The Long Term Look: 2004's Dudes Who Crouch For a Living

[Saber]

We all know who was a free agent coming into this year, and where they signed. We also now how these players are doing as of now. But so what? What can we expect in the future from these men on which so much is riding? Vinny Castilla is hitting now, but what can we reasonably expect him to do through his contract? Carlos Beltran? Carl Pavano? I will analyze these men, and their reasonable futures in this, an ongoing column.

The key word is reasonable folks, so no, I won't say your team's big signing will be a Hall-of-Famer unless I think he is. Of course, I reserve the right to be wrong and completely change my mind later. On to it:

A.J. Pierzynski

Chicago White Sox
Contract- $2.25 million for 2005
What he is- A catcher with pop and serviceable defense is a not thing to have, and AJ has been that since he came into the league. He also has a reputation as one of the biggest redasses in baseball. So much so that teams will go with clearly inferior options to get rid of him. A man after my own heart.
What he will be- As big a jerk as this guy has been, he's also a .290/.333/.438 catcher in his career, and that ain't bad. With his deal only going through this year, he'll be a great grab for a smart team that can put up with him at the end of the year.
Mitigating Circumstances- Hitting .253/.305/.439, he's basically what he's always been, just with depressed batting average. While you don't think about him, it's guys like this that push teams towards championships, providing production where many teams get crap.


Mike Matheny

San Francisco Giants
Contract- $2 million in 2005, $10.5 million through 2007
What he is-A defensive specialist who sucks with the bat. He always has. A career .635 OPS is pathetic, and he has hurt his team as badly as Brad Ausmus has. That guys like this always have some magical ability to "work with pitchers" or "call good games" or provide "veteran leadership" is an indictment on major league GMs. What effect can you prove he has on pitching, since we know for a fact he's a sinkhole on offense?
What he will be- The same damn thing.
Mitigating Circumstances- At .234/.300/.430 so far in 2005, this is a career year for him. That A.J. Pierzynski is doing the same thing in an off-year is funny. If you aren't a Giants fan.

[The Philly Fanatic]

Where the hell has the power come from for Matheny? He has a career high in XBH through only 69 games this season and he is 34. He still is junk, but I didn't see that coming.

[redsrbetter]

Nicely done Saber!

I am not sure what Matheny has done either, but it is working. He just made a mess of the Reds pitching last week.

[love_that_reefer]

Matheny leads all catchers in RBI. That's more than Varitek, Posada, Piazza and Irod and on a much poorer offense. Thanks Mike and keep up the good work. Reason he was signed was for defense and to help tutor Torrealba and Knoedler. He has been the bright spot of this team.

[Saber]

How old is Yorvit Torrealba?

[love_that_reefer]

26? Yorvit is most likely gone after this season. We have a kid in AAA named Justin Knoedler who showed more promise than Torrealba ever did.