Baseball 2005's most over and under rated players

[tallahassee blues fan]

Overrated:

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/4803552

Underrated:

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/4806636

[backstop]

Good stuff.

[007]

where's yadier?

[Fred Garvin]

Travis Hafner, DH, Indians

Hafner's a DH, so he has no defensive value, but at the plate he rakes like few others. Stolen from the Rangers in exchange for Ryan Drese and Einar Diaz...

Ouch.

[kah]

5. Victor Zambrano, SP, Mets
The Mets cut bait on Scott Kazmir, perhaps the best young lefty in the game, to get Zambrano, mostly because then new pitching Rick Peterson thought he could fix him. Zambrano has a career 4.40 ERA and is already 30 years old. At first glance you might think Zambrano has made nominal improvement, what with his 4.13 ERA. However, consider that Shea is a pitcher's park, run scoring is down this season, and Zambrano has out only 88 strikeouts against 66 walks. Kazmir is the better pitcher now, and he'll most assuredly be the better pitcher in years to come. A terrible, terrible trade for the Mets.

Zach Duke says hi. But that was a really stupid trade.

[hansolo]

Three Astros on the underrated list.

No wonder they are leading the division.

han solo

[kah]

4. Julio Lugo, SS, Devil Rays
Lugo isn't an elite ballplayer, but he's the quintessence of a quality major league shortstop — exceptional with the glove, above average with the bat. Why there hasn't been feverish trade interest in Lugo over the last couple of seasons is a mystery. For his career, Lugo is hitting .296 AVG/.358 OBP/.389 SLG, which is strong production for a shortstop who can flat-out pick it. It's easy to be overlooked when you're biding your time with the awful D-Rays, but it's about time Lugo got his due as one of the best shortstops in baseball not named Tejada or Jeter.

Got a bit of past, Julio does, but you have to wonder if the offense-starved Astros don't look at sucky Adam Everett and second-guess themselves.

[blue zone]

Funny how after the playoffs last year,the question was wheter you would take Beltran or Pujols if you were starting a team....looks like the answer is once again obvious.

[backstop]

Originally posted by blue zone@Aug 30 2005, 05:45 PM
Funny how after the playoffs last year,the question was wheter you would take Beltran or Pujols if you were starting a team....looks like the answer is once again obvious.

Quoted post

Should have been obvious then, too. Three weeks does not a career make.

[TTB]

Having Lugo in the pay league has helped make up for Renteria being very mediocre this season.

[Brosnan2715]

Originally posted by Fred Garvin@Aug 30 2005, 05:17 PM

Travis Hafner, DH, Indians

Hafner's a DH, so he has no defensive value, but at the plate he rakes like few others. Stolen from the Rangers in exchange for Ryan Drese and Einar Diaz...

Ouch.

Quoted post

Yea, that was horrible, but Diaz was supposed to be a can't miss prospect if I'm remembering correctly.

[DLove]

Originally posted by Brosnan2715+Aug 30 2005, 04:59 PM-->

QUOTE(Brosnan2715 @ Aug 30 2005, 04:59 PM)

[Razzy]

I cant stand to see Greinke's or Millar's name any more. I had Millar last year on my fantasy team. In fact, he was in my active lineup for like the first 15 weeks of the season and then I took him out. Of course, that was the week he decided to hit 6 home runs. He had half of his season in about three weeks last year.

So what do I do? Drafted him again this year. He has basically sucked and I have had him in and out of the lineup. As usual, he does better when I dont have him in there. Most frustrating player, from a fantasy viewpoint, I have known.

As for Greinke, I took him real high in the draft, to the chagrin of a couple of others in my league, watched him get off to a pretty good start, and turned down a trade of Felix Hernandez for him back in late May. Grrrrrrrrrr...

Now I couldnt get a wooden nickel for Grienke, and F Hernandez is only the best pitching prospect to come along in some time and is killing in the majors.

[Razzy]

At least 5 of the top 7 underrated players are on either my AL or NL team, including the top three. Giles, Bay, Peralta, Oswalt, and Sheets.

[madyaks]

Andruw should be listed as underrated, yeah you hear his name, but damn he has 42 homers, 103 RBI. But you don't hear his name enough.