West Coast Connection Forum
Lifestyle => Sports & Entertainment => Topic started by: theremedy360 on May 30, 2011, 04:30:36 PM
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We give this guy a long term deal for 10 mill a year and the guy is hitting .193. I know he has been a lead off hitter his entire career but jesus christ he's been god awful.
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.193/.235/.260 :-X
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Where Does Figgins’ Decline Rank?
by Eric Seidman - June 10, 2011
The decline of Chone Figgins over the past two seasons is no secret to baseball fans. He produced 1.1 WAR last season after an impressive 6.9-win campaign a year earlier. He also averaged 3.6 wins above replacement in 2007 and 2008, establishing himself as as a patient hitter with excellent baserunning skills and strong defensive skills. His past 940 plate appearances have been so utterly unimpressive, though, that it is hard to remember he was once considered a threat at the plate. On top of that, his fielding marks have suffered substantially. He is nowhere near the guy who earned a lucrative deal last season.
In 55 games this season, he has a negative UZR, a below average baserunning mark and a putrid .211 wOBA. All told, Figgins has cost the Mariners 1.2 wins. His walk rate has progressively dropped from 13.9% to 10.5% last season, and now sits at 5.5%, which would be the lowest of his career if the season ended today. Since 2009, his wOBA has dropped from .358 to .302, all the way to the current .211 mark, which had Joe Pawlikowski wondering how much longer the Mariners would continue to write his name on the lineup card.
I recently wondered if Jose Bautista‘s rise to superstardom was unprecedented in the annals of baseball history. So what if I repeated that research in the opposite direction? Namely, is the 33-year old Mariner’s decline unprecedented?
Has anyone else seen his wOBA fall at least 50 points in two consecutive seasons like Figgins? Perusing the trusty database, I stipulated that the players had to step to the plate at least 400 times in the first two seasons of the span, with at least 200 plate appearances in the third season. The plate-appearance criteria for the third season was less, given that players struggling as much as Figgins has in the past two seasons are simply unlikely to garner ample playing time. Those who do manage to rack up 400 or more plate appearances in the third season were likely signed to a lucrative contract, they were on a terrible team without an alternative, or both. That being said, who compares to Figgins?
Of the 10,771 three-year spans returned in the query, only 28 involved a player racking up at least 400, 400, and 200 plate appearances, while also losing at least 50 points in wOBA from year one to year two, and 50 more between the second and third seasons. In other words, what Figgins is doing is incredibly rare — 0.26 percent of player spans met that criteria. That isn’t 2.6 percent, but 0.26 percent, as in 0.0026.
But Figgins — with statistics through Wednesday — isn’t even the worst perpetrator on the list. Sorted by the total wOBA drop between the first and third seasons, here are the biggest drop-offs meeting my criteria since 1980:
1) Travis Hafner 2006 to 2008: Pronk’s decline was fueled by injuries, but his wOBA fell by more than 80 points in each season. After a gaudy .449 in 2006, he declined to .360, and then to .275. Injuries haven’t entirely escaped Hafner, but he has ranged between .355 and .410 since 2009. The Hafner example doesn’t seem like a true comparable span since Figgins was never anywhere near as offensively sound as Hafner.
2) Vinny Castilla 1998 to 2000: After a stellar .396 wOBA in 1998, Castilla dropped to .344 the next season — which is still a solid number. In 2000, he batted just 354 times and finished with a .243 mark. He played six more seasons after that and even managed a .362 wOBA in 2004, but the 2001-06 Castilla produced more of his value with the glove than at the plate.
3) Chone Figgins 2009 to 2011: I just spent 600-or-so words discussing him.
4) Andruw Jones 2006 to 2008: This should have been an instant comp in our minds, as Jones’ decline was covered extensively and came on the heels of a 50 home run season. Jones dropped from .375 to .314 to .234. He’s managed to hang around and play somewhat productively, but to say he is a shell of his former self is an understatement.
5) Milton Bradley 2008 to 2010: Bradley’s drop-off is noteworthy given that it coincided with the final straw of his behavioral issues. After a .423 wOBA in 2008, he fell to a still solid .345, but mustered a measly .289 last season. He was released this year and is unlikely to be given any more opportunities at the major-league level. His decline is similar to Castilla’s — though both differ from Figgins’ in the sense that their high marks at the start of the span was markedly above Figgins’ performance.
Ultimately, Figgins isn’t the only player to stumble into the realm of batting suckitude, but there aren’t many comparable spans. It will be interesting to see how much longer the Mariners continue to play him, even with his contractual albatross. More interesting will be monitoring where he stands in the above list. If he gets any worse, he’ll be in line for the greatest three-year wOBA decline in the past three decades.
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LOL, I like how two of the players (Bradley and Figgins) had their biggest decline in Seattle
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speaking of shitty players making good money...
Vernon Wells still has $86 million left on his contract and he's hitting under .200 as well... plus he's on the DL :laugh:
and the Angels traded for him :-X
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Ain't that a bitch.. I didn't even know wells was on the Angels :-X
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the Dodgers are paying $16 million to 4 players who aren't even on the roster :laugh: 2 of them are retired!
they spent $80 million this offseason on Juan Uribe, Casey Blake, and some other stiffs...
I mean, can you fuckin imagine? and fans wonder why the tickets are so high
I'm all for the players getting top dollar, I'm a union guy... they're not the problem
it's the owners throwing all this money around to everyone and their mother, and then jacking everything up afterwards
I went to my last Dodger game 2 years ago... I remember when it was $5 to sit in the outfield
now it's like $12 (probably higher now) and to park your car it costs $15! imagine the parking ticket costs more than to see the actual product, it's insulting
I don't plan on going back either
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as a seattle native myself...we seem to have a knack for making players shit.
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Now down to .188. Congrats to Chone, first Mariner booed by baseball's friendliest fans since the great Richie Sexson.
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Gettin' Figgy wit it.
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When I said this a year ago, everyone said it was just pressure and that he'll be what he once was again.
Now where is he? Just another bum on the Mariners roster. It's a good thing they have Ackley and Smoak.
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^ He actually had a good second half and finished the season at about .270, but obviously this season he's been beyond awful. First Adam Kennedy took his spot now we just brought Seager up from AAA. Not the worst move made by the Mariners, but most likely the worst free agent signing.
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sexson hit 30HR's and 100+ RBI. Figgy is hitting .188 with like 20 RBI's. shoutout to Jeff Cirrlio & Scot Spiezio.
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^ He actually had a good second half and finished the season at about .270, but obviously this season he's been beyond awful. First Adam Kennedy took his spot now we just brought Seager up from AAA. Not the worst move made by the Mariners, but most likely the worst free agent signing.
Welcome to baseball. Teams make absolutely horrible FA signings, even when it's obvious what will happen. Here are some of the Dodgers worst moves
GM Ned Colletti
-signed Jason Schmidt to a 3 yr. 47 million dollar deal (10 starts, ERA+ 72)
-signed Juan Pierre to a 5 year 45 million deal (OPS+ 86) (Worst part is alternative would have been Jayson Werth for cheap, instead he helped the Phillies win)
-signed Juan Urbie to a 3 year 21 million dollar deal (OPS+ 66)
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^ He actually had a good second half and finished the season at about .270, but obviously this season he's been beyond awful. First Adam Kennedy took his spot now we just brought Seager up from AAA. Not the worst move made by the Mariners, but most likely the worst free agent signing.
Welcome to baseball. Teams make absolutely horrible FA signings, even when it's obvious what will happen. Here are some of the Dodgers worst moves
GM Ned Colletti
-signed Jason Schmidt to a 3 yr. 47 million dollar deal (10 starts, ERA+ 72)
-signed Juan Pierre to a 5 year 45 million deal (OPS+ 86) (Worst part is alternative would have been Jayson Werth for cheap, instead he helped the Phillies win)
-signed Juan Urbie to a 3 year 21 million dollar deal (OPS+ 66)
But my point is that people didn't see this coming. Yeah , in retrospect we overpaid for him, but he was still coming off an all star season. He said himself that he thought he and Ichiro could be one of the best 1-2 punches in history, didn't quite happen.
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All Star season and he was barely above average. Danger sign especially if it's a guy that never really showed power.
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He hit .298, lead the league in walks and hit 30 doubles. Even if he dropped off big time, I don't think it's reasonable to say we should have expected his average to drop 50 points the first year then 110 points (from 09) the next. Juan Pierre was a brilliant signing compared to Figgins stats wise, and he was only making 5 mill rather than 9.
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The three years before his career year his OPS+ was 94. Most of his SLG probably came from his speed to get those extra base hits, and the fact that the Angels really preach aggressive baserunning. I was expecting a below average year for Figgins, and sure he's gone on to be a joke but it's no surprise.
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The fact that you're talking about expecting a down year is a complete understatement. A down year is one thing, but the guy is hitting .185. Don't act like you were expecting him to go from an all star caliber player to a guy who can't find a spot in the Mariner's lineup (on pace to become the worst offensive team in the DH era).
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Them boys got a 16 game losing streak. Chone Figgins doesn't deserve so much raw raw in a solo thread. There needs to be mass shaking up, which unfortunately will not happen.