Most Overrated Players of All-Time

[kaiser]

Andruw Jones is hugely overrated. As noted above, he joust doesn't get on base enough.

if that's the knock, then i wonder why he would be considered overrated. when is the last time someone said, 'wow that andruw jones sure does find ways to get on base doesn't he?' with him it's near peerless defensive play and .270/.350/.500 with 34 HR per year over the past 10. as a total package, he's a great 'baseball player'

When i was referring to "overrated," it was from the persepctive of as a fantasy player.

I've watched Anduw Jones strike out time and time again while trying to kill the ball when a base hit is all that is needed. Maybe his stats mean he's not "overrated." But, and this is my opinion only, he is immature, and not very "baseball-smart." This leads to huge slumps several times a year.

I'm a Braves fan, and I'd much rather have any number of lesser-defensive-skilled players filling in my cleanup spot than Andruw.

Again, just my opinion.

[Mookie4ever]

Wade Boggs
David Ortiz
Curt Schilling
Manny Ramirez
Garciaparra
Wade Boggs
Dwight Evans
Jim Rice
Carl Yastremski (or however you spell it)
Carlton Fisk
Jimmie Foxx
Lefty Grove
Wade Boggs

btw - Devon White was a better defensive CF than Junior or Jones.

[bigfeet10]

he is considered one of the best pitchers of all time but only finishes with .525 winning percent. i dont care how bad your team is, if you are considered one of the top pitchers of an era then you better have a better record than that.

peter rose is my number two and only because he never drove in anyone and had a career OPS below 800. the greatest hitter in baseball does not have a career OPS below 800. Indeed he is good but the word best and Pete Rose do not belong in the same sentence.

the third most overated players of all time is mark "steroid" mcguire and sammy "juiced/corked bat" sosa.

someone mentioned Ozzie - i think ozzie is the most underated player of all time. Statistics say he saved on avg 65 runs a season with his defense as compared to an average ss. his manager said he saved close to 100. That drops a team's era by nearly half a point. i love vizquel (the young version) but even he is not close to ozzie defensively. There may never be a better defensive presence in the game of baseball. From a fantast standpoint i agree that he is not valuable.

[thedude]

Andruw Jones is hugely overrated. As noted above, he joust doesn't get on base enough.

if that's the knock, then i wonder why he would be considered overrated. when is the last time someone said, 'wow that andruw jones sure does find ways to get on base doesn't he?' with him it's near peerless defensive play and .270/.350/.500 with 34 HR per year over the past 10. as a total package, he's a great 'baseball player'

If you read what Stark wrote on ESPN.com, his explaination was that Jones is getting much worse in the outfield. He also beilves that he is becoming a worse offensive player.

[kaiser]

I would agree with that. In the words of the coaches of Bull Durham... LOLLYGAGGING.

[rainman23]

Why's mattingly overrated he's not ever mentioned for the hall with any seriousness

I think it's more about his peak four years. They were great, but were they as great as you remember? The year he hit .352 he had a .394 OBP. He had a great run for sure, but it wasn't like a Pujols run or anything. This coming from a Yankee fan, BTW.

This isn't just about people's memories. During those years Mattingly was routinely referred to as the best player in the game. And nobody was talking a lot about OBP in those years, either. I'm not sure it's fair to apply today's standards to players of other eras. It wasn't like Mattingly was an undisciplined hitter -- but in those days when you were a number 3 hitter you were encouraged to swing the bat. Mattingly put up numbers for a few years that became routine in the 90's and beyond, but were anything but in the early/mid 80's.

Yeah, that's where the 23 in my name comes from...

Do you live in New York?

I didn't say he was the best player. I said he was frequently referred to as such. Anyone who was a fan during this era might recall those references, whether they agreed with them or not. Unfortunately we can't go back in time to check the air waves, but a quick google search demonstrates a common opinion of Mattingly's position in this era:

http://www.jamescampion.com/ncndonnie.html
For four years he was voted the best player in the game by his peers.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/tom_verducci/news/2000/12/19/verducci_insider/
Granted, he was fantastic in those years; probably the best player in the game.

http://www.firejoemorgan.com/search/label/elliott%20kalb
He had a short period where he was the best player in the game

http://journals.aol.com/dcsportsguy/mrirrelevant/entries/2004/11/30/mlb-class-of-2005/763
Don Mattingly -- best player in baseball from '84-'89

http://blogs.chron.com/baseballblog/archives/2007/01/my_hall_vote_sa.html
He was the best player in the game for many reasons

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_bio/ai_2419200803
New York Yankee first baseman Don Mattingly was arguably the best player in baseball from 1984 to 1987.

http://members.tripod.com/~phildellio/kirby.html
Mattingly was consensus pick as the game's best player from '84 to '86, when he finished 5-1-2 in MVP voting

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F4071FFB3E590C7B8EDDA90994DF484D81&n=Top%2fNews%2fSports%2fBaseball%2fMajor%20League%2fNew%20York%20Mets
Don Mattingly, who for the past two years has generally been considered the best player in baseball...

http://www.celebopedia.com/don-mattingly/
Don Mattingly was perhaps the best player in the MLB from 1984-1987

[SJNez46]

Wade Boggs
David Ortiz
Curt Schilling
Manny Ramirez
Garciaparra
Wade Boggs
Dwight Evans
Jim Rice
Carl Yastremski (or however you spell it)
Carlton Fisk
Jimmie Foxx
Lefty Grove
Wade Boggs

btw - Devon White was a better defensive CF than Junior or Jones.

hmmmm, someone hates the Red Sox.

[illmatic00]

I dis agree that lou brock and andruw Jones were overrated...and nobody said ozzie smith was a great hitting shortstop..it was his feildi9ng that made him GREAT..anything he hit was just extra

[bigken117]

Wade Boggs
David Ortiz
Curt Schilling
Manny Ramirez
Garciaparra
Wade Boggs
Dwight Evans
Jim Rice
Carl Yastremski (or however you spell it)
Carlton Fisk
Jimmie Foxx
Lefty Grove
Wade Boggs

btw - Devon White was a better defensive CF than Junior or Jones.

Roberto Alomar
Devon White
Joe Carter
Kelly Gruber
Dave Winfield
Dave Steib
Carlos Delgado
George Bell
Jimmy Key - what's he like 45? I could hit him...
Jesse Barfield
Vernon Wells
Fred McGriff
Ernie Whitt
Pat Hentgen
Roy Halladay

Boy it's not easy coming up with half decent Blue Jays...

[MarisFan61]

Jayson Stark was on Mike & Mike earlier today and he listed his All-Time Most Overrated Players at each position. Some I think he nailed dead on, but others have me scratching my head. What do you think?

C - Mike Piazza
1B - Steve Garvey
2B - Steve Sax
3B - Graig Nettles
SS - Phil Rizzuto
LF - Lou Brock
CF - Andruw Jones
RF - Dave Winfield
DH - Ron Blomberg

RHP - Nolan Ryan
LHP - Sandy Koufax
CL - Lee Smith

Thanks for posting this baloney.
REALLY -- it's quite interesting, but it's baloney.
I think SOME of those guys could be argued for, but most of them are absurd.

My pick for SECOND BASE would be a guy that a lot of people will think is absurd, but he's my clear pick for the most overrated player, period:

HORNSBY

I'm not saying he wasn't "good," but the thing is, most people rank him as the top 2B of all time, and almost everyone has him in the top 2 or 3.

He was a great hitter, but......2B very importantly is a DEFENSIVE position, and he was mediocre at best in the field.
Plus he was a disruptive and divisive person. (I think I'm being KIND there.)

I don't think a mediocre fielder (who's a jerk to boot) can POSSIBLY be among the top few 2B's of all time.