Project: 2010

Randy Johnson – Starting Pitcher 113.1
1988-2009
4135 IP, 303-166, 3.29 ERA, 4875 K
1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 Cy Young, 10 All-Star Games
Johnson has become a patron saint for young pitchers with dominating stuff who haven’t quite turned the corner. At age 30 Johnson had made 186 Major League starts and sported an impressive 81-62 record with a big strikeout rate, a solid ERA and a massive flaw in the control department. He wasn’t a bad pitcher, more like a solid #2 guy who could dominate a game, then come out next week and walk 7 and lose 8-6. Then something clicked. In fact, if you erase everything before the age of 31 I think Randy Johnson is still an easy Hall of Fame choice. In his 30s Randy Johnson was simply unbeatable. He was a massive, ugly, intimidating beast of a man on the mound. Lefties batted .199 off of him, and hit just 25 HRs off of him in 2104 plate appearances. If he’d learned how to pitch earlier I don’t have any doubt he’d have had the greatest career of any pitcher of all-time.

Pedro Martinez – Starting Pitcher 106.5
1992-2009
2827 IP, 219-100, 2.93, 3154 K
1997, 1999, and 2000 Cy Young, 8 All-Star Games
A rare blend of colourful, popular, and an all-time great. Pedro Martinez was easily the funnest pitcher to watch, not just because he was so dominant, but because he did everything with his idiosyncratic style, and because he had such a wide range of pitches and techniques. He could make runners dive back to bases, he could alternate between several different arm-slots in a game, he could alter the velocity on his fastball at will. And he wasn’t afraid to shoot his mouth off either. His role in the turn of the century Sox-Yankees rivalry was integral, as Don Zimmer can attest (not to mention the “Who’s Your Daddy” episode, which demonstrated Pedro’s ability to make himself the butt of the joke too). But as for actual results…Pedro Martinez made a name for himself in Montreal, but it was in Boston that he became Pedro. From 1997-2003 Pedro had possibly the greatest run by any pitcher ever. 118-36 with a 2.20 ERA (213 ERA+). The inevitable comparison is Sandy Koufax who in his 5 year peak went 111-34 with a 1.95 ERA (167 ERA+).

John Smoltz – Starting Pitcher 72.1
1988-2009
3473 IP, 213-155, 3.33 ERA, 3084 K, 154 SV
1996 Cy Young, 2002 Reliever of the Year, 8 All-Star Games, 1 Silver Slugger
Smoltz perhaps suffers relative to his Brave compatriots Glavine and Maddux because he spent some time in the bullpen and on the DL. Maddux and Glavine were remarkably durable, and while Smoltz was got far more starts than most pitchers, he didn’t quite have their record of health. Obviously Maddux was a better pitcher anyway, but I think if I had to choose, I’d rather have Smoltz than Glavine. Anyway, to Smoltz himself. In 1996-1997 Smoltz seemed poised to take up the mantle of the best pitcher in the game. In 1998 he was on pace for his best season yet, 17-3 with a 2.90 ERA before he was sidelined with injury. Then followed a couple years of struggling to stay in the game (he missed all of 2000) followed by a move to the bullpen. He excelled in the role, but really he was too valuable as a starter to stay there. He came back to the rotation and had two or three more stellar years before hitting 40. Smoltz was the powerful and intimidating presence that complimented Glavine’s (and to a lesser extent Maddux’s) rather nerdy approach to pitching. In his prime a pretty good hitter, he batted .274 in 1999 and through his pitching peak (1996-1999) he managed to keep his OBP above .300.

Gary Sheffield – Rightfield 70.8
1988-2009
10947 PA, .292/.393/.519, 2689 H, 509 HR, 253 SB (-195)
9 All-Star Games, 5 Silver Sluggers
One of the most well-travelled stars in history. Sheffield played for eight teams, only one of them (the Marlins) for 5 years. He’s also one of the more controversial and unpopular stars of the past twenty years. Two things which are probably related. He began his infamy in Milwaukee where he was a hot shot SS prospect who complained about managerial racism and perhaps even tanked games in order to punch his ticket out of town. It was much of the same throughout his career, though his bat usually more than made up for his off-field issues. He didn’t, however, stay at SS long. In fact, he never really found a position and ended up being a defensive liability everywhere he went. Just because he seems like a jerk I’ve always assumed he could have been a decent defender if he’d just try. He certainly had speed (even at age 38 he went 22 for 27 on steals), but it just never translated into range in the field. But that bat! Sheffield probably had the quickest bat I’ve ever seen…his line drives could be lethal. I think only 2010-2011 Jose Bautista could match him for pure viciousness of swing. Except Sheffield kept it up for about twenty years. Not an easy guy to root for, but a truly great hitter.

Nomar Garciparra – Shortstop 69.2
1996-2009
6116 PA, .313/.361/.521, 1747 H, 229 HR, 95 SB (+22)
1997 AL Rookie of the Year, 6 All-Star Games, 1 Silver Slugger
Nomar will always be associated with Derek Jeter as the two leaders of the resurgent Yankee-Red Sox rivalry of the new millennium. Really Nomar was the superior player in almost every way. Better hitter for average (he won back-to-back batting titles in 1999-2000), better power hitter, and (despite reputation) a better fielder. Nomar was an average shortstop whereas Jeter is among the worst to have a lengthy career at the position. Jeter’s superiority was limited to plate discipline, speed, and durability. Ultimately that last one turned out to be the major difference between the two players. Garciaparra missed almost all of 2001 and when he came back he was still a good player, but not the same guy who dominated the game from 1997-2000. Things got even worse after he left Boston in 2004 (just in time to miss out on the long-awaited championship) and his battered body was soon out of baseball. At his best he was a great shortstop just below the elite level set by Alex Rodriguez.

Brian Giles – Rightfield 66.7
1995-2009
7836 PA, .291/.400/.502, 1897 H, 287 HR, 109 SB (-28)
2 All-Star Games
I believe Giles is a criminally under-rated player. If he had another go at a career I think he’d have ok odds at being a Hall of Famer. He began his career in Cleveland during their mid-90s hey day. He was probably good enough to be a starter at 24, but Manny Ramirez, Albert Belle, and Kenny Lofton were blocking his way in the Indian outfield. As it was he never really got regular work until the Indians shipped him to Pittsburgh for Ricardo Rincon. There Giles had four and a half Hall of Fame calibre seasons. While with the Pirates he hit .308/.426/.591 in 715 games. But he did all this in Pittsburgh so no one noticed. From there he moved to San Diego where he slowly declined, but still had one or two excellent seasons that were largely obscured by PETCO. His one major flaw was his glove, which was fairly good in Cleveland, but by the time he was getting regular work it had already starting slipping.

Darin Erstad – Centerfield 49.9
1996-2009
6628 PA, .282/.336/.407, 1697 H, 124 HR, 179 SB (+146)
2 All-Star Games, 3 Gold Gloves, 1 Silver Slugger
Erstad was your typical slap-hitting CF speedster with two main distinguishing qualities. He was flat out great in the outfield, and in 2000 he briefly turned into a great hitter as well. His 2000 totals – 240 hits (career 2nd best 177), 25 HRs (career 2nd best 19, and only three other times more than 10). He rode a .355 average into one of the better seasons by a CF of his generation. Unfortunately he was only ever an average hitter at best outside of 2000 and his hard-nosed style of play often got his body into trouble and left him on the sidelines. After the age of 28 he really only had one full season. His tendency to get injured all the time was behind the decision to move him to 1B, which almost entirely negated his one useful skill – speed. Erstad had one of the more interesting careers in recent memory. He hung on tenaciously to major league jobs long after his skills had left him, but he was a legitimately good player in his 20s, and a Hall of Fame calibre player for one year. Sort of a poor man’s Jason Kendall in that way. I think he is unfairly remembered as a one-hit wonder, and for his painful final years, but Darin Erstad was a fine player in his day.

Jason Schmidt – Starting Pitcher 47.6
1995-2009
1996 IP, 130-96, 3.96 ERA, 1758 K
3 All-Star Games
Schmidt began his career as a rather non-descript young arm in Pittsburgh. After a few adequate seasons with the Pirates he was shipped to San Francisco for Ryan Vogeslong (who would himself return heroically to the Giants ten years later via Japan). In San Francisco he morphed into an entirely different pitcher. Where in his 20s his K-rate had hovered around 6.5 per 9 and he had been a roughly average pitcher, Schmidt averaged nearly a strikeout an inning with the Giants. His 2003 season was one for the ages. 17-5 with a league leading 2.34 ERA (180 ERA+) and 208 Ks in 207 innings. However this was ultimately overshadowed by the defeat in the NLDS at the hands of the Marlins (and Pudge’s famous season-ending tag out of J.T. Snow) and the Cy Young going to Eric Gagne. For my money the vote should have been between Schmidt and Prior. Schmidt took a while getting there, but once he figured out how to pitch he was great.

Tom Gordon – Starting Pitcher 42.9
1988-2009
2108 IP, 138-126, 3.96 ERA, 1928 K, 158 SV
3 All-Star Games, 1998 AL Relief Pitcher of the Year
Flash Gordon had two careers…or more accurately had several of them. In the early 90s he bounced between the rotation and the bullpen for the Royals, doing fairly well in both roles before finally settling down as a genuine ace in 1994-1995. In 1996 he moved to Boston, where he faltered badly and, anticipating the Boston life of Derek Lowe, moved to the bullpen. He led the league in saves and looked poised to be a dominant closer through his 30s, but injuries laid him low and he left the game for a couple years, returning in 2001 in middle relief. He did get a couple more cracks at closing, (most prominently with the Phillies in 2006), but for the rest of his career he adopted the role of the elder statesman that always seemed to be pitching in the 7th or 8th innings of some playoff team. Initially a bit of a wild man, the more mature Gordon of the later years seemed to have figured out the whole pitching thing a bit better.

Jarrod Washburn – Starting Pitcher 38.6
1998-2009
1863 IP, 107-109, 4.10 ERA, 1103 K
Washburn looked like Halladay, but didn’t exactly pitch like him. He came from the crafty lefty school of pitching, when he was going well he’d keep the ball on the ground and in the strike zone. He did have issues keeping the ball in the park, but every now and then he’d spit out very good seasons. He was the ace of the 2002 championship Angels team with a 141 ERA+ in 200 innings. Again in 2005 he dominated. In his final season he actually put up one of his best four months of pitching ever with a 2.64 ERA in 20 starts for the Mariners. He was acquired by Detroit for whom he promptly stunk up the joint and never returned to baseball. He showed flashes of greatness, but the lack of strikeouts left him vulnerable to too many down-swings like his time in Detroit for him to be a great pitcher.

Kelvim Escobar – Starting Pitcher 38.3
1997-2009
1507 IP, 101-91, 4.15 ERA, 1310 K, 59 SV
A talented, but often injured starter who had a brief stint as a closer in Toronto in 2002. His best years probably came in Anaheim culminating in 2007 when he went 18-7 with a 133 ERA+ in 195 innings. In fact, in his four years with the Angels Escobar held down an impressive 125 ERA+ (while missing half of 2005). However, 2007 was to prove his final season as injuries ended his career at the age of 31, when he had just appeared to reach his peak.

Troy Percival – Relief Pitcher 33.1
1995-2009
708 IP, 35-43, 3.17 ERA, 358 SV, 781 K
4 All-Star Games
Percival ranks below Hoffman and Wagner in the second tier of modern day closers (I guess third if you count Rivera as a tier unto himself). Percival was a devastating strikeout machine in his early years, and reached a peak with the 2002 Championship Angels team. Not only could he miss bats, but he could avoid solid contact. He gave up fewer hits per 9 than either Rivera or Hoffman. However control was always his enemy. Even at his peak Percival walked 4 per 9. Once the power went out of his arm success just wasn’t sustainable at that rate.

Mark Loretta – Second Base 31.7
1995-2009
6558 PA, .295/.360/.395, 1713 H, 76 HR, 47 SB (-37)
2 All-Star Games, 1 Silver Slugger
Loretta really had two periods to his career. The first was as a steady, reliable OBP machine toiling away in obscurity for the Brewers in the late 90s. And the second was a briefer period of greatness with the Padres. In two years, 2003-2004, Loretta batted .325 and hit 29 HRs (his previous career high had been 7). Perhaps most shocking of all he did this in PETCO. I’m not entirely sure what happened to Loretta in those two years, but at an age when 2B are usually breaking down under the cumulative strain of hundreds of take-out slides, Loretta seemed to find his second wind and become a legitimate All-Star. While he wasn’t a poor glove man, it was his ability to make contact with the ball that made his career.

Jermaine Dye – Rightfield 30.3
1996-2009
7214 PA, .274/.338/.488, 1779 H, 325 HR, 46 SB (-47)
2005 World Series MVP, 2 All-Star Games, 1 Gold Glove, 1 Silver Slugger
Dye started out his career as a Garret Anderson type of player. Strong defence and good contact skills, but not the greatest plate discipline in the world. He had a bit more power in his bat than Anderson, and hit from the right side, but I think there were similarities. Unfortunately when he was 29 Dye had a horrific leg injury and turned into a different player. He still had his strong arm, but the range was gone and for his Chicago years he was essentially a DH stuck out in RF. But that didn’t stop him from being a solid player as he also added even more power to his game having a monster season in 2006 with a career high 44 HRs.

Rich Aurilia – Shortstop 28.8
1995-2009
6278 PA, .275/.328/.433, 1576 H, 186 HR (-2)
1 All-Star Games, 1 Silver Slugger
Aurilia was your prototypical all-round shortstop. He leaned a bit towards a bat-first infielder, but he was a solidly average fielder as well. A bit more pop than you’d expect out of a shortstop, but he had contact skills as well. His image probably suffers from his spectacular fluke season in 2001. He hit .324 (his only time straying above .300), led the league in hits, and hit 37 HRs. Like many fluke seasoners Aurilia is often unfairly seen as mediocre outside of his one big year. However, take out his monster season and he’s still got a solid career. He’s further hurt in this regard because in some corners Barry Bonds is held responsible for his numbers. The protection Bonds offered supposedly inflated Aurilia’s hit and home run totals. I’m not sure I buy the whole lineup protection argument, and I think it does a disservice to Aurilia to take his numbers at anything less than face value.

BJ Ryan – Relief Pitcher 28.5
1999-2009
536 IP, 21-28, 3.37 ERA, 117 SV, 625 K
2 All-Star Games
I didn’t actually realize Ryan started his career with the Reds. He was traded to the Orioles for Juan Guzman of all people…Jays connection from the beginning! In those days Ryan was a big young lefty with a ton of Ks and a ton of walks. Seems like those guys pop up all the time, and just a fraction of them ever figure it out. But when they do…
Ryan figured it out in his sixth year and managed to K almost 13 per 9 while keeping his walks around average. Then Toronto pounced on him with that massive contract. He was actually worth it for two years, but injured/ineffective for two more. Despite his massive strikeout totals and his size, Ryan wasn’t really a hard thrower. He sat in the mid to low 90s, but thanks to a deceptive delivery batters usually didn’t know what was coming. From 2004 to 2008 (with 2007 missed due to injury), Ryan was among the best relief pitchers in baseball.

Eric Milton – Starting Pitcher 26.9
1998-2009
1582 IP, 89-85, 4.99 ERA, 1127 K
1 All-Star Game
Milton came up as a promising pitcher with the Twins. The big lefty struck out a fair amount of batters, and was stingy with the walks. His propensity for giving up home runs limited him from ever being anything other than a #3 starter at best. But things really fell of the rails when Milton moved to Philly and Cincy where the home runs flew out a bit easier. In 2004 and 2005 Milton led the NL in home runs allowed and the old days of acceptable mid-rotation work were over. Though he was an impressive 14-6 with the Phillies in 2004 he was pretty bad and he never really recovered his initial success.

Joe Crede – Third Base 26.8
2000-2009
3377 PA, .254/.304/.444, 787 H, 140 HR (+64)
1 All-Star Game, 1 Silver Slugger
Crede is best known as a key member of the 2005 World Series champion White Sox. He was quite a bit like his division rival Brandon Inge at third. Very strong glove, good power, but not much else. Crede had about four seasons, 2003 to 2006, where his two virtues were enough to counter-act his numerous flaws as a player. After that Crede’s career was quickly cut short by back injuries. He never did get another full season in, and even if he did I’m not sure if he still have the mobility to be a great third baseman.

Paul Byrd – Starting Pitcher 24.5
1995-2009
1697 IP, 109-96, 4.41 ERA, 923 K
1 All- Star Game
Under-powered and ugly is no way for a pitcher to go through life, but Byrd managed it just fine. Byrd spent much of his 20s struggling to find a toe hold in the major leagues. His mix of soft-tossing and mediocre control wasn’t impressing anyone – least of all hitters. He showed some promise with the Phillies, and landed a job with the Royals…but injuries seemed to cut his brief, unremarkable career short. But then a strange thing happened. After missing all of 2003 he returned a slightly different pitcher. Sure he still didn’t strike anyone out (in fact after the age of 34 he average 4.2 Ks per 9), but he cut his walk rate dramatically and actually posted his best ever K/BB ratios. I’ll always remember him as he was during the 2007 playoffs. He beat both New York and Boston – both teams that by all logic should have feasted on his stuff. But he danced the ball all around those hitters and seemed to will Cleveland on to victory. A just God would have given the Series to the Indians that year.

Tony Graffanino – Second Base 24.3
1996-2009
3161 PA, .265/.335/.394, 746 H, 58 HR, 53 SB (+48)
Graffanino wasn’t much of a hitter, but he had the bat control and savvy in the box to avoid outs well enough. He bounced around several different teams, Braves, Royals, Rays, White Sox, Red Sox, Brewers, Indians…and pretty much everywhere he went he was a thoroughly reliable, versatile, and smooth-handed infielder. While he’s never going to win any awards, or even play every day, every team needs a Tony Graffanino to fill out their roster.

Aaron Boone – Third Base 23.7
1997-2009
4333 PA, .263/.326/.425, 1017 H, 126 HR, 107 SB (+1)
1 All-Star Game
Of course Boone will forever be remembered for his role in ending the 2003 season for the Red Sox and forever banishing them from playoff glory. That game seven still stands as one of the greatest of my lifetime. Grady Little/Pedro, Boone absolutely destroying Wakefield in extra innings…I didn’t realize Boone had made the All-Star game that year as a Red. He was 30 at the time, and looked like he had established himself as a solid, if unspectacular everyday 3B. Then he tore up his knee playing basketball (which was in violation of his contract with the Yankees). He was unceremoniously dumped, missed all of 2004, and never got on as a regular after that. The lesser brother of Bret Boone (and son of Bob Boone).

Tomo Ohka – Starting Pitcher 23.2
1999-2009
1070 IP, 51-68, 4.26 ERA, 590 K
The great Tomokazu Ohka of Simpsons fame. Boston originally brought Ohka over to America, but it was not until he was landed in Canada via the Ugueth Urbina trade in 2001 that he found his home with the Expos. While injuries limited his numbers, Ohka showed flashes of brilliance in Montreal with his best season probably being his 13-8, 3.18 effort in 2002. Always a bit of a control artist, Ohka lived his career on a tight rope, and eventually faded away when his failing body erased his narrow margin for error.

Tony Clark – First Base 23.0
1995-2009
5120 PA, .262/.339/.485, 1188 H, 251 HR (-21)
1 All-Star Game
Clark had an ok start to his career in Detroit and by the time he was 30 he looked like a reliable, if somewhat average, 1B. Considering he was a second overall pick, this was a bit of a disappointment. But that would be nothing compared to the adventures in his 30s. After being waived by Detroit Clark bounced around between several different teams acting as a pinch-hitter and back-up first baseman. He did have one good season left him (2005 in Arizona), but he never did develop any complementary skills to go with his power.

Eddie Guardado – Relief Pitcher 21.6
1993-2009
944 IP, 46-61, 4.31 ERA, 187 SV, 798 K
2 All-Star Games
“Everyday Eddie” earned his name in Minnesota where he led the league with 83 appearances in 1996. Unfortunately he also sported a 5.25 ERA that year. He eventually moved from lefty specialist to closer where, despite facing more righties, he actually did much better, leading the league with 45 saves in 2002 and accumulating 41 and 36 in other seasons. He hung around for a long time after that, but as with most relievers Guardado’s sweet spot was between the ages of 29 and 34…old enough to have learned the ropes, but young enough to have some zip left. During that peak Guardado was a very good, reliable closer, but before and after he had a handful of stinker seasons.

Chad Bradford – Relief Pitcher 21.4
1998-2009
515 IP, 36-28, 3.26 ERA, 11 SV, 313 K
He of Moneyball fame, Chad Bradford was one intelligent knuckle-dragger. He only occasionally resorted to the strikeout but thrived for many years by keeping the ball low in the strike-zone, and in the infield. His 2008 split between Baltimore and Tampa Bay is a rather extreme example of his pitching style. In 59 innings he struck out 17 batters but allowed only 14 runs. Of course those kinds of rates weren’t sustainable and he was soon out of the game, but the rest of his career (in a somewhat more moderate form) demonstrates what the lower limits of soft-tossing, funky-delivery success looks like.

Kevin Millar – First Base 21.3
1998-2009
5382 PA, .274/.358/.452, 1284 H, 170 HR (-23)
Scab, Cowboy, self-proclaimed idiot, and post-season hero, Kevin Millar had a colourful history for a fairly mediocre first baseman. As a replacement player during the 1994-1995 strike Millar was banned from the MLBPA (which is why he never appeared in any video games). He still managed to work his way to the majors with the Marlins and establish himself as a starting player. At his best he could hit for average, and a moderate amount of power. But he didn’t bring much to the table defensively. Probably best known for his leadership role in the 2004 Boston Red Sox championship run, and his positive clubhouse reputation earned him a couple more seasons at the tail end of his career. As a Jays fan my fondest memory of him is playing 3B for Toronto one inning, and having to turn a double play at second while the rest of the infield was on the shift. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like it.

Doug Brocail – Relief Pitcher 20.3
1992-2009
880 IP, 52-48, 4.00 ERA, 9 SV, 642 K
After failing to make any impact as a 12th overall pick (in 1986!) Brocail was a fairly non-descript relief arm until he broke out at the age of 30 in Detroit. From 1997-2000 he had an ERA+ of 155 in 273 innings. However, injuries cut his run short and he missed three full seasons between 2001 and 2003. He did eventually return and pitched into his 40s. But though he showed glimmers of his past usefulness he was never really the same pitcher again.

Sidney Ponson – Starting Pitcher 19.7
1998-2009
1760 IP, 91-113, 5.03 ERA, 1031 K
It’s easy to make fun of Sidney Ponson…so I will do so. Ponson was fat and bad at pitching. And yet he started almost 300 games and made $23 million in his career, so I guess whoever the joke is on, it’s not him. It’s really unclear to me how he kept getting jobs. His 2003 was pretty good, but he had been awful for years before that, and immediately returned to being awful for years after. He did lead the AL in shutouts and complete games in 2004. But he also led the league in earned runs and hits allowed. (And posted a 5.30 ERA) I suspect Ponson may have the highest ERA of anyone with over 1500 IP in the last 20 years.

Doug Mientkiewicz – First Base 19.1
1998-2009
3844 PA, .271/.360/.405, 899 H, 66 HR (+37)
1 Gold Glove
Douggie Eye-Chart was part of the cast of memorable, if not particularly great, early ought Twins. Others include Corey Koskie, Jacque Jones, Cristian Guzman, Luis Castillo, Torii Huner…even role players like Lew Ford or Bobby Kielty stick in the mind far longer than their abbreviated careers would normally suggest. Mientkiewicz slid into the intermediate category. Nominally an everyday player, though perhaps better suited to part-time play. He studied at the Mark Grace school of 1B, no power to speak of, but he knew how to get himself on base. He had a reputation as a great glove man (which extended his career a couple years as the ever-rare 1B defensive sub), but he won only one gold glove and by fielding metrics rates as merely above average.

Khalil Greene – Shortstop 18.5
2003-2009
2835 PA, .245/.302/.422, 628 H, 90 HR, 25 SB (+1)
As far as I know the best player of the Baha’i faith in MLB history. It was shrouded by the fact that he played in PETCO, but Greene had good power for a shortstop, particularly a rather diminutive one. (Though I’d have guessed lower than his listed 5’11). He had an excellent rookie season, finishing 2nd behind Jason Bay in ROY voting, but his best year may have been 2007. For the one and only time in his career Greene was not laid low by injury and managed to play 150+ games. He hit 27 HRs and played strong defence. However, even in this best of years, his OBP was an abominable .291. That’s not even PETCO good. Greene mixed poor contact skills with an inability to draw walks, which severely limited his offensive contributions.

Dave Weathers – Relief Pitcher 18.5
1991-2009
1376 IP, 73-88, 4.25 ERA, 75 SV, 976 K
In almost 20 years of nomadic wandering Weathers pitched for nine teams. It’s tough to pick out his best run. It could be Milwaukee in 2000-2001, or the 2002-2004 Mets…but I’ll always remember him with the 2005-2009 Reds. Like many other relief pitchers Weathers began his career as a starter, but proved ineffective. It was only followed failures in Toronto, Florida, New York, and Cleveland that he made the permanent move to the bullpen at the age of 30. From then Weathers toiled away manfully in several bullpens. After years of solid relief work he finally got his shot to close in Cincinnati at the end of his career. Weathers was never a Mariano Rivera, or even a Troy Percival, but he didn’t embarrass himself too badly.

Scott Eyre – Relief Pitcher 15.0
1997-2009
649 IP, 28-30, 4.23 ERA, 537 K, 4 SV
Within the average tier of lefty specialists. Eyre struggled to find a job in the major leagues for several years before nailing down a significant place in the Giants bullpen from 2002-2005. At his best he was a strong shut-down arm and put up some heroic playoff innings for San Francisco (and later the Phillies). Not to be confused with Shawn Estes, Jason Bere, or Willie Eyre (who’s actually his brother).

Marlon Anderson – Second Base 14.4
1998-2009
3508 PA, .265/.314/.391, 849 H, 63 HR, 71 SB (+22)
Anderson came up with the Phillies in the late 90s when they were still the joke of NL East. While he wasn’t a disaster he was soon pushed out by Placido Polanco and began the journeyman phase of his career. He ended up being a modern day Lenny Harris – a ever-present pinch hitter who could play some infield inbetween pitcher at-bats.

Matt Herges – Relief Pitcher 13.9
1999-2009
691 IP, 43-35, 3.91 ERA, 34 SV, 473 K
Matt Herges is Todd Hollandsworth’s brother-in-law…I did not know that, nor did I ever expect to find out. Herges was a late-blooming Dodgers arm that never really panned out until Colorado’s miracle 2007 season. Never over-powering, he probably let too many men on base, but he kept the ball in the park enough to give his team a chance. Ironically enough his worst season was probably 2004 where he saved 23 games for the Giants (68% of his career total). He somehow managed to keep the closer’s job despite a ERA above 5.00.

Braden Looper – Relief Pitcher 13.1
1998-2009
1176 IP, 72-65, 4.15 ERA, 103 SV, 669 K
St. Louis selected Looper third overall in the 1996 draft then traded him to the Marlins after 3 innings in the majors for Edgar Renteria. I’d say it worked out ok for both parties. Florida got an adequate closer and went on to win the World Series, while the Cardinals got an important supporting piece of one of the better teams assembled in the past twenty years. In reality though Looper was never more than adequate in Florida. He had a nice year with the Mets, then returned home to St. Louis in one of Dave Duncan’s hare-brained reliever conversion projects. This one had what could best be described as mixed results. Though it did provide one of the funner pitcher seasons in recent years. 2009 with the Brewers Looper went 14-7 and led the league in earned runs and home runs (with 39!) It was sure sign that the jig was up as in his prime Looper’s only real skill was keeping the ball in the park.

Glendon Rusch – Starting Pitcher 11.1
1997-2009
1477 IP, 67-99, 5.04 ERA, 1088 K
Rusch was always supposed to be better than he was. His strikeout to walk ratios were acceptable, but they just never translated into wins or run prevention. His biggest weakness was probably the home run ball. His darkest days (well apart from the blood clot in his lung that effectively ended his career) came in Milwaukee where he led the league in losses with 16 in 2002 and followed that up with a 1-12 record in 2003.

Julian Tavarez – Relief Pitcher 10.0
1993-2009
1404 IP, 88-82, 4.46 ERA, 842 K, 23 SV
A professional swing-man, Tavarez’s moment of glory came in 2004 when he was a key bullpen piece of one of the greatest teams of the past twenty years…the 3VP Cardinals. Other than that he bounced around the league, occasionally good, (he received Rookie of the Year consideration in Cleveland) occasionally awful, but usually mediocre.

Alan Embree – Relief Pitcher 8.3
1992-2009
774 IP, 39-45, 4.59 ERA, 691 K, 25 SV
For a while Embree was the token lefty in many a playoff bullpen. However, he was never really as good as his thirty-one playoff appearances would suggest. Of course, I’m sure teams loved his 1.66 post-season ERA, but during that run he never did much in the regular season. He pitched until he was 39 based on those post-season heroics and a monster year divided between San Diego and Boston in 2002.

Ron Villone – Relief Pitcher 7.8
1995-2009
1168 IP, 61-65, 4.73 ERA, 925 K
Villone is another in a long line of lefty relievers who were never really that good, and yet kept getting roster invites every spring until he was forty. That may be stretching it – he had some quality innings for the Padres and Brewers early in his career, but by the time he was pulling LOOGY duty for the Yankees his last decent season was more than a decade behind him.

David Dellucci – Leftfield 6.7
1997-2009
3266 PA, .256/.338/.455, 736 H, 101 HR, 41 SB (-31)
Dellucci never really caught on as a starter. He had a promising start in Arizona, but just couldn’t stay in the lineup. He could always hit for power, but his glove prevented him from ever holding down a job. His finest hour probably came in 2005 in Texas. In a career high 128 games Dellucci his 29 HRs. In 1998 he led NL in triples with 12.

Adam Eaton – Starting Pitcher 6.1
2000-2009
1178 IP, 71-68, 4.94 ERA, 855 K
I’d say another in a long line of once-promising pitchers run afoul of injury…but I’m not sure Eaton was ever all that promising. He was always a bit of a PETCO creation, with fairly high HR rates even there. Philly was probably the worst place possible for him and he quickly disappeared. Has the dubious honour of being listed within two of the worst deals in recent memory. The Rangers giving up Chris Young and Adrian Gonzalez for him, and then the Phillies signing him to an awful contract.

Josh Fogg – Starting Pitcher 6.0
2001-2009
1159 IP, 62-69, 5.03 ERA, 627 K
Nicknamed the dragon slayer for his ability to beat for superior pitchers down the stretch during Colorado’s improbable 2007 run. He even started the epic Game 163 that year. Unfortunately outside of those starts he wasn’t a very good pitcher. In fact, even in those starts he wasn’t particularly good. He got shelled out of game 163 in 4 innings.

2010 BALLOT
Graig Nettles 99 (3)
Nolan Ryan 98 (3)
Alan Trammell 93 (8)
Ryne Sandberg 88 (8)
Paul Molitor 88 (8)
Pee Wee Reese 87 (2)
Juan Marichal 83 (1)
Tim Raines 82 (10)
Lou Whitaker 82 (7)
Jeff Bagwell 80 (16)
Ted Simmons 80 (4)
Mark McGwire 79 (8)
Bill Freehan 77 (3)
Eddie Murray 68 (3)
Bobby Wallace 68 (1)
Barry Bonds 60 (20)
Roger Clemens 54 (18)
Larry Walker 51 (11)
Mike Piazza 45 (15)
Buddy Bell 45 (1)
Tony Gwynn 41 (6)
Chet Lemon 41 (4)
Edgar Martinez 38 (6)
Rafael Palmeiro 37 (7)
Kenny Lofton 36 (12)
Greg Maddux 30 (15)
Andre Dawson 30 (3)
Willie Randolph 30 (1)
Curt Schilling 29 (9)
Roberto Alomar 27 (5)
Frank Thomas 26 (13)
Barry Larkin 17 (4)
Kirby Puckett 17 (2)
Reggie Smith 17 (2)
Randy Johnson 16 (16)
Pedro Martinez 13 (13)
Mike Mussina 13 (6)
Kevin Brown 13 (1)
Craig Biggio 12 (4)
Gene Tenace 12 (1)
Vada Pinson 7 (1)
John Olerud 4 (1)
Bobby Bonds 2 (1)

INCUTEES
Rickey Henderson
Cesar Cedeno