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Friday, November 07, 2008

Amazin’ Avenue: Simon: The Top 50 Mets of All Time: #34 Bobby Bonilla

I’ll show you the Bonilla right here, Klap!

There were a lot of reasons for the failures of those early nineties Mets teams, but Bobby Bonilla wasn’t one of them. He wasn’t the perennial MVP candidate the Mets hoped they were getting when they opened the vault to bring him to Shea, but they really should have known that all along. His numbers weren’t those of a terrific hitter. A very good hitter, sure, but his production at the plate paled in comparison to those of his former Pittsburgh teammate Barry Bonds. The Mets thought they were getting more than just a ballplayer in Bonilla, and perhaps that’s where the biggest evaluative failure lies. Bonilla was being paid like an outstanding hitter even though everyone knew—even at the time—that he was merely a very good hitter whose personality was supposed to bridge the gap between goodness and greatness. When it didn’t, the backlash was aimed at Bonilla instead of the more appropriate target, Al Harazin.

Bonilla is best remembered for his massive contract (that the Mets continue to bear the financial burden of), and is most often thought of unfavorably as a result. The reality is that the Mets shoved that money in front of Bonilla and he took it, and all he could manage in return was to be the best hitter the Mets had in each of the four years he served with them from 1992 through his deadline trade to the Orioles midway through the 1995 season. Bobby Bonilla wasn’t a great player, but he was a very good player, even if he couldn’t quite live up to the lofty expectations placed on him.

Repoz Posted: November 07, 2008 at 02:17 PM | 11 comment(s) | Login to Bookmark
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   1. There are no words... (Met Fan Charlie) Posted: November 07, 2008 at 04:53 PM (#3004898)
And by the time he came back to Flushing ('99), only Rickey could draw to an inside straight any better...
   2. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: November 07, 2008 at 05:07 PM (#3004909)
LOL @ Rey Ordonez at #50

I'm doing a similar list for the Royals though, and its been pretty embarrassing who makes their top 50. Brent Mayne. That's right. Brent Mayne.
   3. Shooty: Applying to be Fearless Leader Posted: November 07, 2008 at 05:15 PM (#3004919)
I'm doing a similar list for the Royals though, and its been pretty embarrassing who makes their top 50. Brent Mayne. That's right. Brent Mayne.

This always reminds me of Bill James talking about how he got the idea for the abstract while arguing that Mike MacFarlane was one of the top 100 catchers of all time. It's amazing how guys you thought were meh were actually pretty damn good historically. Of course, if I did a top 50 Oakland A's I might be horrified by who made the list. Bill Caudill? Mike Gallego? Jeff Newman? Wayne Gross?
   4. Eric Simon Posted: November 07, 2008 at 05:20 PM (#3004925)
LOL @ Rey Ordonez at #50

He probably wouldn't make my revised list, though I still don't totally regret having him on there because he was a lot of fun to research (as most of these guys are, legends or otherwise).
   5. JPWF13 Posted: November 07, 2008 at 05:23 PM (#3004934)
Wright is 40th* and Bonilla 34th?

Among Mets with 2000+ PAs, he's 2nd in Avg, 3rd in OBP, 2nd in SLG, 2nd in OPS, 10th in runs, 8th in total bases, 6th in doubles, 5th in HR, 7th in RBI, 3rd in OPS+

you get the idea

* How long is it taking them to work on this list? - apparently the Wright write up was done 2/07???? Sheesh, they should take Wright down, and adjust everyone 1 slot- at this rate by the time they reach Wright again it'll be in 3-4 years and he'll be #2 behind Seaver.
   6. JPWF13 Posted: November 07, 2008 at 05:28 PM (#3004943)
LOL @ Rey Ordonez at #50

He probably wouldn't make my revised list,


That thread was .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

I didn't think then and I certainly don't think now that Rey Rey was in the top 50- or all that close to it- one of my all time most hated players...
   7. Walt Davis Posted: November 07, 2008 at 05:56 PM (#3004972)
It's fair to say Bonilla was a very good _hitter_. It would be interesting to see how he'd grade out with today's defensive stats -- he might well have graded out as average to +1 win overall.
   8. Eric Simon Posted: November 07, 2008 at 06:10 PM (#3004981)
How long is it taking them to work on this list?

Yea, that's on me. I didn't realize how time-consuming these would be when I started them a couple of years ago. Suffice it to say that Wright would already be higher than he was at the time, and could very well be top-20 at this point.
   9. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: November 07, 2008 at 06:41 PM (#3005010)
This always reminds me of Bill James talking about how he got the idea for the abstract while arguing that Mike MacFarlane was one of the top 100 catchers of all time. It's amazing how guys you thought were meh were actually pretty damn good historically. Of course, if I did a top 50 Oakland A's I might be horrified by who made the list. Bill Caudill? Mike Gallego? Jeff Newman? Wayne Gross?


Plus I've been almost solely relying on Win Shares, so guys that just kinda hung around for years and played crappy - Michael Tucker, Brent Mayne, David Howard, are high on the list, while guys that were great for one year and gone - Jay Bell, Chili Davis, Paul Byrd - are pretty low.
   10. Eric Simon Posted: November 07, 2008 at 07:25 PM (#3005033)
Plus I've been almost solely relying on Win Shares, so guys that just kinda hung around for years and played crappy - Michael Tucker, Brent Mayne, David Howard, are high on the list, while guys that were great for one year and gone - Jay Bell, Chili Davis, Paul Byrd - are pretty low.

I relied heavily on WARP3 for my list, which has its drawbacks, too. It does account for defense (and its offensive component is adjusted positionally), but FRAR is kinda suspect. Also, relying mostly on raw counts of anything undercut players who had a significant impact for a shorter period of time (e.g. simply aggregating WARP3 over his Met career doesn't give Mike Piazza nearly the credit he deserves; he's something like 12th overall). At the same time, on a team-specific list like this, longevity with the team definitely counts for something, even if it was a long period of mostly mediocrity (see: Ed Kranepool).
   11. Hello Rusty Kuntz, Goodbye Rusty Cars Posted: November 07, 2008 at 08:35 PM (#3005090)
Bonilla is best remembered for his massive contract (that the Mets continue to bear the financial burden of),

They're still paying that contract?
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