Vidro entered Wednesday night’s game with a .213 batting average and a .571 on-base-plus-slugging percentage that makes him among the worst hitters in baseball. But the Mariners designated hitter came through in the fourth inning, lining a double to right field for his first extra-base hit since June 28 and only his fourth since May 24.
Mariners manager Jim Riggleman says he isn’t trying to use Vidro in a typical cleanup role, but to offer “protection” to No. 3 hitter Raul Ibanez against right-handed pitchers. The idea is that Vidro, historically a good contact hitter from both sides of the plate, would make teams think twice about walking Ibanez or pitching around him.
“I know his numbers aren’t as good this year,” Riggleman said. “But he’s still got that reputation that’ll make guys think about not giving Ibanez anything to hit.”
That news will not go over well with some fans, many of whom have expected to see Vidro released for some time now. Vidro entered the night hitting just .211 off righties and .222 off lefties.
Repoz
Posted: July 10, 2008 at 10:56 AM |
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1. AJM Posted: July 10, 2008 at 11:12 AM (#2851658)Then Riggleman bust out laughing?
For a few years, Jose Vidro was a nice ballplayer. It is sad to see a player hang on well past his expiration date.
This is, and I say this without irony or sarcasm, the funniest baseball comment I've heard in a long time. I know Riggleman is just protecting one of his guys, but it's still awesome.
No one comes to mind, especially if you take into account playing time. We may be seeing something historical here, folks!
But at least most of the rest have SOME defensive value (not Sexson). Does Seattle have the 4 worst regulars in MLB: Vidro, Sexson, Johjima, and Bloomquist?
Edit: Oh, and Betancourt. His defensive is lousy now, right?
Good movie, even if Ritchie did slip "Lucky Star" onto the soundtrack purely for the purpose of getting Madonna a nice fat royalty check.
That's just unbelievably bad.
Johjima : 55, 197
Cairo: 58, 217
Vidro: 58, 198
Bloomquist: 71, 245
Betancourt: 79. 228
Sexson: 90, 250.
Yes, Willie Bloomquist would make a better DH than Vidro.
Still no extra base hits for Bloomquist this year.
I agree wholeheartedly with the poster above. I don't think I've ever seen a funnier comment.
Shea Hillenbrand last year, in about the same number of PAs Vidro currently has, hit an OPS+ of 56. Vidro's at 58. The only other DH's ever, below 58 and with more than 275 PA are:
Deron Johnson 1974 57 in 389
Alan Wiggins 1987 54 in 342
Leroy Stanton 1978 46 in 342
The worst DH to qualify for the batting title was Ted Simmons 1984. 532 PA, OPS+ 61.
So, Vidro's right up there.
At least he gets on base and can run a bit. I'm not sure just what Vidro can do anymore.
Sure. His oba is good, actually. I just find it fascinating he hasn't even lucked into a bloop double or something.
It's time to BAN THE DH FOREVER!
Come on, this is professional baseball. I'm disgusted everytime I have to watch these washed-up, positionless outmakers step to the plate. Let the pitchers hit already.
Your only real tradeable commodities (assuming Ichiro and Felix and the cornerstones you buil around) are Beltre, Ibanez, Putz and Bedard. Two are on the DL, and, I don't really see a contender that needs Beltre. Maybe the Dodgers would give you something for Betancourt. Ibanez is a DH, and I don't see who would give you much for him.
I still don't get why Sexson/Vidro/Cairo haven't been cut. Run out some AAAA sluggers.
246/332/413
Angels DH is hitting 249/326/401, not as bad as I thought. All of their rotating DH's are also outfielders though, so banning the DH would just get Matthews out of the lineup. I can support that.
I knew the Mariners were bad, but those offensive numbers are just, well, offensive. That's just an unbelievably awful offense.
That seems like a good summation.
Even more, they have Balentien and Micheal Saunders in AAA both capable of playing OF. This team is bad from the top down.
Mike Piazza
Kenny Lofton
Barry Bonds
Sammy Sosa
Russ Branyan
Guys like Chris Shelton they could have taken a flyer on who would be an improvement on Vidro even if they failed miserably
Richard Simmons
Richard Simmons' shiny red shorts
Not to mention their in-house options like Clement and Reed
I wish Beane had signed Branyan instead of Emil Brown
And Lackey off the mound an inning or two earlier in close games. Great tradeoff.
My only hope is that Lincoln or Armstrong or whoever just can't pull the trigger on any of these guys/gals and looks at the AL East standings. Chuck Lamar built that team, you guys! Friedman is riding his coattails to success! Do it! For me! Please!
I'd let Lackey hit. Besides, If we play without the DH then our opponent plays without Giambi, Cust, Ortiz, or Thome.
I like that tradeoff, except against the Mariners.
Giambi plays 1B, mostly, and pretty well this year (average according to UZR and very good on scoops). It's Matsui (when healthy) you avoid.
Ortiz had gotten off to that slow start, and I guess Bradley was hurt or something, but the #s stunned me.
/Too bad the O's are back to 5-inning starters and a shredded bullpen, 'cuz Markakis, Huff and Jones are getting to be fun to watch.
Cubs pitchers, 2008: .209/.230/.275
He probably wouldn't look much worse in left field.
"It's more entertaining to me than watching dogs hump."
Which is saying something, since you're apparently a huge perv.
A few weeks back, probably about the time Rigs got the job, I remember there were some questions about why Rigs had gone so long between jobs after the Cubs canned him...
NOW I remember why. Not that there are a whole of great options, but still...
+----+-----------------+----+---+----+---+---+
1 Leroy Stanton 46 342 1978 32 SEA
2 Alan Wiggins 54 342 1987 29 BAL
3 Shea Hillenbrand 56 278 2007 31 TOT
4 Deron Johnson 57 389 1974 35 TOT
5 Jose Vidro 58 269 2008 33 SEA
6 Ted Simmons 61 532 1984 34 MIL
7 Greg Vaughn 62 297 2002 36 TBD
8 Ken Singleton 62 403 1984 37 BAL
9 George Bell 63 436 1993 33 CHW
10 Hubie Brooks 63 320 1992 35 CAL
11 Chris James 63 463 1991 28 CLE
12 Terry Pendleton 65 254 1998 37 KCR
13 Rondell White 66 355 2006 34 MIN
14 Juan Bernhardt 66 317 1977 23 SEA
15 Dave Revering 71 295 1982 29 TOT
16 Carl Everett 72 343 2006 35 SEA
17 Larry Parrish 73 441 1988 34 TOT
18 Cecil Cooper 73 270 1987 37 MIL
19 Reggie Jackson 74 458 1983 37 CAL
20 Willie Horton 74 384 1980 37 SEA
21 Javy Lopez 75 364 2006 35 TOT
22 Ruben Sierra 75 587 1996 30 TOT
23 Al Oliver 75 280 1985 38 TOT
+----+-----------------+----+---+----+---+---+
1 Leroy Stanton 46 342 1978 32 SEA
2 Alan Wiggins 54 342 1987 29 BAL
3 Shea Hillenbrand 56 278 2007 31 TOT
4 Deron Johnson 57 389 1974 35 TOT
5 Jose Vidro 58 269 2008 33 SEA
6 Ted Simmons 61 532 1984 34 MIL
7 Greg Vaughn 62 297 2002 36 TBD
8 Ken Singleton 62 403 1984 37 BAL
9 George Bell 63 436 1993 33 CHW
10 Hubie Brooks 63 320 1992 35 CAL
11 Chris James 63 463 1991 28 CLE
12 Terry Pendleton 65 254 1998 37 KCR
13 Rondell White 66 355 2006 34 MIN
14 Juan Bernhardt 66 317 1977 23 SEA
15 Dave Revering 71 295 1982 29 TOT
16 Carl Everett 72 343 2006 35 SEA
17 Larry Parrish 73 441 1988 34 TOT
18 Cecil Cooper 73 270 1987 37 MIL
19 Reggie Jackson 74 458 1983 37 CAL
20 Willie Horton 74 384 1980 37 SEA
21 Javy Lopez 75 364 2006 35 TOT
22 Ruben Sierra 75 587 1996 30 TOT
23 Al Oliver 75 280 1985 38 TOT
Seattle's on that list an awful lot.
Finally a reference on this site I understand.
But....but....we need a right handed bat. TOO MANY LEFTIES!!!!!!
/athleticsnation
Finally. Miguel Cairo is no longer blocked.
Finally. Miguel Cairo is no longer blocked.
Shooty wins
Seriously? Any relation to Tim Hulett?
Tug McGraw named his son Tim
and Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy!
So, Tug McGraw had a son named Tim, and Tim Hulett had a son named Tug?
And they both have 9 letters in their names...
edit:
Missed it by that much!
He actually hit the ball cleanly into the gap to end the July 1st game vs. the Jays, but got credit only for a single. It will only be fitting when his streak ends with a bunt double.
Meh. I found it an unconvincing argument. I don't recall anyone saying Vidro is the absolute worst hitter in baseball, so he's attacking a strawman anyway. Jose Vidro is the most useless regular in baseball, though, and may be hurting his team more than any other player. Also, it begs the question, if Vidro isn't the worst hitter, then who is? I bet the worst hitters are going to be scrub catchers and middle infielders. I suppose if you want to compare a DH to those guys you're welcome to.
That hombre gets hisself a lotta burrs in his saddle. Git that boy down to the New Age Saloon for some aromatherapy and pomegranate juice follered by a set of yoga and he'll mellow out.
Edmundo, bow to the projection and everything will be fine. The projection knows all, sees all.
Cubs pitchers, 2008: .209/.230/.275
That's hilarious. Only 20 points of OPS separating them, and Cub pitchers have the higher batting average.
Cubs pitchers, 2008: .209/.230/.275
I nominate this for statistic of the year.
Methinks MGL just completely blew this one
1: AJ: 2006-08: .281/.322/.422
JV: 2006-08: .294/.353/.379
2: JV is 2 years older
JV is better and it's not even close????
Not even close????????????????
Cnt Player OPS+ PA Year Age Tm
+----+-----------------+----+---+----+---+---+
1 Freddy Sanchez 49 378 2008 30 PIT
2 Michael Bourn 52 352 2008 25 HOU
3 Joey Gathright 53 259 2008 27 KCR
4 Kenji Johjima 53 254 2008 32 SEA
5 Willy Taveras 56 316 2008 26 COL
6 Jose Vidro 59 274 2008 33 SEA
7 Jason Bartlett 62 298 2008 28 TBR
8 Khalil Greene 66 364 2008 28 SDP
9 Felipe Lopez 67 319 2008 28 WSN
10 Edgar Renteria 69 333 2008 32 DET
If you do it for 2007-08, Vidro "falls" all the way to 95th worst (500+ PAs)
Just 2008 alone however, the 5 guys "above" Vidro all have significantly more defensive value than Vidro, below him? Both Lopez and Renteria are pretty bad defenders, but they are playing short whereas Vidro is basically a DH/1B at this point.
So yeah, just looking at 2008 a good argument could be made that Vidro has been the worst/most useless whatever, player to see significant PT.
From BPro, Sexson is already 9.5 runs below the average 1b in 2008. He was 22.3 runs below the average 1b in 2007. Not including defense.
He's been well below average (compared to an average hitter) for 200 games now
sure he was a bit above average (for a 1B) in 2006, and significantly above in 2005,
but he's 33 now.
It's possible that Sexson could bounce back and hit as well as an average 1B for a year or two- it just doesn't seem very likely.
When a guy is in his 20s and suddenly sees his OPS+ drop 30-40 points, well yes, you can expect a bounceback, when a guy is in his 30s- well you have to start thinking, well maybe this is it.
This wasn't about projections. I'm sure the Ms realize that corpse-of-Vidro/corpse-of-Wilson/Cairo isn't going to be anything worthwhile at firstbase.
It is about more than that.
The team is going nowhere, the player's career is shriveling up, hes getting booed, the park is probably screwing with his head...
It is about moving on and giving both Sexson and the Ms a chance to regroup and find some better days. It is the right move for both sides.
Still no extra base hits for Bloomquist this year.
At least he gets on base and can run a bit. I'm not sure just what Vidro can do anymore.
21. Shooty misses Bill King Posted: July 10, 2008 at 10:26 AM (#2851772)
At least he getes on base and can run a bit. I'm not sure just what Vidro can do anymore.
Sure. His oba is good, actually. I just find it fascinating he hasn't even lucked into a bloop double or something.
In the ninth inning yesterday, Willie blasted a gapper that bounced into the stands for a ground rule double. Our long national nightmare is over.
He's leading the team in OBP.
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