Usually September is a time to look forward. The playoffs are in sight, and many young players get a shot at glory during this month. But seeing as how I've been a little negligent in recent weeks and month, I would like to take this time to do some analysis of the earlier part of the year. In particular, those who signed big contracts in the off-season, only to barely show up for the 2011 campaign. The prime suspects: Adam Dunn, Jayson Werth, and Carl Crawford.
Before I begin my tirade, though, I'd like to point out an egregious error I made in my last post. The error was not a statistical one, but one of omission. I failed to mention how the New York Yankees broke a Major League Baseball record by hitting three grand slams in one game versus the Oakland Athletics. The Yanks were at one point down 7-1 on August 25th, when 2B Robinson Cano took things into his own hands, and smacked a grand salami in the 6th inning to cut the lead to 7-6. Russell Martin then hit his second homer of the day, this time with the bases juiced, and made the game 10-7 in the Yankees' favor. Then all hell broke loose, and the Bronx Bombers lived up to their name, driving in 12 more runs over the next two innings, including another slam by Curtis Granderson, which at the time was his MLB-leading 38th homer. That win, and the outstanding record-breaking offense, helped catapult the Yanks into a tremendous run that saw them take two of three from the Red Sox, put them on a current four-game winning streak, and gave them the American League East division lead. That is some offense!
Back to my original post idea. Let's start with Mr. Carl Crawford, of the aforementioned Red Sox. In the off-season Crawford was coveted above all other free-agents. He had just come off a fantastic offense year which saw him win his first Silver Slugger, and Gold Glove awards. He was commanding contracts talks anywhere from $100 million and up when the Red Sox finally signed him to a staggering 7-years, $142 million, making him the second-highest paid outfielder ever. What has Boston received in return for this investment? Not much, honestly.
Carl hit a grand slam on Saturday versus the Texas Rangers, but these productive outbursts are more mirage than oasis. Previous to 2011, Carl Crawford had been placed on the Disabled List once, in 2008. 2011 comes along, and he's been on the DL, what, 75 times already? At least that's what it seems like. He was on there once this year, and I think he was put on twice more as precaution. An understandable move by Boston seeing as how they have put too much money into this guy to see him sit on the bench for a good part of the year. Crawford riding the bench as been almost more productive at times, though. He's hitting a meager .252 with 11 dingers, 17 stolen bags, and 52 RBI. The smaller home park is accountable for some of Crawford's increased power, but the stolen bases is a huge dropoff from his normal speedy game. Let's cut Carl a break and say that drop is due to his injuries and that next year he'll return to normal. What isn't normal, and hasn't looked that way for some time, is Crawford's comfort level at the plate.
Early on in the season, Crawford look absolutely lost at the plate. Maybe it was nerves, or the money that got him flustered, but it stuck with him for a long time, and he's only broken out of it in fits and spurts. His on-base percentage is a terrible .286, which is well below his career aver of .333. He's only walked 19 times this season, which is a number bench players usually see on their stat sheets. Perhaps most unproductive of all, he doesn't have a distinct role on the team. He was supposed to the speedy guy atop the lineup with Jacoby Ellsbury, but instead he's batted pretty much 1-9, and hasn't felt home anywhere. He's a man lost in a forgettable year right now. I doubt this will continue throughout his contract, but Boston fans have great memories. If Crawford struggles early on next year, 2012 may feel eerily similar to 2011.
Our next call-out is the third-highest paid outfielder of all time, Jayson Werth. Werth had a wonderful career in Philadelphia. He found a home hitting fifth behind Ryan Howard, and was a huge fan favorite out in right field. He was on top of the world. Then he became a free-agent, was purchased by the Washington Nationals for a ridiculous 7-years, $126 million, and has struggled mightily ever since. The reason, of course, is because when he was with Philly, Jayson was a cog in the well-oiled Phillies machine. He was not a star player, but a terrific asset to the team's overall construction. When he traveled just over 100 miles south to Washington, he took on a new role. He was still not the solo star player, because Ryan Zimmerman has that nailed down there, but he was expected not only to bring the same production he had with Philly over, but to compensate for the loss of Adam Dunn, who was a perennial 38-40 homerun hitter. Try as Jayson might, this was impossible from the get go.
This is not entirely Jayson's fault. First, he was given more money then he was reasonably worth as a player, but who in his right mind is going to say no to more money? Then Ryan Zimmerman goes down very early in the year, leaving Werth to act as the star player for about two months, which he wasn't up for. Add in the nerves of joining a new team, and a fanbase looking for a spark of any kind from an inferior team, and the recipe for success was tainted from the start. Jayson has stayed healthy, and he's tried to contribute as best he can. His homeruns are down, so he's been stealing bases more. He's not seeing good pitches because for the most part there isn't much protection around him in the Nationals lineup, so he's swinging at much more and therefore his strikeouts are up. His walks and RBI are down too, as a result. This may sound like I'm taking it easier on Werth than I am Crawford, but Werth has had significantly less to work with. Again, perhaps next year will be different. Hopefully Stephen Strasburg will come back healthy. Zimmerman should come back to full health and make up for a underwhelming season. And perhaps Bryce Harper may even be up by then, and provide another pressure valve for Werth. I don't see Jayson duplicating his numbers in Philly any time in the immediate future, but Washington is a team that is on the rise. Jayson may have gotten in the elevator while it was still in the basement, but he just might ride it all the way to the top.
The man Jayson effectively, or rather ineffectively replaced in Washington, has been the most dreadful of all the players mentioned. Adam Dunn is having one of the worst statistical seasons....ever. It's actually mind-boggling how bad he has been, and yet still receives playing time. It goes to show how monetarily invested team's get in a player, when he is consistently hitting well below .200, and yet still plays. That has been changing of late as Adam has been losing time and at-bats. While primarily he is the designated hitter, the Chicago White Sox have put Adam at first to try and see if time in the field will get his groove back like Stella. It hasn't. Instead, Adam has just made it apparent that there is very little anyone can do to get him out of this terrible funk.
For those of you who haven't seen, let's run by the stats real quick. In 2011 Dunn numbers look like this: .163 average (which is over 80 points lower than his already terrible career average of .244), 11 homeruns (he usually hits about 38), and 40...40!!! RBI (season average is closer to 95). Most telling of all is his slugging percentage of .288, which is almost half of his 162 game average of .505. Meaning that he is not driving in runners because he hasn't been hitting extra bases. These numbers are in all actuality, embarrassing, and Dunn knows it. He's said several times that he's ashamed of his performance and that he's trying everything he can think of to get out of this funk. It's more than likely too late for this season, but my hope is that 2012 will be a turnaround for Adam, as he's too established and productive a player to free-fall into oblivion like this.
I don't relish the fact that these guys are struggling. All players go through this once in a while, but it's amazing how each one of these guys switched teams, signed a huge contract in the off-season and now are not the same productive player they have been. The money certainly has something to do with it. If you are financially secure, there has to be some small part of a player that knows the internal push to get better and succeed is reduced. Then there is the pressure of starting a new life somewhere. Most players move to their new city, have to enroll their kids in new schools, or have to deal with being apart from their families if they go to the new town alone. Off-the-field issues are sometimes harder to deal with then just not hitting well. Then there are the fans. Rabid fans like the ones in Boston or other old-school baseball towns can sometimes go a little nuts. If a new guys comes in and isn't performing well, they only get a certain amount of leeway before the boo birds show up. All of this, plus injuries and new coaches, and new teammates make it tough for big name players to transition.
Let's hold back the tears, however. These guys get pay millions upon millions to deal with these issues, and when they don't perform up to capability, then perhaps the fans have a right to boo. After all, it's the fans money that keeps a team going. It's all a very complicated matter that goes much deeper than just "He sucks." We all use that excuse, but in truth, if a guy sucks, there is probably a lot more to it than that. Sorry that I had to call you out Crawford, Werth and Dunn. It's not personal, it's just that, well, you guys suck right now.
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