The most overpaid player in baseball

As ridiculous as A-Rod’s salary is, Andruw Jones has to be the most overpaid player in the game.  He used to be an outstanding center fielder and a pretty good power hitter, but those days have long since passed.  Hitting an absolutely paltry .161 with a .261 OBP and a .254 slugging percentage, Jones doesn’t deserve to be in the majors right now, let alone a $36.2 million contract for this year and next.  But while Jones surely is not worthy of praise, the Dodgers deserve most of the blame here.  What business did they have giving MVP-type money to a guy who has hit .300 just once in his career (.303 back in 2000 and whose highest batting average in any other season was .277) and whose offensive numbers fell to .222/.311/.413 last season?  Even ignoring the fact that they already had a slick-fielding center fielder in Juan Pierre, it was a downright awful signing.  With new Dodger Manny Ramirez in left, Matt Kemp in center, and Andre Ethier in right, neither Jones (DL) nor Pierre (relegated to the bench) is playing much at all.

O’s notes

I somehow forgot to mention in my last post that the Orioles finally ended their Sunday losing streak last month…against the best team in baseball!  Predictably, they have begun a new streak: since beating the Angels on July 27^th, the Birds have lost the last two Sundays.  With just seven Sunday games left in the season, they will not be able to match their 15 in a row that began in April and ran through the All-Star break.

Luis Montanez hit a home run in his first big-league at-bat and has not stopped hitting since.  If only Dave Trembley would give him a chance to play center field, fans would get to see him play more often, but as I have discussed in great detail before, Jay Payton for some unknown reason is Trembley’s go-to guy.  If Trembley doesn’t think Montanez can handle center, then he should either be willing to move Nick Markakis over from right field, or call up a center fielder from the minors.  It makes little sense to carry only one player you feel comfortable playing such an important position.

Maybe next season we will get to see Montanez take over as the team’s fourth outfielder – or maybe even every day left fielder if  Kevin Millar leaves and Luke Scott becomes the regular DH with Aubrey Huff taking over at first base.  Or better yet, Maryland native Mark Teixeira returns home to lead the Orioles to their first postseason appearance since I watched from the right field stands as they fell to the Cleveland Indians in Game 6 of A.L.C.S. in October 1997.  Hey, at least let me daydream about it.

Xtra Credit

Not only did A.J. Pierzynski of the White Sox hit into three double plays on Saturday, he hit into three inning-ending double plays in three consecutive at-bats.  That takes talent.

If you haven’t read it yet, I’d encourage you to check out on espn.com’s Jim Caple’s “The most overrated position in sports” (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=caple/080805)