F.A.T.: Hitters

by R.J. Anderson on Nov 9, 2008 6:00 AM EST

Finally we reach the pure mashers who won't add much in the field.

32 year old Brian Myrow is a sad case of a guy never really getting a shot. Sure, he's seen 33 games the past two seasons, but only 31 at-bats. He wasn't great in those at-bats, but for a minor leaguer with a career (PCL inflated) .920 OPS you would think he'd get at least 100-200 at-bats. Oh, and he's not one of those dime-a-dozen right-handed parts of a first base platoon, he's the lefty part.

Chris Shelton is one of those right-handed parts. Most casual fans will remember Shelton as "That one no-named guy who hit a lot of homeruns then fell off." Well, that's not entirely true. Even in 2006 Shelton had an above average OPS. Oddly Shelton has a better major league career OPS versus righties than lefties.

Chris Snelling simply cannot stay healthy, and that's a shame. Snelling has got on base 37% of the time versus righties. Some team could use that type of on-base production from their DH spot.

Wes Bankston is a former top prospect turned bust. He got some time in Oakland last season, but didn't showcase his impressive splits versus righties (.868) which would make him a decent platoon mate at DH/1B.

What in the world are Mr. and Mrs. Nix doing to produce sons who are F.A.T. in the baseball world? Laynce Nix joins his brother and comes off two seasons in which he tallied 10 games and 12 at-bats each. Rinse/repeat, platoon/worthy.

The 27 year old Jason Perry made his debut last July 4th. He only saw 16 additional at-bats, but in the minors was proficient in hitting, you guessed it, right-handed pitchers.

Ben Broussard doesn't have great splits in the majors, nearly a .800 OPS versus lefties. He's got some power though, and some hacky tendencies.

Victor Diaz hits lefties, as does Kevin Mench.

Jason Lane has shown power as well, although his splits are non-existent in the majors. He hits both hands equally above average, which is actually pretty useful.

References

Baseball Reference

Minor League Splits

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Wow

5 former Rangers on that list in Nix, Mench, Shelton, Broussard and Diaz

by laxtonto on Nov 9, 2008 12:48 PM EST reply actions

Jason Lane doesn't make a lot of contact

And he does not have a very good plate discipline. He had only one good season in the minors.

I like the Victor Diaz idea, however.

Mother---- him and John Wayne!

by MerryGoByeBye on Nov 9, 2008 2:23 PM EST reply actions

What about John Rodriguez?

Going off CHONEs defensive projections and CAIRO for hitting…
John Rodriguez (.256/.350/.423) [83 BR in 650 PA]
John fits under the all-hit F.A.T. definition. He was defensively projected for -1 runs saved in 2007 in a corner OF. A projected .773 OPS isn’t a bad line for an average corner OF when you consider that the average LF in the NL hit .267/.334/.426. CAIROs feels that John Rodriguez, taking his defense into account, is basically your average left fielder. Might be a nice low-risk pick up.

by SanjiWatsuki on Nov 10, 2008 3:21 AM EST reply actions

He works.

by R.J. Anderson on Nov 10, 2008 8:20 AM EST up reply actions

-1 is positively brilliant

compared to a lot of the corner guys out there these days. I’m really starting to think that the new type of undervalued player is the corner outfield guy who with a .350 OBP but relatively low power, say, .420-.440 SLG, but with just average defense or above. Yeah, they’re probably below league average WAR, but they’re super cheap compared to guys like Pat Burrell or even Raul Ibanez, who will cost at least $8M/yr more.

OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG

by Matt Klaassen on Nov 10, 2008 10:08 AM EST up reply actions

...and are at most .5 WAR better

OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG

by Matt Klaassen on Nov 10, 2008 10:09 AM EST up reply actions

Would that mean the most overvalued player is the slugging (and defensive deprived) corner outfielder?

by R.J. Anderson on Nov 10, 2008 11:56 AM EST up reply actions

I guess, yeah

I suppose I’m re-inventing the wheel around here, so sorry about that, but doesn’ t that seem to be the case? I mean, I have Adam Dunn being worth something like 3/28 or 4/32 (and that might be a bit high), maybe a bit more, because of his age, but not much… isn’t it likely he’ll get close to twice that much per year?

Matt Stairs must be mad at himself for being born 10 years too early.

OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG

by Matt Klaassen on Nov 10, 2008 12:12 PM EST up reply actions

Top Five offensive seasons (BtRns above average)

Carlos Lee:

2008 27.2
2007 24.3
2004 23.9
2006 23.7
2002 15.8

Total Top FIve: 114.9

Top Three: 75.4

Matt Stairs:

1997 28.2
1999 26.2
1998 24.5
2003 20
2007 20

Top Five: 118.9

Top Three: 78.9

Guess who got multiple lucrative contracts? Guess who started his real career at least 4 seasons too late and had to make trips to Japan to stay in baseball?

OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG

by Matt Klaassen on Nov 10, 2008 3:04 PM EST up reply actions