Call to the Pen looks at the worst position players in the MLB that are still starting for their team on a regular basis.
Baseball is a fickle sport. Because of the financial impact of long term contracts, many managers are forced by the front office to play guys much longer than they remain effective. Service time clocks keep good young players in the minors longer than they deserve, and the option system and rule 5 draft bring up guys who need more seasoning. Past performance is difficult to forget, and once you’ve established yourself it takes a while for people to move on from those memories.
It’s hard to construct a roster of 25 good baseball players (comparatively that is, all the players listed below are in the top 0.001% of baseball players worldwide) and sometimes bad players slip through for one of these reasons. While Jean Segura shows us why it’s not always wise to give up on these players, there are currently 126 position players who have provided negative WAR to their teams in one form or another this year.
Now some of this is due to bad luck, or just a cold streak to start the year. Not all these players will end up down at the bottom of the list, some might even put up solid seasons (come on Votto, you’re on my fantasy team!) We’re looking for players who have put up a history of terrible play, but yet somehow are still starting the majority of their team’s games. These are the 10 worst position players in the MLB.
All stats up to date through May 3.
Next: Honorable Mentions