2013 MLB All-Overrated Team

[mr.hockey4242]

LaRoche for 1st basemen. Huuuuge 2012 year, many thought he'd have another great year, but not even close.

2012: .271 avg, .343 OBP, .510 slugging, .853 OPS, 4.0 WAR, 100 RBIs

2013: .235 avg, .320 OBP, .415 slugging, .735 OPS, 0.3 WAR, 51 RBIs

Span is another Nat who deserves some consideration for this list. Nats had FINALLY gotten their nice leadoff hitter, or so we thought. While he plays outstanding defense, he has career lows in avg, OBP (by a wide margin), OPS and WAR (by a wide margin). His numbers vs LHPs makes me wanna cry.

As a Twins fan I was not completely bummed to see Span go because he's just solid and we had some young talent to give a shot to. That said, he is definitely better than what he's shown so far. I havn't looked at his numbers vs lefties this year but for the Twins he was one of those patented Twins lefties who could hit lefty pitching when we were rolling.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

Oh... a team of my choices. I'm not sure if I could fill a player for each position.

Examples of overrated players, in my opinion: Matt Kemp, Brandon Phillips, Ryan Zimmerman, Jose Reyes, Torii Hunter, Curtis Granderson, Michael Young, Carlos Ruiz, Jimmy Rollins (though he's not nearly as overrated as he once was), Josh Hamilton (even before his awful season this year), Carlos Gonzalez, all closers, Asdrubal Cabrera's defense (he's kinda been passed the torch from Derek Jeter), both Uptons, and Yoenis Cespedes.

Underrated: Joey Votto (somehow), AJ Ellis, Aramis Ramirez, Shin-Soo Choo, Ben Zobrist, James Shields, Koji Uehara, Mark Buehrle, Tyler Clippard, Darren O'Day (and all middle relievers), Yunel Escobar, Colby Lewis, JJ Hardy, and to some degree Carlos Beltran.

That's about all I've got off the top of my head.

Pretty good list but some of your overrated guys seem like guys you deem overrated because you think they are not as good as their numbers right now show. Cargo and Torii are certainly not overrated based on what they have done so far.

I also think if anything Zobrist is overrated. Hes regarded to highly for his multiple position ability. Buehrle to me is also just pretty average now and not really over or under.

 

[Clayton]

At first I thought this was a bump from the thread at the beginning of the season where everyone was saying Josh Hamilton is overrated.

I must say that Zack Grienke is having a better year than I thought he would. Stupid pitchers that can hit

 

[soxfan1468927]

As is usually the case with these types of threads, people seem to confuse overrated and overpaid. They're two different things. A player being overrated can lead to him being overpaid, but just because a player is overpaid doesn't mean he's overrated. They're not mutually exclusive.

And I don't see how a lot of these guys can be considered overrated when it's universally recognized that they're not performing up to expectations, such as Pujols. How is he overrated when everyone acknowledges that he's been incredibly disappointing the last two years? And how can someone be underrated when they're repeatedly mentioned in talks for awards, or a regular on the highlight reels on MLBN?

When I was compiling my list, I simply made it "who did I expect to have a better year than they are having". Basically, who did I overrate coming into the season. It made it a lot easier than determining what public perception is on any given player.

 

[ImSmartherThanYou]

Pretty good list but some of your overrated guys seem like guys you deem overrated because you think they are not as good as their numbers right now show. Cargo and Torii are certainly not overrated based on what they have done so far.

I also think if anything Zobrist is overrated. Hes regarded to highly for his multiple position ability. Buehrle to me is also just pretty average now and not really over or under.

CarGo and Hunter are both good players and having good seasons, but they're still not as good as their general reputation, in my opinion. There is a pretty strong contingent of people who think CarGo is one of the best players in all of baseball. I just don't see it.

I also don't see how Zobrist is overrated. He can play 5 positions competently, and is a solid all-around hitter, yet you don't hear much about him, unless it's from the anti-sabermetric community bashing him because of the one season he finished with a higher WAR than Albert Pujols.

As for Buehrle, yes, he's having a down year this year. But look at his numbers season-by-season. This season is going to be his 13th consecutive season of 200+ innings barring injury. He's also extremely consistent, and is usually quite good, with the exception of two or three seasons (including this year). He just doesn't get his due for his durability and consistency.

 

[soxfan1468927]

How is Rickie Weeks overrated? Everyone knows he sucks ass. Miguel Montero isn't known enough to be considered overrated. Everyone universally recognizes Pujols' issues. How is Michael Bourn overrated? He's another guy that flies largely under the radar. Who really fawns over Starlin Castro? Everyone acknowledges that Melky is a joke. Who thinks JP Arencibia, Jon Jay or David Murphy are any good in the first place???

The 2nd list just seems like a bunch of guys having surprise seasons. That doesn't make them underrated. Having 4 surprising months doesn't make a player underrated, especially if they're getting plenty of praise and attention for their surprise performance. Calling Chris Davis underrated is absurd. Everyone's expecting him to finish 2nd in the AL MVP race. That's underrated?

I think some of the names on each list are appropriate, but most of them just don't seem right to me. When I think "overrated", I think of guys like Brandon Phillips or Carlos Gonzalez, both of whom are fine players, but not nearly as good as the general perception among fans and the media.

I really couldn't care less about public perception of any player. I specifically wrote who I personally over or underrated coming into this season. Every player I mentioned, I expected a better season out of them or didn't see this season coming. I'm not going to pretend I have a full grasp of how the public perceives a player. I guess I could just watch Sportscenter, find out who is being talked about, and compare that to how they are actually playing, but I'm getting nauseous just thinking of that task.

The list may be full of guys the public never even heard of coming into the season therefore you wouldn't consider them overrated, but I've heard of them and I projected a better season.

 

[soxfan1468927]

Actually, I'm a pretty big asshole. Or at least average-sized.

And no, either word could not be used. Rickie Weeks is not overrated. Everyone knows he sucks. How can someone who is universally regarded as sucking be overrated? Is he something worse than "sucks"?

Well we've conversed on the ESPN boards and fanatic board for a long time Smarther and you may be an asshole but you certainly know your stuff.

I honestly thought Weeks would be competent this year when he's one of the worst 2nd basemen in the game. Hence, I overrated him.

 

[ImSmartherThanYou]

I really couldn't care less about public perception of any player. I specifically wrote who I personally over or underrated coming into this season. Every player I mentioned, I expected a better season out of them or didn't see this season coming. I'm not going to pretend I have a full grasp of how the public perceives a player. I guess I could just watch Sportscenter, find out who is being talked about, and compare that to how they are actually playing, but I'm getting nauseous just thinking of that task.

The list may be full of guys the public never even heard of coming into the season therefore you wouldn't consider them overrated, but I've heard of them and I projected a better season.

10-4, good buddy. Fair enough. These are who *you* under and overrated. That's different. I've had guys that I expected more from and who failed to deliver, like Cespedes.

 

[donaldson79]

Pretty good list but some of your overrated guys seem like guys you deem overrated because you think they are not as good as their numbers right now show. Cargo and Torii are certainly not overrated based on what they have done so far.

I also think if anything Zobrist is overrated. Hes regarded to highly for his multiple position ability. Buehrle to me is also just pretty average now and not really over or under.

How can Colby Lewis be underrated when he hasn't thrown a pitch in well over a year, and has just been shut down for the rest of this season as well. I really like Lewis. But in all honesty, his career is probably over. And Michael Young is overrated? Don't get that one either. He's hitting about .275 and played decent defense at 3rd. Now, the Michael Young of 2 years ago was way overrated. But today, not so much.

 

[ImSmartherThanYou]

How can Colby Lewis be underrated when he hasn't thrown a pitch in well over a year, and has just been shut down for the rest of this season as well. I really like Lewis. But in all honesty, his career is probably over. And Michael Young is overrated? Don't get that one either. He's hitting about .275 and played decent defense at 3rd. Now, the Michael Young of 2 years ago was way overrated. But today, not so much.

I felt Lewis was hideously underrated the last several years. Before his injury, his name wasn't thrown around nearly enough.

Hitting .275 isn't impressive, especially when it's accompanied by a 101 OPS+. And he's one of the worst defensive players in baseball. So there, you just overrated him by suggesting he's even passable in the field.

 

[navamind]

How can Colby Lewis be underrated when he hasn't thrown a pitch in well over a year, and has just been shut down for the rest of this season as well. I really like Lewis. But in all honesty, his career is probably over. And Michael Young is overrated? Don't get that one either. He's hitting about .275 and played decent defense at 3rd. Now, the Michael Young of 2 years ago was way overrated. But today, not so much.

His .275 BA is kind of empty (it comes with a .335 OBP and .396 SLG%), most defensive metrics rate him as a poor defender (-10.1 UZR this year, -17 Total Zone runs, -15 defensive runs saved, -13 plus/minus, etc.) and he hits into a lot of double plays.

As for Lewis, he's been a damn good pitcher ever since he came back from Japan. In 80 starts:

506.1 IP, 460 hits allowed (8.2 H/9), 1.18 WHIP, 135 BB (2.4 BB/9), 458 K (8.1 K/9), 3.39 K/BB, 3.93 ERA, 113 ERA+, 7.3 rWAR

He's had quite the journey.

 

[da55bums]

agree on the ENTIRE list except 1.......Nick Swisher has been the most overrated player every year for the last 10 years....hands down.....loved that the Upton brothers were both on the list....wow those guys can whiff.

 

[navamind]

Russell Martin's pretty underrated. One of the best pitch framers in the league.

 

[_Xer0_]

"Confusing" was your word. I said either word could be used in this situation. I don't usually get into bitch fights on here, but you are an arrogant, condescending little asshole, aren't you?

yes, he is.

he's a snarky prick.

 

[_Xer0_]

Jon Lester deserves mention for pitchers.

that guy is massively overrated.

 

[navamind]

Jon Lester deserves mention for pitchers.

that guy is massively overrated.

Care to post Mike Trout's stats? You haven't posted them in a while.

 

[_Xer0_]

Care to post Mike Trout's stats? You haven't posted them in a while.

Please love my Jon Lester!

 

[navamind]

Please love my Jon Lester!

I never said anything about him. He sucks now. He used to be a good pitcher.

But are you going to post Trout's stats or what? You were giving us updates on ESPN a few months ago, but then you stopped. Gee, I wonder why?

 

[_Xer0_]

I never said anything about him. He sucks now. He used to be a good pitcher.

But are you going to post Trout's stats or what? You were giving us updates on ESPN a few months ago, but then you stopped. Gee, I wonder why?

i've already admitted i was wrong about Trout.

He's a hell of a player.

 

[navamind]

i've already admitted i was wrong about Trout.

He's a hell of a player.

Fair enough. About time you stopped acting like a tard.

Regardless of who's better between Miggy and Trout, there's a pretty big gap between those two and everyone else IMO. They're both incredibly fun players to watch.