Player Hater's Ball - January Edition

Hate hate hate hate hate hate!

We all hate. Some pretend they don’t, but deep down inside, they know they do.

Hate is one of the purest emotions, and can really inspire some people to achieve greater heights than they normally perform at. So, welcome to the inaugural edition of 1 Blue Jays Way’s Player Haters Ball. It happens that during your time as a fan of The Toronto Blue Jays, or any sports team really, that there are players who you just don’t like. It isn’t necessarily that they perform poorly, or they act a certain way to the paying public. It could just be that you don’t like their face. It’s a hard thing to come to grips with, being that you watch this player routinely and he is a highly trained athlete who performs at a high level, but you just want him to do a little bit more. And until he does, you hate him. I’ve brought along a friend to help dispense the hate: 2002 Hater of the year, Silky Johnson.

January’s Subject:

Lyle Overbay, 1B

Lyle Stefan Overbay (born January 28, 1977 in Centralia, Washington) was drafted by the Arizona Diamond Backs in the 18^th round of the 1999 Amateur Draft. Overbay was acquired by the Brewers in the trade on December 1, 2003 that sent Richie Sexson and Shane Nance to Arizona for Overbay, Craig Counsell, Junior Spivey, Chris Capuano, Chad Moeller, and Jorge de la Rosa. On December 7, 2005, Overbay was traded from the Milwaukee Brewers along with pitching prospect Ty Taubenheim to Toronto in exchange for outfielder Gabe Gross and pitchers Dave Bush and Zach Jackson. Overbay was brought to Toronto in the hopes of former GM J. P. Ricciardi to be the player that would get on base and hit a shit-tonne of doubles. Why do I hate this man? Let’s have a look at the first base position around the majors.

2009 Home Run Leaders

6 of the top 10 leaders in homeruns in the Major Leagues were first basemen.

2009 RBI Leaders

5 of the top 10 leaders in runs batted in, were first basemen, including the top 4.

2009 Batting Average Leaders

4 of the top 10 leaders in batting average, were first basemen.

Say what? You’re saying, what the fuck does it all mean? My answer is simply this. We are in the toughest division in baseball; I think most reading this would agree. We go up against the New York Yankess and Boston Red Sox a lot more than other teams, and we have a first basemen with the potency of a daffodil. The Yankess have Mark Teixeira, the Red Sox have Kevin Youkilis and the Rays have Carlos Pena. Every day “The Cito” pencils in a lineup that includes Overbay at 1B, lets have a look at how the stats add up in our own division;

2009 – AL East Division First Basemen:

Player	AVG	OBP	SLG	2Bs	HRs	RBIs	Runs
Mark Teixerira	.292	.383	.565	43	39	122	103
Carlos Pena	.227	.356	.537	25	39	100	91
Kevin Youkilis	.306	.413	.548	36	27	94	99
Lyle Overbay	.265	.372	.466	35	16	64	57

How about the 2009 Major League Division Winners:

Player	AVG	OBP	SLG	2Bs	HRs	RBIs	Runs
Mark Teixerira, NYY	.292	.383	.565	43	39	122	103
Justin Morneau, MIN	.271	.363	.516	31	30	100	85
Kendry Morales, LAA	.306	.355	.569	43	34	108	86
Kevin Youkilis	.306	.413	.548	36	27	94	99
Ryan Howard	.279	.360	.571	37	45	141	105
Albert Pujols	.327	.423	.658	45	47	135	124
James Loney	.281	.357	.399	25	13	90	73
Todd Helton	.325	.416	.489	38	15	86	79
Lyle Overbay	.265	.372	.466	35	16	64	57

Courtesy of Beyond the Boxscore:

1B Lyle Overbay

Explanation of stats here:

Lyle's DiamondView shows us Toronto's problem in a nutshell: an average player (32) with below-average defense with at least one major hole in his tool belt--all at a premium position on the field that is completely dominated by three other teams in the division. He is an average first baseman with the stick, good for an OBPs of .315, .358, and .372 for the past three years while barely squeezing out an ISO of .151, .149, and .201 over the same period. One might notice that this latest year has actually been an uptick, so expect him to regress to the mean a bit for 2010.

While some would suggest that his value is his glove, even a quick glance at his UZR for the past three years shows a precipitous drop from 3.9 to 2.9 to -0.6 (and that's ignoring his -5.2 in 2006!). And if you're holding out for discipline on the base path, you're holding out for a guy that will never get caught stealing because he never tries. That said there are Ford Pintos running better than Mr. Overbay here. 

 
Yikes! Our first baseman blows ass comparatively speaking of course. There could be a correlation to be made between have a first baseman that can rake and wins. Both of which the Blue Jays are lacking in.

Courtesy of Beyond the Boxscore once again: Our AL East DiamondView journey comes to a close, and with it, any mystery why the standings turned out the way they did in 2009. With unexpected precision, this method shows that the teams with the better starters in the ON BASE and POWER categories came in the exact same order as they appear in the standings. While the obvious remains obvious, this visual is certainly enlightening:

So here is my first of many season-long Lyle Overbay sucks posts. I hate him; I mean I truly hate this man. When I think about the position and the venerable wasteland that it has become in Toronto and the mounds of talented big men who hit BOMBS at that position, it angers me. Let’s please move this man and let Brett “Thunder Thighs” Wallace step in. Maybe then we’d get some production from the position. Until that day Lyle Overbay is a hated man. Lyle, you can’t hit, you’re always hurt and you’re a money-ball player, except for the fact that you are not a “player” at all really. You just kinda stand there, getting paid to do a mediocre job at a position that mashers play at. So for that Lyle, I hate you.

Take it Silky: “The only balls that Lyle Overbay takes a swing at are those belonging to other dudes.”