most underrated mlb players of 2000s most underrated mlb players of 2000s

Vizquel hit .280 or better eight times, hit more than 30 doubles four times and led the league in sacrifice hits three times. I should clarify. All told, he had a 129 OPS+ with 179 home runs and 22.6 WAR with the North Siders. Theres also Buddy Bell, Ron Santo, Ken Boyer and a range of other third basemen who hit respectably and offered superb, if under-appreciated, defensive value. While he was slowed by injuries throughout his career, Johnson was a bona fide ace when healthy. From 1976 through 1987, DeCinces averaged 19 home runs and 71 RBI. Bonds packaged this with averages from 1990-98of 36 home runs, 36 steals and a .305/.438/.600 slash. Michael Redd 6. Aside from his Topps flagship rookie, he also has Rookie Cards in 1993 Fleer Final Edition and Ultra. Tim Wallach Hornsby fell one homer short of doing it twice. Ben Oglivie is a perfect example of a player that could have had more impressive career numbers had he been given a chance to play on a daily basis. Heywards 96 defensive runs saved are also best in baseball, by a wide margin, over the past five seasons. From 2000-06 the team won 85 games five times but never made the playoffs. Top 5 Underrated Position Players 5: Ty France (UTIL), Seattle Mariners Last year, Ty France came on to the scene when he hit over .300 in 23 appearances during the shortened season. Think about Dennis Johnson of the 1980sthe dude was a five-time All-Star and a Finals MVP. A reliever as a rookie in 2010 (44 G, 1.30 ERA) and an All-Star as a starter the following year (13-8, 3.51 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 169 IP), Ogando's debut coincided with the Rangers appearing in back-to-back World Series. Ibanez began his MLB career with five forgettable seasons as a part-time player with the Mariners before breaking out in Kansas City. Career Stats: 2019 G; .254/.352/.408; 242 HR; 1,039 RBI; 1,790 H; 982 R; 75-for-121 SB. Conine wasn't about gaudy numbershe was simply consistent. His batting average fell 64 points (from .289 to .225) and his OPS dropped 79 points (from .863 to .784), yet his average exit velocity (91 mph), hard-hit percentage (46.7 percent), expected SLG (.542) and barrel percentage (16 percent) were all excellent, and his 7.9 percent walk rate was the best of his career. During Guillen's five-year heyday with the Tigers (2004-2008), he hit .308 with an .870 OPS and 128 OPS+. He won another ring 13 years later when he captured World Series MVP honors as a member of the San Francisco Giants. His 1985 season saw him earn his only All-Star berth and finish fifth in the MVP voting, after setting career highs in multiple categories including RBI, with 110 driven in on the season. The deal to acquire Guillen from the Seattle Mariners prior to the 2004 season in exchange for Ramon Santiago and Juan Gonzalez (not that one) is one of the best trades in Tigers history. The great game of baseball. Duchscherer is not often mentioned in the same breath as Dennis Eckersley or John Smoltz, but he pulled off the rare feat of being named an All-Star as both a starter and a reliever. Career Stats: 443 G (412 GS); 176-137; 3.44 ERA; 1.25 WHIP; 2,895.1 IP; 2,572 H; 1.61 K/BB. We use cookies to help personalize content, tailor and measure ads, and provide a safer experience. Larry Wayne Jones is one of the greatest switch-hitters of all-time. The first Angel to hit for the cycle, Fregosi was not only the face of the franchise in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but he was regarded as the best hitting shortstop in the game during that span as well. He won Silver Slugger honors in 2014, hitting .271/.342/.467 for a 126 OPS+ with 23 home runs and 76 RBI and two years later he was traded to the Mets for left-hander Jon Niese. McRae is one of only a handful of players who have a rule be named after them. Career Stats: 399 G (393 GS); 158-152; 3.17 ERA; 1.23 WHIP; 2,837 IP; 2,619 H; 1.85 K/BB. He was also an excellent fielder who held multiple fielding records at the time of his retirement that have since been passed. All told, he racked up 60.4 WAR in 17 seasons with 393 home runs and 1,199 RBI. Is Bryce Harper the most underrated player in baseball and is Bo Bichette the most overra. We throw around words like ballplayers toss around a baseball during pregame warm-ups in the outfield. Had he spent the bulk of his career elsewhere, Watson is probably pushing 300 home runs, if not more. Career Stats: 2,213 G; .290/.377/.376; 54 HR; 578 RBI; 2,375 H; 1,359 R; 558-for-815 SB. DeCinces took Tigers' reliever Dave Tobik deep into the night, leading the Orioles to a comeback 6-5 victory on what has been called "the night Oriole Magic was born." He led American League third basemen four times inassists, five times indouble plays, and twice infielding percentage. Career Stats: 2,324 G; .255/.293/.383; 160 HR; 886 RBI; 2,006 H; 912 R; 178-for-261 SB. Before he was a postseason hero serving as a veteran utility man for the Washington Nationals, Kendrick was a rock solid second baseman for the better part of a decade with the Angels. A seven-time All-Star and one of the smoothest fielding third basemen of the 1940s, Ken Keltner almost single-handedly ended Joe DiMaggios 56-game hitting streak in 1941. The most underrated player at every position March 29th, 2022 Anthony Castrovince @ castrovince Share It's the moment you've been waiting and rating for. A top-25 prospect at the start of the 2005 and 2006 seasons, Quentin failed to live up to expectations during his time in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. But during the Yankees' era of Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson, Ron Guidry, Sparky Lyle, Goose Gossage, et al., Nettles was often unappreciated. Full of young stars from all over the world including twenty different countries. He was a four-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger winner, crushing an AL-best 47 home runs in 2000 at the age of 23. Alomar threw the ball to John Olerud at first base to double-up the Braves' Terry Pendleton, but Pendelton had already been called out for passing Deion Sanders on the base paths. Injuries kept him from reaching his full potential, but he still quietly launched 320 home runs in 13 seasons, and he won World Series MVP in 2002. It's a mix of forgotten All-Stars, brief peaks, injury-shortened primes and under-the-radar contributors, but all of these players were star-level contributors at one point in the not-so-distant past. Seemingly every baseball generation has its underrated third basemen. He is currently the leader amongst active. While his accomplishments with the Pirates were overshadowed by the exploits of Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, Andy Van Slyke and even manager Jim Leyland, Bell established himself as one of the better shortstops in the game during his time with the Pirates, overcoming his limited range by putting himself in the right position, depending on the batter. He was terrific once again in 2002 (15-4, 3.28 ERA, 144 K, 164.2 IP) and solid in 2003 (14-13, 4.13 ERA, 161 K, 187.1 IP) before shoulder injuries derailed his career. While his lifetime ERA of 3.17 would lead someone to expect Steve Rogers to have a more impressive career win-loss record, he was often the victim of terrible run support during many challenging years in Montreal. With six 30-homer seasons, six 100-RBI seasons and a career 144 OPS+, Berkman was one of the most feared sluggers of the 2000s. Among pitchers to start at least 220 games in . And an obp over .410! Justice hit a ball to deep center field. As one of the top picks in the 1997 draft, he was widely featured in 1998 products. His 146 home runs rank eighth all-time in franchise history. Arguably the best pitcher in Expos history, an average season for Rogers from 1977 though 1983 was a 15-11 record with a 2.83 ERA, though Dick Williams, his manager from 1977 through part of the 1981 season, was never a fan and routinely questioned whether the right-hander was truly giving a maximum effort. After an inauspicious start to his career as a member of the Indians, Brian Giles found himself traded to the Pirates prior to the 1999 season. SS Honus Wagner: (.352/.417/.508, 1,847 H, 51 HR, 956 RBI, 1,014 R) 2. Yes, the Chicago "Black Sox" threw the World Series, but everybody believes that if Shoeless Joe and Co. had tried, they . While he began his major league career in 1968, it wasn't until 1969 that a 22-year-old center fielder named Larry Hisle got a chance to play on a daily basis, and he rewarded the Phillies with a solid campaign that resulted in a fourth place finish in the Rookie of the Year voting. Corey Maggette Mitch Richmond, Detlef Schrempf, and Vin Baker are among the underrated players from the '90s. Most of the names you would expect: Andrew McCutchen, Dustin Pedroia, Matt Holliday, Robinson . The first player to ever open a World Series with a home run, a feat he accomplished in 1969 against the Mets, Buford was generally overlooked due to his more notable teammates getting the majority of the attention: Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson, Mike Cuellar, Boog Powell and Jim Palmer. Except the umpire missed Gruber's tag and ruled Sanders safe. He has Rookie Cards in 1999 Bowman, Bowman Chrome, Bowmans Best, Stadium Club, Topps and Topps Chrome. A six-time All-Star and one of the most important pieces on the A's teams that won three consecutive World Series championships from 1972 through 1974, Campaneris was one of the great stolen base artists of his era, leading the league in steals six times. Go ask the Los Angeles Dodgers if they thought Nettles was unappreciated or underrated in Game 3 of the 1978 World Series. Thing is, Biggio was a valuable fielder during the 90s. He also deserves credit for his handling of a pitching staff, including the 2005 White Sox team that won a World Series title on the strength of a stellar starting rotation. Thus far, Heyward has mostly seemed to offer tantalizing glimpses of what he might become. Norm Cash thrived in the middle of the Tigers' lineup for 15 years, though he was often overshadowed by his teammates Al Kaline and Rocky Colavito. Everyone loves labels, especially when it comes to athletes. A switch-hitting left fielder who spent his entire career with the Yankees, Roy White was an excellent defensive outfielder who led all American League left fielders in fielding percentage from 1968 through the 1971 season. Career Stats: 1,392 G; .267/.333/.429; 153 HR; 610 RBI; 1,254 H; 603 R; 39-for-77 SB. He had a particularly strong stretch from 2000-2008, in which he hit .316/.416/.560 (150 OPS+) with 255 homers, 283 doubles, 850 RBIs, and 48.3 rWAR. He was a legitimate star in 2012 (137 OPS+, 22 HR, 92 RBI) and 2013 (129 OPS+, 13 HR, 97 RBI), but was traded to the Red Sox the following year and his production dropped off significantly from there. He spent the last five seasons of his major league career with the Brewers, where he took two future Hall of Famers under his wing: Paul Molitor and Robin Yount. Hecostthe Astros one defensive run for the decadewhile providing offense that surely totaledmore aggregate value than a slick-gloved infielder with no bat. He racked up 18.6 WAR in nine seasons with the team, earning three All-Star selections and peaking as a 6-WAR player in 2006 when he helped the Tigers reach the World Series. Olerud fired the ball to Blue Jays' third baseman Kelly Gruber who clipped the heel of Sanders' foot for what should have been the second triple play in World Series history. In February 2012, godfather of baseball stats Bill James wrote an open letter for Grantland arguing Dwight Evans' case for the Hall of Fame. After averaging 147 games played over his first five seasons,a shoulder injury that he suffered in 1936 bogged down his career after that, and he would play in more than 100 games only once before calling it quits. One of the more versatile players of his time. That's the beauty of sportsnobody watches a game the same way. Closers Brian Wilson, Santiago Casilla and Sergio Romo received the bulk of the attention in the Giants bullpen during their impressive run to three World Series titles in five years. Tim Wallach could play both corner-infield and outfield positions, and even took the mound twice for the Expos, in 1987 and 1989. Is Lance Berkman leaning on a beat up old Ford in the Astrodome parking lot? He was far from a one-sided player though, being selected to four All-Star games. All MLB players dream of earning a place alongside legends such as Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Lou Gehrig, Tom Seaver, Willie Mays, and Bob Gibson. While his power numbers increased in each of his four seasons with the Tigers, from four home runs in 1974 to 21 round-trippers in 1977, Oglivie still wasn't given a chance to start everyday. While I thought he was great at his job back then, it turns out that he was a damn fine ballplayer as well. Hisle was a solid all-around player who never really got his due, largely in part to being overshadowed by his more heralded Hall of Fame teammates with the Twins, Rod Carew and Harmon Killebrew. A four-time All-Star, Bando led the A's in RBI three times and was the second third baseman in American League history to hit 200 home runs in their career. 1919 Cincinnati Reds. Career Stats: 1,720 G; .261/.328/.406; 176 HR; 729 RBI; 1,623 H; 798 R; 80-for-131 SB. Not to mention a career batting average over .310 (including the highest single season batting average of the 2000s[.372!]) In 1990, Oquendo set the National League record for fewest errors by a second baseman in at least 150 games by committing only three. Career Stats: 2,063 G; .265/.343/.416; 195 HR; 860 RBI; 1,963 H; 1,123 R; 91-for-151 SB. The rate stats matter most with Mize. He was a two-time All-Star and also won a Silver Slugger. Six times over his 13-year career, Morris would hit over .300, though he did so with little powerhis 16-home-run season of 1996 was the most he'd ever hit. He went 19-6 with a 3.63 ERA in 218 innings to finish runner-up in AL Cy Young voting in 2006, and followed that up with a 19-7 record and 3.60 ERA in 199.1 innings the next year before he was sidelined midway through the 2008 campaign. Its a simple concept with infinite possibilities. 2022 Topps Chrome Baseball, Sonic Base Cards Are Different. Hernandez made his mark as a rookie during the Florida Marlins 1997 World Series run, but his best work came as a member of the Expos and Nationals.