13- Houston Astros – 1B Yuli Gurriel
Yuli Gurriel tarnished his reputation during 2017’s World Series. The righty made a racist gesture after hitting a home run off Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher, Yu Darvish. His actions resulted in national outrage as Major League Baseball did not suspend him from any games in the World Series. Boos rained down on Gurriel for the rest of the series, though he did tip his cap in an apology to Darvish in game seven.
Yuli Gurriel was very upfront about his mistake and went into 2018 looking to repair his reputation.
12- New York Yankees- C Gary Sanchez
2018 was a very tumultuous year for Gary Sanchez. From injuries, to underperformance, to a lack of overall effort, the Yankees’ catcher experienced it all. In 89 games, Sanchez hit 18 home runs, drove in 53 RBIs and slashed an ugly .186/.291/.406 with an OPS+ of 86.
What a difference a year can make, Sanchez turned from MVP Candidate to a possible liability.
The 25-year-old led the league with 18 passed balls in just over half a season’s worth of playing time. To the outrage of Yankees’ fans, Sanchez has slowly jogged after one too many of those passed balls. He even cost the Yankees a win in July by slowly chasing a passed ball, then later slowly jogging to first base on a ground ball that could have been a close play.
This attitude has Sanchez toting the lazy label and leaves his long-term positional future in question.
11- Toronto Blue Jays- RHP Ken Giles
Much like Hunter Strickland, Ken Giles is another relief pitcher who has had numerous angry outbursts. The hard-throwing righty had a tough 2018 season and did not hide his frustrations. After blowing a save in May, Giles appeared to punch himself in the face as he came off the mound.
After another blown save in July, Giles appeared to curse out Astros’ Manager, A.J. Hinch. The following day, the struggling righty was demoted to Triple-A and was later traded to the Toronto Blue Jays as a part of the Roberto Osuna deal.
According to the New York Post, Giles criticized Hinch’s communication in comments made in September.
“I’m getting thrown out there like I didn’t know what was going on,” said Giles, “It keeps me out of the loop a little bit. I wasn’t told some information that I probably needed to know, instead just going into the dark out there without knowing what I needed to prepare for. … It’s a shame. I enjoyed my teammates there, we did a lot of great memories there, and I was very blessed to be with those guys and got to learn from those guys.”
Hinch defended himself and the organization with comments made to New York Post via the Athletic.
“I think he’s wrong and I’m disappointed that he would go down that path given how much work and time and energy and communication that our front office, our coaching staff, me, we all went through this with him,” Hinch told reporters.
It’s safe to say that Ken Giles does not have many fans left in Houston. Astros’ fans won’t have to regularly boo Giles, but will Blue Jays’ fans be as tough?
Time will tell, as we will see if he is able to turn his career around as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays.