For the people who actually play and manage the game of baseball, however, it is a much, much different story. Some have contract issues to deal with; others have to try and deliver the same numbers they racked up the previous year even when the lineup around them is depleted. Managers have to talk to reporters about taking baby steps with young players, while telling their shrink that they just can’t bear the thought of losing another 95 games. General managers have to find a way to fill that hole, and they all have a hole. Of the hundreds of players, managers, and baseball personnel currently working in the majors today, though, these are the ones we pity the most. (Thanks to the good people at Baseball Reference for their meticulous, endless stream of statistics and bread sticks.)

Vernon Wells

His contract (seven years, $126 million) was considered to be one of the most untradeable contracts in baseball, and his sub par performance after inking said contract only made it seem like an even bigger albatross. (Sports writers like using the word ‘albatross.’ It makes them look well read.) Granted, he broke his wrist in 2008, and dealt with the lingering effects of it in 2009, but no one remembers that; they just remember the numbers, and Wells was once again confirming his reputation as the “Star Trek” movie franchise of baseball players. Last year, wrist fully healed after surgery, Wells had a nice bounce-back year (he ranked 16th among outfielders in one of our points-based fantasy leagues), so you can see why The The Angels Angels of Anaheim, after missing out on Adrian Beltre and Carl Crawford, would view Wells as a worthwhile gamble.

Having said that, Wells is positively boned if he turns in a season less than, or even equal to, his 2010 numbers. Anaheim is taking on nearly all of the money remaining on his contract (a whopping $86 million), and given that the Angels traded Juan Rivera and Mike Napoli in order to get him, Wells will be expected to perform at astronomical levels for the remainder of the contract. Good thing he has his stellar defense to fall back on during the rough patches.

Michael Young

Poor bastard. When the Rangers asked Michael Young to move from second base to shortstop to make room for Alfonso Soriano (who’s now a left fielder, by the way), Young did so. When the Rangers asked Young to move from shortstop – where he had just won his first Gold Glove – to third base in order to make room for Elvis Andrus, Young did so, though a bit more reluctantly than he was the first time. Now the Rangers have signed Adrian Beltre, and they’re asking Young not to play at all; just grab a bat every couple of innings. This is not in Young’s DNA, and Young, understandably, has requested a trade. The Rangers, however, are having a hard time finding a suitor for Young, thanks to his backloaded contract (three years, $48 million), which will make for one awkward clubhouse in a few days.

It’s hard not to feel bad for the guy. He merely signed the contract that the Rangers offered him, and his batting numbers have remained relatively consistent (save for his nine home runs in 2007, though he did knock in 94 runs and steal 13 bases that year). The Rangers are trying to grant his trade wish – they’ve reached out to Colorado and Florida – but everyone in baseball knows the Rangers are stuck, and they’re telling the Rangers they’ll take Young if the Rangers eat the vast majority of his contract. As it stands, it looks as though Young will be a DH and part-time first baseman. As selfless as he’s been in terms of doing what was best for the team, it has to sting that this is how he’s rewarded for his selflessness.

Carlos Gonzalez

Because the Colorado Rockies just paid him $80 million for one good season, one in which he batted 45 points above his overall average in the minors. There has to be some regression to the mean this year, and when it happens, the fans will turn on him like he was Vernon Wells. Breaking out is easy, because no one has a book on you yet; following up is hard. CarGo was a highly touted prospect during his time in the minors, so he has the talent to get over the hump. But this will be the biggest test of his career.

St. Louis Cardinals General Manager John Mozeliak

He just let Albert Pujols – the best player of his generation – begin the season without a new contract, knowing that Pujols intended to test the free agent market at season’s end should that happen. And worse, there is rampant speculation that Pujols has a good chance to become a member of the rival Cubs, since the spend-happy Yankees and Red Sox have, or will have, in the case of Adrian Gonzalez, long-term options at first base. If Mozeliak is unable to keep Pujols, he will be a pariah. If Pujols becomes a Cub, he will need to enter the witness protection program.

The Cincinnati Reds starting rotation

We’ve seen this movie before. Dusty Baker gets a Cinderella team into the playoffs, where the clock strikes midnight and the carriage is turned back into a pumpkin. (Seriously, did anyone expect them to give Philadelphia a fight last year?) And that’s all right; not everyone can win the World Series. The following year, though, Baker goes out to prove that the previous year was no fluke, and he does that by riding his pitchers into the ground. Any Chicago Cubs fan will tell you that Baker has no sense of when to pull a pitcher, and the trail of dead he’s left in his wake is the proof; Matt Clement and Mark Prior, a mere 28 and 22 respectively when the Cubs were five outs away from the World Series in 2003, were both out of the league by 2006 due to lingering injuries (Prior is currently attempting a comeback with the Yankees), and former Reds pitcher Aaron Harang still hasn’t recovered from the four innings of relief he pitched in an epic – and ultimately meaningless – game against San Diego in 2008.

Now take a closer look at the Reds starters. Edinson Volquez recently returned from Tommy John surgery. Johnny Cueto and Homer Bailey have both gone on the disabled list with shoulder injuries. This could very easily be a one-and-done for the Reds. Someone better let Joey Votto know that he might be carrying more than the offense on his back this year.

Shin-Soo Choo

GAWD, imagine how popular this guy would be if he played anywhere but Cleveland. Hell, teammate Grady Sizemore still has a better Q factor than Choo does, though that owes less to Sizemore’s performance on the field (he only played 33 games last year) and more to him posting a naked picture of himself on Twitter. Choo, on the other hand, must have at least considered throwing the Asia Games in order to serve in the Korean Army; even if it meant dying on the battlefield, he would be freed of his obligation to play for the lowly Indians. Ah, but pride is an extremely valuable commodity among the Far Eastern countries, and despite racking up back-to-back 20-20 seasons with a .300 batting average for a team that lost 190 games during that same span, Choo is willingly coming back to play for a team that will likely finish in a dogfight for last place with Kansas City. And don’t be surprised if Kansas City leaves them in the dust.

Now, if you want to look at the silver lining, Choo is surrounded by oodles of potential, from Matt LaPorta to Michael Brantley to Carlos Santana (is there a better name in baseball than that?), and Travis Hafner still has the ability to surprise. But you can’t help but think that even Choo is looking at the fact that his manager wasn’t good enough to keep a job managing the Washington Nationals, and is hatching an escape plan. Unfortunately for him, the Indians have him under control until 2014, and while his bump in salary this year will be nearly ten times what he earned last year, it’s still a pittance compared to other players performing at the same level. Whether it’s as a member of the Cleveland Indians or as a soldier in the Korean Army, Shin-Soo Choo is spending the next three years of his life as an indentured servant. Sucks to be him.

Joel Hanrahan

Because he will almost never get a chance to close a game this year. Now, some will tell you that closers on bad teams are busier than closers on good teams, because the good teams tend to win their games by more than three runs. But this is the Pittsburgh Pirates we’re talking about, losers of 105 games last season and not at all improved during the offseason. The entire bullpen saved a total of 31 games last year (there were 12 individual players on other teams who saved more games than that), and none of their starters eked out more than nine wins. MLB surely has a ‘no tweeting during the games’ policy, so don’t be surprised if you see Hanrahan with a pair of knitting needles and yarn before June.

Kirk Gibson

Four years ago, the Diamondbacks were poised to break out with an unprecedented youth movement driven by Chris Young, Stephen Drew and Mark Reynolds – not to mention a staggering left-field performance from Eric Byrnes, who hit 21 home runs and swiped 50 bases – after they swept the Cubs in the first round of the playoffs. Today, virtually everyone from that team is gone (only four position players remain, and no pitchers), and the team that new manager Kirk Gibson has been handed is both very inexperienced (Juan Miranda, 46 games played at major league level) and very old (Melvin Mora, just turned 39). Like the Pirates, none of the pitchers broke double digits in the win column, though Daniel Hudson stands an excellent chance of fixing that. Still, Gibson has an uphill battle from day one against a very tough NL West, and if they start off poorly, he will get the blame, though he shouldn’t. This team is in no position to contend, and should be treated accordingly. It’s not an ideal scenario for a first-time manager, but on the plus side, he has Kevin Towers as his GM, so maybe next year. Definitely not this year, though.

Ichiro Suzuki

The slap-hitting Ichiro’s best skill is getting on base and scoring runs. But when there is no one behind you capable of knocking you in, you can’t score, which would explain why, after racking up eight straight seasons of 100 runs or more, Ichiro scored a mere 74 runs last year, which is one more run than Ian Kinsler scored…in nearly 300 fewer at-bats. The heart of the 2011 Seattle Mariners batting order consists of Jack Cust (13 HR, 52 RBI, 127 KO), Miguel Olivo (14 HR, 58 RBI, 117 KO), and Justin Smoak (13 HR, 48 RBI, .218 BA), which means Ichiro is going to have to try harder than ever to manufacture runs. Don’t be surprised if his caught stealing ratio shoots up as he searches for ways to boost his stats.

Jose Reyes

You picked a fine time to enter a contract year, Lucille. The Mets are only slightly younger than the Yankees, and their pitching staff, now that ace Johan Santana is out until at least June, consists of guys with #3 starter stuff at best. And don’t look for any help via trade, either: the Mets don’t have any chips to deal, and no money to lure in top-tier talent thanks to that whole Bernie Madoff thing. Some are even speculating that the Nationals will finish ahead of the Mets this year. It’s hard to make a case for why you should be one of baseball’s highest-paid players when your team’s in the cellar.

Joe Girardi

Sure, he’s the manager of the New York freaking Yankees and has a murderer’s row of hitters to jot in his lineup card each day (only Montgomery Burns had more mashers on one team), but Girardi has two big problems on his hands: his starting rotation is the thinnest it’s been during his tenure as coach, and he can’t put the team’s best leadoff hitter (Brett Gardner) in the leadoff spot. Why is that, you ask? Because that’s Derek Jeter’s spot, and he’ll be damned if you’re going to take that away from him, even though he turns 37 this year and is coming off the worst offensive season of his career. Of course, Jeter won another Gold Glove, which made baseball writers the world over choke on their inhalers.

With the Red Sox and Orioles much improved through the free agent market, and the Blue Jays and Rays hanging tough (remember, four teams from the AL East finished above .500 last year), this season will test Girardi’s mettle more than ever, because the hitters are going to slump from time to time; the average age of the starting lineup is 31.5, and their youngest player (Gardner) is 27, which is luck would have it is the same age that Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain were when they died. If A.J. Burnett can’t get it together, that leaves the Yankees with two solid starters to get them to the All-Star break while GM Brian Cashman is forced to deplete their already depleted minor league system in order to land an arm. Until Cashman can pull a trade, though, all eyes will be on Girardi, as if he’s the one in the batter’s box and throwing the pitches. Don’t be surprised if he rues the day that he didn’t lobby for the Cubs managerial position when he had the chance. At least their fans can handle losing gracefully.

The Chicago Tribune polled a couple of writers on which hitters were the most overrated in MLB. Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun said Jose Reyes, while Mandy Housenick of The Morning Call went with Carl Crawford and Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times noted J.D. Drew.

While some of the names were a little surprising, the award for biggest head-scratcher went to Phil Rogers of the Tribune, who said Ichiro was the most overrated.

What’s the definition of “most overrated?” You could look at it just in terms of hitting ability, but in my opinion major league baseball is always about the money, so l’m going to consider it in relation to a hitter’s value to a team. That makes this an easy question, as Ichiro Suzuki — who you can argue is the best pure hitter in the game — is clearly the most overrated.

What do his 200-plus hits every season — heavily loaded with singles — do for the Mariners? He had a majors-high 225 in 2009 and they scored the fewest runs in the AL. He’s again leading the majors with 58 hits (including 48 singles), and Seattle is 14-26. Singles hitters, even those with speed, need to be in deep lineups to realize their value.

The drop in power numbers in recent years makes the guys who do regularly drive the ball to walls, and over walls, as valuable as they’ve ever been. A singles hitter in a bad lineup is a hood ornament on a beater. These days, that’s Ichiro.

Rogers is basically penalizing Ichiro because he’s not what Adrian Gonzalez is to the Padres. Because he doesn’t hit for power, he can’t carry the M’s like can Gonzo can for San Diego, so therefore he’s overrated.

Sorry, but that’s some backwards logic.

Ichiro has never been considered a power guy and there’s a reason he has always hit at the top of Seattle’s lineup: He gets on base. That’s what the club pays him for and while Rogers may think that the M’s overpay for that service, Ichiro is what he is. It’s not his fault that the rest of the Mariners’ offensive is a collective of hot garbage.

Plus, the Mariners have been built on pitching and defense because of their home park. They play small ball and Ichiro is the catalyst for their offense. Again, it’s not his fault that Seattle averages a fraction of a run every night. He’s doing his job, so what is Rogers looking for?

Of all the names listed in the article, I’d have to agree with Shaikin’s choice of Drew for the most overrated. He’s making $14 million this season to essentially, as Shaikin so aptly put it, be a complementary player. The last time I checked, Drew hasn’t finished with an average over .300 since 2004, unlike Ichiro, who hasn’t hit less than .300 once since he’s been in the majors.

Photo from fOTOGLIF
]]> http://www.scoresreport.com/2010/05/26/is-ichiro-the-most-overrated-hitter-in-baseball/feed/ 1 http://www.scoresreport.com/2010/04/02/five-new-playoff-contenders-for-the-2010-mlb-season/ http://www.scoresreport.com/2010/04/02/five-new-playoff-contenders-for-the-2010-mlb-season/#comments Fri, 02 Apr 2010 19:00:19 +0000 Anthony Stalter http://www.scoresreport.com/?p=37238

While some enthusiasts will argue otherwise, there’s usually not a lot of change from one year to the next in baseball. Most pundits expect the Yankees, Phillies, Red Sox, Angels, Cardinals, Twins, Dodgers and Rockies (all eight teams that made the playoffs in 2009) to be good again this year. MLB isn’t like the NFL where teams make unexpected playoff runs every year.

That said, that doesn’t mean there aren’t a couple of sleepers to watch out for in 2010. Below are five clubs that didn’t make the postseason last year that have the best odds (in my estimation) of making the playoffs this season.

1. Chicago White Sox
If you read the 2010 MLB season preview, you’re not surprised to see the White Sox at the top of this list. As long as Jake Peavy stays healthy, Chicago arguably has the best starting rotation one through five in the American League. (Boston fans may argue otherwise, but Boston fans can also shove off…just kidding…although not really.) But the key to the Chi Sox’s success this season lies in their offense. Yes, I’m banking on veterans Carlos Quentin, Alex Rios, Mark Teahen, Paul Konerko and Mark Kotsay to have productive years and yes, that may be asking a lot. But Gordon Beckham looks like a star in the making and the addition of Juan Pierre gives the Sox a solid leadoff hitter. I’m well aware that Chicago could finish third in a three-team race in the AL Central, but their pitching is going to keep them competitive all season and I’m willing to bet that their offense won’t be as bad as many believe.

2. Seattle Mariners
The Mariners have all the pieces in place to not only compete for the AL Wild Card, but also unseat the Angels in the AL West. Along with Felix Hernandez, the acquisition of Cliff Lee now gives Seattle the best 1-2 punch in the American League outside of Boston’s Josh Beckett and John Lackey. The problem is that the lineup lacks major punch. Chone Figgins and Ichiro give the M’s quality bats at the top of the order, but can this team score enough runs on a nightly basis? The club has been built on pitching and defense but if they want to make the postseason, the Mariners will have to prove that they can overcome a powerless lineup.

3. Atlanta Braves
Many people view the Braves as favorites to win the NL Wild Card this season – and for good reason. Their starting pitching looks awfully good, especially if Tim Hudson can rebound and Jair Jurrjens and Tommy Hanson don’t regress in their development. But how successful the Braves are this year depends on their offense. Chipper Jones, Troy Glaus and Nate McLouth are the perfect complements to Martin Prado, Brian McCann, Yunel Escobar, Jason Heyward and Melky Cabrera. But Jones, Glaus and McClouth have to stay healthy or else this team is doomed and Heyward has to be productive as a rookie. Is it asking too much for guys like Jones, Glaus and Billy Wagner to rebound? Maybe. But you still have to like the Braves’ chances this year based on their pitching and Heyward’s potential.

4. Tampa Bay Rays
If I didn’t have such a wild hair up my ass about the White Sox’s chances this year and if they didn’t play in such a competitive division, then the Rays would have probably found themselves ranked second or third on this list. But I go back and forth with how I feel about them. One moment I’m ready to crown them AL Wild Card champs and the next I’m convinced they’ll finish no higher than third in the AL East. Their pitching scares me, although I’m well aware that David Price, James Shields, Matt Garza and Jeff Niemann have the ability to keep the Rays competitive all season. I just wish an ace would emerge from the group so I can sleep better at night. The offense is stacked with guys that can hit for average (Carl Crawford, Jason Bartlett, Ben Zobrist, Evan Longoria), power (Zobrist, Longoria, Carlos Pena) and speed (Crawford, Bartlett, B.J. Upton), but the key might be whether or not Upton can rebound. If he can and the starting rotation is consistent throughout the year, then I’m back to thinking the Rays are a serious Wild Card contender. If he can’t and the rotation is average, then this club has a ceiling on its success in 2010.

5. Chicago Cubs
Two years ago, the Cubs won 97 games – the second most in baseball behind the Angels and tied with the Rays. Then last year, they infected themselves with Milton Bradley, Geovanny Soto forgot how to play and injuries limited Aramis Ramirez and Alfonso Soriano. This year, the Bradley infection has cleared and Soto has vowed to rebound from his sophomore slump. If Ramirez and Soriano can stay healthy, they’ll team up with Derrek Lee to form the makings of a solid offense. The starting pitching is above average too, although Carlos Zambrano and Ted Lilly have to stay healthy and Carlos Silva can’t be the disaster he was last year. The Cubs have their flaws, but they also have the makings of a solid club and could sneak up on teams this season. They probably won’t unseat the Cardinals in the NL Central, but a NL Wild Card berth is certainly not out of the question.

The Next Five:

6. San Francisco Giants
7. Texas Rangers
8. New York Mets
9. Detroit Tigers
10. Arizona Diamondbacks

I wouldn’t be shocked if any of these five teams made the postseason in their respective leagues, but all five of them have major flaws that they’ll have to overcome. The Giants have great pitching, but GM Brian Sabean has ruined that great pitching by fielding a horrible offense outside of stud Pablo Sandoval. The Rangers have the opposite problem – they can hit, but their pitching is a question mark. The Mets have enough offense, but the organization is cursed (if you don’t believe in curses, have a couple of beers with a Mets fan and see if they can’t change your mind) and their pitching is a joke outside of Johan Santana. The Tigers have two MVP-caliber pieces in Justin Verlander and Miguel Cabrera, but whether or not the front office is committed to winning is a question that won’t be answered until after the All-Star Break. The Diamondbacks have a promising offense, but it’s also inexperienced and Brandon Webb’s injury is obviously a major concern.

Photo from fOTOGLIF
]]> http://www.scoresreport.com/2010/04/02/five-new-playoff-contenders-for-the-2010-mlb-season/feed/ 0 http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/07/15/the-al%e2%80%99s-secret-to-dominance-over-the-nl-in-the-asg-ichiro%e2%80%99s-profanity-laced-pregame-speeches/ http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/07/15/the-al%e2%80%99s-secret-to-dominance-over-the-nl-in-the-asg-ichiro%e2%80%99s-profanity-laced-pregame-speeches/#comments Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:45:25 +0000 Anthony Stalter http://www.scoresreport.com/?p=21329

With their 4-3 win over the National League in Tuesday night’s All-Star Game, the American League has now beaten their counterpart 13-straight times in the Midsummer Classic.

While some are quick to suggest that the AL might have more overall talent than the NL and that’s why it has had so much success in the ASG over the years, apparently the real reason for the AL’s dominance can be linked to the Mariners’ Ichiro Suzuki and his profanity-laced pregame speeches.

The tradition began in 2001, Ichiro’s first All-Star appearance, and the AL hasn’t lost a game since. Coincidence?

Um. No.

“I know how important it is to the game,” Ichiro said. “I’m more concentrated at that moment than I am in the game.”

A wide grin spread across his face. Ichiro’s secret had been exposed, so, hey, why not have fun with it?

The exact words are not available. Players are too busy laughing to remember them. Ichiro wouldn’t dare repeat them in public. So here’s the best facsimile possible.

“Bleep … bleep bleep bleep … National League … bleep … bleep … bleeeeeeeeep … National – bleep bleep bleepbleepbleep!”

“If you’ve never seen it, it’s definitely something pretty funny,” Morneau said. “It’s hard to explain, the effect it has on everyone. It’s such a tense environment. Everyone’s a little nervous for the game, and then he comes out. He doesn’t say a whole lot the whole time he’s in there, and all of a sudden, the manager gets done with his speech, and he pops off.”

And onto the field they go, enemies during the regular season, friends because together they just saw a 5-foot-9, 160-pound man from Japan, a national icon who surely could win office there, create beef where there wasn’t any.

I’ve obviously never seen Ichiro’s pregame speech, but if it’s anything like Isuro “Kamikaze” Tanka’s inspirational pregame speech to the Tribe in “Major League II,” I can see why the AL has dominated the NL for over a decade.

First base
Leader: Mark Teixeira, New York Yankees
Mike’s pick: Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins. It’s kind of hard to argue with Teixeira’s numbers, short porch in right or not. He’s got 20 homers, 57 RBI, 20 doubles, and a .280 average (and in the field, zero errors). You can make a case for Carlos Pena (22 homers), but he’s batting .236. Morneau is batting .315, and has 16 homers (let’s say he’d have 20 if he played in Yankee Stadium), and more RBI than Teixeira (58). And he’s only made one error.

Second base
Leader: Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers
Mike’s pick: Aaron Hill, Toronto Blue Jays. I love a good comeback story, and this is it. Hill doesn’t have as many homers as Kinsler (17 to Kinsler’s 18), but he is hitting for a higher average (.306 to .268) with more RBI (52 to 49). Sure, Kinsler has 16 steals to 2 for Hill, but I’m sticking with my comeback story.

Shortstop
Leader: Derek Jeter, New York Yankees
Mike’s pick: Jason Bartlett, Tampa Bay Rays. Jeter’s having a good season, but Bartlett is leading the American League in batting with a sick .363 average. Even after spending some time on the DL, Bartlett still has 7 homers, 35 RBI, 13 doubles, 3 triples and 15 steals…..pretty awesome numbers for a shortstop.

Third base
Leader: Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays
Mike’s pick: Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays. With a nod to Chone Figgins and his .325 average with 23 stolen bases, Longoria has delivered at a power position with 16 home runs, 62 RBI, 24 doubles and a .312 batting average.

Catcher:
Leader: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins
Mike’s pick: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins. Hey, these voters aren’t doing a bad job after all! This is an easy one, though. Mauer is batting almost .400 (.396) with 14 homers and 43 RBI, and a staggering .695 slugging percentage that leads the American League.

Outfield
Leaders: Jason Bay, Boston Red Sox
Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners
Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers
Mike’s picks: Jason Bay, Boston Red Sox—It’s hard to argue with 19 homers, 69 driven in (leads the AL) and a respectable .278 average, especially when Big Papi has struggled. Manny who?
Torii Hunter, Los Angeles Angels—He’s currently fourth in the voting, but he should be higher. 17 dingers, 56 RBI, and he’s batting .309 with 12 stolen bases.
Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay Rays—The Rays are running on everyone, and this guy leads them and the world with 38 stolen bases. He’s also batting .314 with 6 homers and 35 RBI.

Starting pitcher
As you all know, pitchers are chosen by the managers and announced shortly before the all-star break.
Mike’s pick: Zach Greinke, Kansas City Royals. The guy got off to a blistering start, when the Royals stunned everyone by spending more than a few days in first place. He’s cooled off, but Greinke is still 9-3 on a team that’s 31-41, he has a stellar 1.90 ERA, and he’s second in the AL with 111 strikeouts to just 18 walks in 109 innings.

Relief pitcher
Mike’s pick: Jonathan Papelbon, Boston Red Sox. Okay, so he’s not leading the league in saves (he has 17 and the Angels’ Brian Fuentes has 20). But Papelbon sports a 1.97 ERA and 33 K’s in 32 innings. And he just has that sick “you can’t hit me” demeanor.

Source: Baseball Reference

1. Ken Griffey, Seattle Mariners (244)—Of course this guy has always been a feared slugger, but he had a career high 25 intentionals in 1993, and the year he slugged 56 homers with 147 RBI on his way to winning the AL MVP (1997), Griffey was intentionally walked 23 times. Yikes. But before we get all excited about that, consider that Barry Bonds was given the free pass 120 times in 2004, a league record that surely will never be broken.

2. Vladimir Guerrero, Los Angeles Angels (240)—He’s topped 20 seven times and 30 once. Is he that feared or are pitchers tired of looking at that crap on Vlad’s helmet?

3. Manny Ramirez, Los Angeles Dodgers (199)—‘Roids, no ‘roids, hormones, no hormones, whatever. This is the one guy in baseball I am never pitching to if I don’t have to.

4. Carlos Delgado, New York Mets (186)—As a Mets fan, I’m just glad my team doesn’t have to face this guy. There is always the potential to hit one 600 feet the opposite way.

5. Todd Helton, Colorado Rockies (172)—You don’t give a guy like Helton anything to hit, not with a .329 lifetime batting average, as well as an average of 30 homers and 109 RBI per season.

6. Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals (160)—Oh yeah, screw what I said about Manny. I forgot about Albert. He’s only 29 years old and should easily hit 700 homers or more. THIS is the guy I don’t ever pitch to if it’s not necessary.

7. Jim Thome, Chicago White Sox (159)—It’s interesting to note that in the ‘90’s Thome and Ramirez typically had single digits in free passes. That’s because if you put them on, you still had to face Albert Belle or Eddie Murray.

8. Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves (143)—It’s kind of funny that Chipper’s intentional walks are declining as he’s becoming a better and better hitter.

9. Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners (129)—This one baffles me. Why put a guy on who averages 40 steals per season?

10. Gary Sheffield, New York Mets (128)—A nice, long career, and sheer intimidation at the plate, even today at age 40.

Source: Baseball Reference

1. Johnny Damon, New York Yankees (93)—At age 35 and having battled injuries throughout his career, Damon has lost a step or two. But between 1998 and 2002, this sparkplug reached double digits in triples three times.

2. Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia Phillies (90)—Rollins is the heart and soul of the Phillies, and is one of the reasons they won a title in 2008. He’s only 30, but has reached double figures in triples five times, including a career high 20 in 2007.

3. Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay Rays (85)—Crawford is a game-changer, and in his still young career has averaged 15 triples and 53 stolen bases per season.

4. Cristian Guzman, Washington Nationals (78)—Still a very good hitter, but Guzman isn’t the triples or stolen base threat he was in his earlier days with Minnesota. His career high, like Rollins, was also 20 triples, set in 2000 with the Twins.

5. Jose Reyes, New York Mets (73)—Arguably one of the two or three fastest players in the game, Jose has averaged 16 triples and 65 steals over the last four seasons. So how in the world do the Mets not score more runs?

6. Omar Vizquel, Texas Rangers (72)—This one is more about longevity, but Omar did have a career best 10 triples with the Giants in 2006, at the ripe old baseball age of 39.

7. Juan Pierre, Los Angeles Dodgers (71)—Ol’ Juan has slowed down just a bit too, but he’s hit double digits in triples four times during his career, including three straight times from 2004-2006.

8. Carlos Beltran, New York Mets (64)—Does anyone remember that Carlos Beltran played seven seasons in Kansas City? I mean, did he really?

8. Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners (64)—Ichiro bats for average and steals more bases than he does hit extra base hits. But he’s averaged 8 triples per season during his American big league career.

10. Derek Jeter, New York Yankees (57)—Jeter is just a true professional and great baseball player, but his career high in triples, 9, came ten seasons ago.

Source: Baseball Reference