Fantasy Baseball Notes - Most Underachieving List

October 12th, 2007

Fantasy Baseball Notes - Most Underachieving List

by spliao

I gotta tell you, Desktop Tower Defense is a heck of an addiction…

My end of the season fantasy wrap ups, make sure to check out the older ones if you missed them!

NL Fantasy All-Star Team
AL Fantasy All-Star Team
Most Underachieving List
One Year Wonders
Injury Bug Attack! Who To Bounce Back in 2008?
Sleepers Watch

And today we’ll be looking at the players that drove owners crazy because they did not live up to their potential (not in any particular order) ~

Travis Hafner (CLE-1B): Mr. Consistent was not the main reason the Cleveland Indians are in the playoffs. Since Hafner became full time, he has had 3 straight seasons of above .300 AVG and 30+ HR except for 2004 when he had 28. Usually durable throughout the season with some freakish injuries to end his September early, Hafner had the opposite in 2007 - he had nagging injury the whole year, and ended with a disappointing .266AVG with 24HR. He still managed 100RBI because of Grady Sizemore and Kenny Lofton. But still, when fantasy owners draft him in the first two runs, they expect far more power and AVG from him.
Alex Gordon (KC-3B): One of the most anticipated young bats in the minors, Gordon was expected to come out and wow us immediately. However, he came out of gate ice cold, batting sub .200 for April and May. June was his best month when he showed us what he came to do, but he just went back to the struggling rookie rest of the season. I will say this though, even though his final AVG is only .247, but that can be adjusted. His 16HR and 14SB are decent indication that he may bring more to the table as early as next season.
Jason Bay (PIT-OF): The franchise player of the Pirates had a season that made many owners regret picking up so early in the draft. Usually a great combo for speed and power, Bay ended his miserable season with career low AVG, only 21HR and 4SB. The Pirates simply need to put a better lineup around him to protect their best bat. With the team stuck in the bottom of NL Central, hopefully the new GM and manager in 08′ will help Bay to find his bat and passion.
Jermaine Dye (CWS-OF): No one expects another 40+ HR from him in 07′, but .254AVG and 28HR is not what we hoped for from a first tier OF. Dye performed better post All-Star, but the damage was already done.
Andrew Jones (ATL-OF): .222AVG, 26HR, 94RBI, and 4Ks away from his career high. For someone who got drafted as high as the 30th pick, he is not going to win you any leagues, but sure will get a huge contract that no sane mind should committee to.
Randy Johnson (ARI-SP): Okay, clearly no one expected the Big Unit to be anywhere near his old self, and if you did, perhaps fantasy baseball isn’t for you. Now, we knew he was gonna get hurt, and we knew he is O-L-D, but a 4-3 record with only 72K just not going to cut it. Whether or not he retires does not concern you, time to move on.
Dave Bush (MIL-SP): A sleeper pick prior to 2007, Bush pitched himself out of fantasy owner’s rotation after May (or even as early as April if you were impatient). In 2006, Bush was reliable for low WHIP and decent contribution of pitching categories. Yet he fell back on Earth in 2007, with 5+ ERA and inflated WHIP of 1.40. Yes, he managed to win 12 games, matching last year’s record, but the overall drop in every other categories will make owners think twice before drafting him in the future.
Jeremy Bonderman (DET-SP): People thought this would be his breakout season to post 15+ wins, and mid 3.00 ERA after 2006, but 2W post All-Star break isn’t exactly what we (or the Tigers) hoped for. It was beyond bad with 7+ ERA in his last 12 starts, no wonder the Tigers are playing golf now.
Chris Ray (BAL-CL): Ray had a roller coaster ride like season in 2007, 5.11ERA in April, 1.88 in May, then up to a whooping 9.90 in June! His season ended in July with an elbow surgery, perhaps a mercy kill for the owners so they can pull the plug on him.
Tom Gordon (PHI-CL): I suppose I could throw in Brett Myers here but at least gave us some more favorable stats. The closer situation was pretty messy in Philly, pretty much whoever got healthy first took over the job from the other. Basically why we should never burn a high draft pick on closers because many managers aren’t afraid to different options when one isn’t doing his job. People drafted Gordon for SVs, and he only gave him 6. Pretty disappointing if you ask me for someone who got drafted averaging at around pick 98.

Honorable mentions: Julio Lugo (33SB eased the pain a little, but .237AVG is unforgivable), Vernon Wells (what happened to his power, AVG, RBI, and everything? oh that’s right, he got a big contract before the season), Michael Barret (higher temper than AVG, the offensive catcher got more drama than hits), Adam LaRoche (another 10HR woulda helped his owner and Jason Bay’s owners sleep better), Carlos Delgado (wrist injury, ouch), Ben Sheets (you want an Ace, but he can’t stay healthy to pitch like one)

Coming up next, the one year wonders. We will look at the counter parts of the underachieving players and predict whether they are only playing for that big contract, or actually continue to contribute to your teams in the future.

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