award that he deserved in 2004, people hopefully will start to notice him.

 

Oswalt wasn't even the best pitcher on the Astros in 2004, so I'm not sure why you feel he deserved the Cy Young Award that year.

 

That being said, I would agree that Oswalt is overlooked by the mainstream press, specifically the New York media, as he is overshadowed on his own team by Clemens and Pettitte, even though the former isn't even pitching for the team.

 

 

EDIT: Ooops, it should be Oswalt, shouldn't it. D'oh.

[vivalaultra 0]

See? He's so underrated, people don't even know how to spell/pronounce his name. I thought he was the best Astros pitcher in 2004. He's been the Opening Day starter five years running, but with Clemens and Pettitte on the team, he was always relegated to "the other guy". Now with Clemens gone, it looks like he's finally getting the recognition he deserves, but I wouldn't take a Harold Reynolds mention to be proof of that, as I think Harold's always been the least partial of the BBTN analysts. Now, if John Kruk starts throwing props out to Roy Oswalt on a nightly basis, that would be something else entirely...

[Vampiro69 0]

Someone mentioned Travis Hafner, and I think that he is underrated. The man is a hitting machine. The only trouble is that he DH's alot.

 

Another player that I think is underrated is Carlos Lee. He is stuck playing in Milwaukee and doesn't get the praise he deserves.

 

Overrated as well is Torri Hunter. Although he has great defense, his offense is not so great. His average is quite low and fails to produce in pressure situations.

[Brett Favre 0]

I think Lance Berkman is underrated. He puts up monster numbers every year, and the team is probably the best in the National League whenever he's healthy.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

I'll do a couple from the Jays:

 

Underrated: Casey Janssen (If Towers keeps fucking up you'll hear about him sooner rather than later)

 

Overrated: Troy Glaus.

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

Alex Rodriguez is by far the most overrated player in all of sports.

[Guest]

I won't say underrated, but Jeff Kent is definitely overlooked.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Alex Rodriguez is by far the most overrated player in all of sports.

 

No.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

I hate how people overlook Dunn and justify it with his low batting average and strikeout rate. Batting average is probably one of the more overrated offensive stats out there. OBP is a much better assessment of a player's offensive worth. For instance, Ronny Cedeno and Jason Giambi have very close batting averages. I think that's all that needs to be said on that front. High or "respectable" batting averages don't make you a valuable player.

 

As for strikeouts, they get a bad rap. No, they aren't "productive" outs, but there are a lot of situations in which they're better than what could've happened. Would Reds fans rather see Adam Dunn strikeout with a runner at first and less than two outs or see him ground into a doubleplay?

 

And for the record, there's entirely too much stock put into intangibles. Certain players bring an aura to the club, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything in the long run. Paul LoDuca's supposedly this amazing team leader that your club can't live without. Never mind they didn't see the postseason during his tenure and still managed to make it the season they traded him at the deadline.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Alex Rodriguez is by far the most overrated player in all of sports.

 

I would say that A-Rod is almost bordering on underrated at this point. Everyone rips him for being soft, lacking clutch ability, making too much money, etc. Fans in general want to bash this guy for every little mistake he makes without praising his historical ability. In reality, he's still probably the best player in baseball (or at least 1A behind Pujols).

[Masked Man of Mystery 0]

And for the record, there's entirely too much stock put into intangibles. Certain players bring an aura to the club, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything in the long run. Paul LoDuca's supposedly this amazing team leader that your club can't live without. Never mind they didn't see the postseason during his tenure and still managed to make it the season they traded him at the deadline.

Agreed, the Red Sox should've cut Kevin Millar and kept Mientkiewicz

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

And for the record, there's entirely too much stock put into intangibles. Certain players bring an aura to the club, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything in the long run. Paul LoDuca's supposedly this amazing team leader that your club can't live without. Never mind they didn't see the postseason during his tenure and still managed to make it the season they traded him at the deadline.

Agreed, the Red Sox should've cut Kevin Millar and kept Mientkiewicz

 

Or got rid of them both because they both suck.

[Mik 0]

Overrated: Dontrelle Willis.

 

Yeah - I went there. He'll never have a season as good as last year.

[Masked Man of Mystery 0]

And for the record, there's entirely too much stock put into intangibles. Certain players bring an aura to the club, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything in the long run. Paul LoDuca's supposedly this amazing team leader that your club can't live without. Never mind they didn't see the postseason during his tenure and still managed to make it the season they traded him at the deadline.

Agreed, the Red Sox should've cut Kevin Millar and kept Mientkiewicz

 

Or got rid of them both because they both suck.

Uh...no. Mientkiewicz is JT Snow with a slightly better bat, I'll take that over JT at first, Youkilis seems to be doing okay, but I'd feel better if he were at third

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

And for the record, there's entirely too much stock put into intangibles. Certain players bring an aura to the club, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything in the long run. Paul LoDuca's supposedly this amazing team leader that your club can't live without. Never mind they didn't see the postseason during his tenure and still managed to make it the season they traded him at the deadline.

Agreed, the Red Sox should've cut Kevin Millar and kept Mientkiewicz

 

Or got rid of them both because they both suck.

Uh...no. Mientkiewicz is JT Snow with a slightly better bat, I'll take that over JT at first, Youkilis seems to be doing okay, but I'd feel better if he were at third

 

Snow is just a placeholder. He'll be gone by the All-Star break. Don't forget that they have Hee Sop Choi down in Pawtucket ready to go.

[Guest Felonies!]

And for the record, there's entirely too much stock put into intangibles. Certain players bring an aura to the club, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything in the long run. Paul LoDuca's supposedly this amazing team leader that your club can't live without. Never mind they didn't see the postseason during his tenure and still managed to make it the season they traded him at the deadline.

Agreed, the Red Sox should've cut Kevin Millar and kept Mientkiewicz

Intangibles are dumb, yeah, but there's room for a cheerleader-type guy like Millar. It's not like he's the drizzling shits out there, he's just not as dynamic of a player as his personality would make you think. For being one of the fan favorites and outspoken clubhouse guys of the Red Sox, he was just kinda there on the field, so I guess people found him overrated. BLAH BLAH WINNING IS ALL THAT MATTERS. I'm sure his teammates wanted him around, but what do they know

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Nick Johnson's another one I forgot for underrated (ironic, no?). This guy has quietly put together some of the most productive seasons of any first basemen in the game over the past several years. Guy has power, but walks a ton, so he's usually not going to give away at-bats. Yet, we never hear about him.

[Vampiro69 0]

I think the major knock against Nick Johnson is that he is injury prone. He rarely plays a full season. I know he played 130 games last year, but I want to see him remain healthy brefore I give him the underrated praise. I will admit that he has great potential but I want to see what he can do healthy in back to back seasons. I want to see him suceed and be productive.

[Masked Man of Mystery 0]

And for the record, there's entirely too much stock put into intangibles. Certain players bring an aura to the club, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything in the long run. Paul LoDuca's supposedly this amazing team leader that your club can't live without. Never mind they didn't see the postseason during his tenure and still managed to make it the season they traded him at the deadline.

Agreed, the Red Sox should've cut Kevin Millar and kept Mientkiewicz

Intangibles are dumb, yeah, but there's room for a cheerleader-type guy like Millar. It's not like he's the drizzling shits out there, he's just not as dynamic of a player as his personality would make you think. For being one of the fan favorites and outspoken clubhouse guys of the Red Sox, he was just kinda there on the field, so I guess people found him overrated. BLAH BLAH WINNING IS ALL THAT MATTERS. I'm sure his teammates wanted him around, but what do they know

Not even that, he was very streaky and had long, long cold runs when you could have Mientkiewicz out there possibly being productive.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

The problem with intangibles is not that they do not exist. They do. But too often they are used by sportswriters to trumpet players they personally like but do not have the statistics to support. Tomas Perez was like that. Note how well his intangibles carried over to Tampa Bay. Ditto Kevin Millar in Baltimore.

 

Uh...no. Mientkiewicz is JT Snow with a slightly better bat, I'll take that over JT at first, Youkilis seems to be doing okay, but I'd feel better if he were at third

 

Youks is carrying a .415 OBP right now. He's better than either Mientkiewicz or J.T., and essentially anyone else in the organization. He's perfectly fine as their first baseman.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

And for the record, there's entirely too much stock put into intangibles. Certain players bring an aura to the club, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything in the long run. Paul LoDuca's supposedly this amazing team leader that your club can't live without. Never mind they didn't see the postseason during his tenure and still managed to make it the season they traded him at the deadline.

Agreed, the Red Sox should've cut Kevin Millar and kept Mientkiewicz

Intangibles are dumb, yeah, but there's room for a cheerleader-type guy like Millar. It's not like he's the drizzling shits out there, he's just not as dynamic of a player as his personality would make you think. For being one of the fan favorites and outspoken clubhouse guys of the Red Sox, he was just kinda there on the field, so I guess people found him overrated. BLAH BLAH WINNING IS ALL THAT MATTERS. I'm sure his teammates wanted him around, but what do they know

Not even that, he was very streaky and had long, long cold runs when you could have Mientkiewicz out there possibly being productive.

 

I'd highly doubt that. You seem to be forgetting that Mientkiewicz is horrible. There is no way he should be taking at bats away from Millar, Youkilis, Olerud or anyone else they've had playing 1B that past couple of years. He's a late inning, defensive replacement only.

[treble 0]

I'll do a couple from the Jays:

 

Underrated: Casey Janssen (If Towers keeps fucking up you'll hear about him sooner rather than later)

 

Overrated: Troy Glaus.

Couple things about this. Janssen's made 3 starts so far, only one of them was really good. He was awesome against the Angels over the weekend, but I think he's going to have to stick around for a bit before you can call him underrated. As for Glaus, he's tied for 2nd in the AL with 12 HRs (which is pretty much what he's supposed to do) and is getting on base at around a .360 clip. Not quite sure what you expected out of him this year to call him overrated.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

One underrated player that hasn't been mentioned yet: Brandon Webb.

[Hawk 34 0]

When healthy, Austin Kearns is greatly under-rated. Of course, the man has been playing for about 4 seasons now and probably hasn't combined for a whole season yet thanks to his frequent seat next to Junior on the DL.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Indeed. I was giddy last season when Kearns was popping up frequently in Cubs-related trade talks. Instead, we got a $16 million dollar piece of poop.

 

Has anyone mentioned Soriano yet for being overrated? I keep seeing Cubs fans busting Hendry's chops for not going after him, but he'd be no different than most of their current hitters: no patience, terrible OBP, too homer-happy. Seriously, his OBP is fairly horrible for a guy that's so widely praised. Plus I can field better than he can.