It’s that time of year again where enthusiastic fans take full advantage of their ability to vote for their favorite shortstop 35 times.
Call to the Pen, on the other hand, has been involved with a different type of balloting process, with the results comprising the MLB All-Overrated team.
Identifying “overrated” players isn’t always an easy subject. For the most part, it is largely subjective, and it is easy to allow any personal bias toward a player of a certain team to get in the way when properly defining him. The point is, in the case of most, if not all open-ended sports discussions, there will always be at least someone willing to debate you on something where a scientific answer doesn’t exist.
So let’s allow the stats to do the talking. When identifying an “overrated player,” there is a certain criteria that should be established, which for the record, doesn’t include yelling at the television, “THAT’S IT, HE IS OVERATED,” in the event of a player’s untimely strikeout.
The first component that should be taken into account is Wins Above Replacement or WAR. While WAR isn’t the be-all, end-all in terms of sabermetrics, it is beneficial when trying to gauge a given player’s overall value, as well as taking into account how many wins that player is responsible for, as opposed to a backup player or minor leaguer that is thrust into action in the event the starting player is injured.
The second component that will be factored into the “overrated” criteria, will take into account the contractual agreement reached between team and player. It’s well documented that baseball is responsible for some of the worst contracts awarded in any of the professional sports, *cough* Albert Pujols.
Name recognition has a role in attributing to some of those ludicrous contracts, just as it does when a player receives sometimes undeservedly high praise from the public. Contracts should represent what teams think those players will do, not what they have done in the past.
The last component factored into the criteria might come as a surprise: durability. The MLB season is as rigorous as any, and without a doubt players should be awarded as many maintenance days as a team’s managerial staff sees fit. However, if a player’s typical season is categorized by more trips to Dr. James Andrews’ office than trips to the ballpark, that might be a problem, and definitely hinders a player from sustaining any type of rhythm.
It is important to note, referring to a player as “overrated” isn’t some version of unforgiving slander. There are many players, some even on this list, that either may have been, or still are good. They just might not be as good as popular opinion tends to perceive. With that being said, here is the starting lineup for the All-Overrated team.
Next: A chronically injured catcher