How well the Free Agents Are Doing

[Cubs Suck23]

OUT OF THE PARK

 

Pedro Martinez, RHP, New York Mets: Skeptics scoffed at the huge contract the Mets threw at the aging ace, but Martinez has been everything they asked for. He's 10-3 with a 2.72 ERA, he's got 138 strikeouts in 129 innings, and opposing hitters are batting .185 against him. He's also putting people in the seats at Shea Stadium.

 

Matt Clement, RHP, Boston Red Sox: Everyone loved his raw stuff and was waiting for him to put it together. It appears he's doing just that. He's 10-2 with a 3.85 ERA and has anchored a rotation that has been missing ace Curt Schilling all year. He's also on pace for the lowest walk total of his career.

 

Jeff Kent, 2B, Los Angeles Dodgers: In the midst of an injury-laden season for the boys in blue in Chavez Ravine, this veteran has come through with his usual high-octane offense. Kent is batting .304 with 15 homers, 60 RBIs and 51 runs, and has been as durable as ever.

 

Carlos Delgado, 1B, Florida Marlins: The Marlins signed him to get the production at first base they haven't had since Derrek Lee went to Chicago, and they're getting what they paid for. In his first taste of the National League, Delgado is on pace for a typical Delgado year, with a .288 average, 18 homers, 66 RBIs, 47 runs and a .385 on-base percentage.

 

Omar Vizquel, SS, San Francisco Giants: He's 38 years old but he keeps going strong. Through 83 games, Vizquel was batting .305 with 43 runs and 14 stolen bases and had only made three errors in the field.

 

David Eckstein, SS, St. Louis Cardinals: The Cardinals couldn't be happier with their new shortstop and leadoff man. Eckstein is batting .284, is on pace for the highest on-base percentage of his career, and has only 21 strikeouts, the fewest in baseball. He's also scored 46 runs and started the All-Star Game.

 

EXTRA BASES

 

J.D. Drew, OF, Dodgers: Drew was quietly getting the job done while playing on a banged-up knee, with a .286 batting average, .412 OBP and a typically high .931 OPS to go along with 15 homers and 48 runs. Then he broke his wrist, which just means tough luck for the tough-luck Dodgers.

 

Troy Glaus, 3B, Arizona Diamondbacks: The Diamondbacks haven't had any worries about Glaus' surgically repaired shoulder. He's leading the team with 19 homers and has driven in 53 runs and scored 44. They are concerned about a tendon behind his left knee, however, which has received two cortisone shots and might get another soon.

 

Moises Alou, OF, San Francisco Giants: Alou must be having fun playing for his dad because he keeps producing. Despite a stint on the disabled list, Alou still has a .316 average, 12 homers, 41 RBIs and 43 runs scored.

 

Jermaine Dye, OF, Chicago White Sox: The White Sox needed a masher to replace what they lost in power when they traded Carlos Lee, and that's exactly what Dye has provided with a .270 batting average, 19 homers, 45 RBIs and 42 runs scored. Plus, he's known as more of a second-half player.

 

Edgar Renteria, SS, Red Sox: Boston fans might be underwhelmed when looking at his numbers: a .272 batting average, six homers, 31 RBIs and 47 runs. But he hasn't killed the Sox defensively and his numbers are actually on pace to basically mirror what he did last year for NL champion St. Louis.

 

MIDDLE OF THE ORDER

 

Derek Lowe, RHP, Dodgers: Lowe and the Dodgers got off to a great start, but Lowe has tailed off a bit and the banged-up Dodgers have gradually slumped with him. Lowe hasn't pitched as poorly as his 5-9 record would indicate. He has a decent 3.99 ERA and has made 19 starts. The jury might still be out.

 

Richie Sexson, 1B, Seattle Mariners: He leads the Mariners with 18 homers and 63 RBIs and has scored 53 runs, but that was to be expected when Seattle gave him $50 million for four years. What wasn't necessarily expected is the fact that he's on pace for almost 200 strikeouts.

 

Kevin Millwood, RHP, Cleveland Indians: Millwood wasn't a highly publicized signing, and he got off to a slow start along with the Indians, but his 3.58 ERA is his lowest in four years and he'd be a lot better than 3-7 with more run support. The Tribe is now hot enough that his win-loss numbers should get better soon.

 

David Wells, RHP, Red Sox: His 5.00 ERA is his highest in almost a decade, but he's got a winning record of 6-5 and has stayed healthy enough at the age of 42 to make 15 starts so far.

 

SCUFFLIN'

 

Carlos Beltran, OF, Mets: Little nicks and bruises have slowed him down all year, but it's safe to say the Mets were expecting a lot more than a .266 batting average, 10 homers, 44 RBIs, 38 runs and four stolen bases when they coughed up all that money and all those years.

 

Adrian Beltre, 3B, Mariners: Beltre's all-world 2004 season got him a five-year, $64 million deal in Seattle, but he's looking like the Beltre who hadn't realized his potential before 2004. He entered the break with a .261 average, nine homers, 44 RBIs, 44 runs and a .304 OBP. The adjustment to American League pitching should have happened by now.

 

 

Carl Pavano, RHP, New York Yankees: Pavano got a huge contract from the free-wheeling Yankees after his career year with the Marlins in 2004. So far this year, he's looked like a different pitcher, going 4-6 with a 4.77 ERA in 17 starts and allowing 17 homers in 100 innings before being placed on the DL because of right shoulder tendonitis.

 

Russ Ortiz, RHP, Diamondbacks: Ortiz walked a ton of batters in Atlanta last year and wasn't getting many out this year -- 4-6 record, 5.88 ERA -- before being placed on the DL because of a strained right rib cage.

 

Orlando Cabrera, SS, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: The slick defense is still there, but the Angels got very little from their $32-million man at the plate -- .243 average, four homers, 22 RBIs, 30 runs, .294 OBP -- before he went on the DL two weeks ago with elbow inflammation.

 

Steve Finley, OF, Angels: Finley banged up his shoulder in the first week of the season, tried to play through it and put up un-Finley-like numbers -- .225 average, eight homers, 39 RBIs, 27 runs -- before finally going on the DL three weeks ago.

 

Troy Percival, RHP, Detroit Tigers: The veteran got a two-year deal after two injury-plagued seasons with the Angels. He's already missed six weeks with an arm problem and has given up seven homers in 25 innings, which has inflated his ERA to 5.76.

 

IT'S STILL EARLY

 

Magglio Ordonez, OF, Tigers: Missed almost 68 games so far with a hernia after missing over 100 games last year with a knee problem. He'll need some time to get that sweet stroke back. But you still can't blame the Tigers for signing a career .300 hitter with routine 30-homer, 100-RBI seasons when he's healthy.

 

Corey Koskie, 3B, Toronto Blue Jays: Koskie was on his way to solid numbers -- seven homers, 16 RBIs, 22 runs in six weeks -- before he broke his thumb in May.

 

Armando Benitez, RHP, Giants: Closers can be forgiven for bad starts, which is what Benitez was in the midst of -- 5.79 ERA after eight games -- when he tore his right hamstring, putting him on the shelf for four months.

[Da Sox]

:headshake

[Kyyle23]

How is Jaret Wright not on the scufflin list? Or on the Worthless list?

[the People's Champ]

I'm so glad we got rid of Jagglio.

[DukeNukeEm]

The Mariners are such idiots for falling for Beltre.

[Steve9347]

yes, Beltre = contract year b****.

[BigSqwert]

I'm so glad we got rid of Jagglio.

 

Seeing Andruw Jones last night made me remember how close we were to trading Jaggs for him. He'd look great in CF for us.

Edited July 14, 2005 by BigSqwert

[Kalapse]

Seeing Andruw Jones last night made me remember how close we were to trading Jaggs for him.  He'd look great in CF for us.

Andruw Jones:

 

'05 - $12.5M

'06 - $13.0M

'07 - $13.5M

 

Plus his agent is Scott Boras.

 

I'll take a pass.

[BigSqwert]

Andruw Jones:

 

'05 - $12.5M

'06 - $13.0M

'07 - $13.5M

 

Plus his agent is Scott Boras.

 

I'll take a pass.

 

Just seems like Aaron's power numbers have been very Orlando Cabrera-like now that MLB is keeping a close eye on what players are putting in their bodies.