July 01, 2005

All-Bust Team: It's the All-Disappointment team. These players might be able to run, but they can't hide from the truth of a poor first half.

posted by justgary to baseball at 11:33 AM - 19 comments

Well I guess when half of my fantasy team is mentioned somewhere on that page it's no wonder my team's in the gutter right now.

posted by gyc at 12:31 PM on July 01, 2005

Likewise I had Boone, Guzman and Milton to start with on my fantasy team...I had to bannish them when things got too ugly. Are we betting on who is going to win the bizarro-triple crown: Guzman or Womack?

posted by chris2sy at 01:11 PM on July 01, 2005

It got so ugly that I banished them with two "n"s...

posted by chris2sy at 01:13 PM on July 01, 2005

My bet's on Guzman. He's an antipowerhouse in RBI and AVG, but it'll be tough with those 3 homers. Guys like Burroughs, C Izturis, Pierre, and Kendall (3 homers between the 4 of them) are hard to beat there. Guzman just needs to settle down, get in his grove, and concentrate on hitting weak grounders.

posted by cl at 01:32 PM on July 01, 2005

Then there's Dan Kolb of the Braves, the anti-closer.

posted by roberts at 01:54 PM on July 01, 2005

The opener?

posted by cl at 02:04 PM on July 01, 2005

While none of these guys look like Greek Gods physically, does anybody dare make the jump that perhaps performance enhancing substances helped them last year? Or are they all just having subpar years? I feel like, in the first year of "widespread" testing in MLB, somebody oughta ask.

posted by The_Black_Hand at 03:01 PM on July 01, 2005

List of Busts aside. As a Dodger fan, I am relieved that Adrian Beltre hasn't maintained last year's (seemingly anomalous) performance.

posted by lilnemo at 03:01 PM on July 01, 2005

He's an antipowerhouse A needed addition to my vocabulary. I should rename my Spofi roto team.

posted by yerfatma at 03:05 PM on July 01, 2005

I feel like, in the first year of "widespread" testing in MLB, somebody oughta ask. And I feel its a stupid question to ask. Most of these players are either slumping, getting older, coming back from injury, regressing back to the mean, or just weren't very good to begin with. Is it possible that steroids are the cause? Yes. But not very probable. Although steroids are a problem, they are not the "root of all evil" in baseball. This is not the McCarthy hearings. Baseball fans would do well to remember that.

posted by lilnemo at 03:12 PM on July 01, 2005

Ummm... are they really a bust if they've always sucked? Here's Guzman's career OPS year-by-year: .543-.687-.814-.677-.676-.691 And Milton averages 32 HR allowed a year for his career, then moved into that bandbox in Cincy. They just prove that these GMs don't know what they're doing when they sign guys with track records like this.

posted by brewdudepa at 03:14 PM on July 01, 2005

Lil, you're sounding like a lawyer on retainer to the MLBPA. It was just a hypothetical question, not an accusation.

posted by The_Black_Hand at 03:24 PM on July 01, 2005

"Regressing back to the mean" would happen from guys coming off steroids. I think it's a legit question, too.

posted by vito90 at 03:38 PM on July 01, 2005

Lil, you're sounding like a lawyer on retainer to the MLBPA. Wow. Am I a commie too? It was just a hypothetical question, not an accusation. I never said it was an accusation. My comments give reasonable explanations for the names provided on the list. I even went so far as to admit steroids as a possibility (though a minor one). My comments are directed at baseball fans in general, who blindly cry steroids at any indication of a slump. Again, nothing personal. I'm just tired of the steroids discussion. "Regressing back to the mean" would happen from guys coming off steroids. I think it's a legit question, too. Or guys who change trainers, routines, get injured, get healthy, etc. ad nausem. Look, it is a legit question, but it is a question that loses potency when it drowns out other possibilities and does little more to further the discussion than to sully the reputation of those involved.

posted by lilnemo at 03:50 PM on July 01, 2005

Tony Womack my not be having a great first half because he's being yanked around. He's supposed to be playing 2B, now's in Left. He's not happy. That's going to effect your play.

posted by AndydnA18 at 10:15 AM on July 02, 2005

Wow. Am I a commie too? Hell if I know, that's really your business. If you are, though, I'm sure you're the best commie you can be. Settle down Lil, it's just sports talk.

posted by The_Black_Hand at 11:02 AM on July 02, 2005

Settle down Lil, it's just sports talk. Condescending much?

posted by lilnemo at 11:29 AM on July 02, 2005

Condescending much? Only when a truly prime target presents herself. You want to talk sports, or have a little slap fight on the message board? Me, I'm here for a little semi-intelligent sport banter, not to trade catty punchlines with you. Happy Fourth of July to you and yours.

posted by The_Black_Hand at 01:44 PM on July 02, 2005

That's going to effect your play. So is being an offensive sinkhole, historically.

posted by yerfatma at 04:53 PM on July 04, 2005

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