Here's a little something to cheer up you Derek Jeter fans. Here's a pseudo All-Star team made up of players who have an OPS+ LOWER than Derek Jeter's 62.
1B: Carlos Pena (49 OPS+)
2B: Mark Ellis (35 OPS+)
SS: Hanley Ramirez (59 OPS+)
3B: Miguel Tejada (43 OPS+)
LF: Carl Crawford (41 OPS+)
CF: Alex Rios (52 OPS+)
RF: Vernon Wells (52 OPS+)
C: A.J. Pierzynski (59 OPS+)
For the American League, we'll even throw in Adam Dunn as a DH even though his OPS+ is actually 63, one point higher than Jeter. Designated hitters are graded on a curve.
That is about $100 million worth of ballplayers right -- $96,500,000 if you want to be exact -- and if you had been given that team at the beginning of the year, you would probably feel at least decent about your chances. Maybe by year's end, it will all work out.
One final thought: We all know Albert Pujols is struggling at the plate in a way that he has not throughout his career. He has one double all season. He has hit into 10 double plays -- TEN DOUBLE PLAYS -- and his batting average is almost 100 points lower than his career average. He's clearly starting to get a bit concerned ... he's talking about not watching video for a few days, just to freshen up, and as I wrote about Jeter it's not too good a sign when hitters start changing their swings or start talking about odd stunts to kickstart their season, stunts like not watching video.
That said, if you want to know how much offense is down in 2011: Albert Pujols is hitting .233/.309/.417, which is stunningly bad for him. His OPS+? It is exactly 100 -- league average.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
