Now Batting 9th: Bruce Chen

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Just because we’re in the off-season doesn’t mean we stop caring about mediocre ballplayers taking up perfectly good space on upcoming lineups. And one guy you thought (or wished) you saw the last of, is coming back for another season – Kansas City Royals pitcher, Bruce Chen – yup, he’s still playing. I was surprised too. 

Can you imagine a major league professional baseball team starting a 35-year old pitcher with a losing lifetime record in his 14th season? Well, if you’re a Royals fan – yes you can. Because your club has been starting the veteran for the past three years… and he’s coming back.

This is a real picture supplied by Major League Baseball

I spend every spring at Royals' camp in Surprise, Arizona and true to its name, I’m always surprised to see the lineup this team throws together. I’m always even more surprised to see the flock of fans who come out to support the boys in baby blue. And may I say, they are the nicest and smartest baseball fans around. A lot of that comes from knowing their history and reminiscing about the golden age of Royals folklore when guys like George Brett, Frank White and Hal McRea roamed the field. Even though there are glimmers of hope in guys like Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer, the diehards are not fooled by the hard cold reality of where they’ll be come October.

But it’s because of teams like KC, that there’ll always be a place for guys like Bruce Chen. I’m not going to waste too much time telling you Chen’s life story – like how he was born in Panama City and attended Georgia Tech. Blah, Blah, Blah – who cares. Let’s get into the real meat and bones of Chen’s overstayed welcome in the big leagues...

Lifetime Record:
Win-Loss Record: 71-72
ERA: 4.60
SO: 1022
BB: 493

Salary:
The lefty originally signed a 1-year, $600,000 deal with the Royals in 2009. From there, he signed consecutive 1-year deals including a 1-year, 2 million dollar deal for 2011. At the beginning of the 2012 season, the Royals front office decided they couldn’t risk Chen going anywhere else and locked him into a sweet 2-year, 9 million dollar deal. Before that, his best contract came in 2006 when the Orioles handed him 1-year for 3.8 million dollars.

Chen’s current salary earnings (not counting the 4.5 million for 2013) equals: $13,477,500.00.

Now for all you mathematicians out there, look away because we don’t need you to know that these numbers just don’t add up.

Strategy:
One of Chen’s strategies for his long tenure, is his banking on the fact that there’ll always be a place for him on one team or another. I mean there are 26 teams in the majors after all. They can’t all have hot young pitching prospects.

Take a gander at some of the teams who have employed Chen over the years and notice his stays are pretty short (KC being the exception, of course):

Atlanta Braves (1999-2000)
Philadelphia Phillies (2000-2001)
New York Mets (2001-2002)
Montreal Expos (2002)
Cincinnati Reds (2002)
Boston Red Sox (2003)
whew...
Houston Astros (2003)
Baltimore Orioles (2004-2006)
Texas Rangers (2007)
Kansas City Royals (2009-present)
 
Suggestion:
If you live in a town where the Royals will be visiting, here’s my advice – check out their pitching schedules, determine when Chen will be starting and buy your tickets. Seeing this sheep in sheep’s clothing will make your baseball-fan career. Plus, your team will likely score a ton of runs and probably win by a very large margin. Go team!

Now Batting 9th: Adam Dunn

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Adam Dunn is an “all or nothing” kind of guy. The problem is, all or nothing only works in … well, it never really works. And it especially doesn’t work in baseball because when you’re swinging for the fences on every pitch, you end up being Steve Balboni instead of Reggie Jackson.

I created this blog to celebrate and commend mediocre ballplayers who have beaten the odds by, not only making it to the Major Leagues, but for being wily enough to convince teams to pay them good money to occupy a position on 25-man rosters – while many other talented guys are left bussing around the minors (or merely bussing).

But when it comes to Adam Dunn, it's hard to be good-natured. He just pisses me off because pretending to have no talent is worse than having no talent and that's Adam Dunn.

The 6-foot-6, 285-pound reluctant first baseman should be an above-average ballplayer. He should be Garrett Anderson or JD Drew (or even Robin Ventura – his now manager).  

Instead, Dunn has spent his 12-year career acting like a second-string college quarterback, who wanted to make it into the NFL, but had to settle for MLB (and that is actually his story).

The Cincinnati Reds picked Dunn in the second round of the 1998 draft, allowing him to play football at Texas University. It wasn’t until he was benched, that he turned his sights toward baseball.

The Reds wanted Dunn to be their franchise guy but after years of watching his belly and ass expanding, his lazily strolling on and off the field and coming up empty in clutch situations, they couldn't justify building a team around him. J.P. Ricciardi, General Manager of Toronto Blue Jays said it best – "Dunn is a homerun hitter but doesn't drive in runs."

After watching Dunn dog it for seven years, the Reds finally had enough and at the end of the 2008 season, they traded the Big Dunnky, with cash, to the Arizona Diamondbacks for minor leaguers Dallas Buck, Wilkin Castillo and Micah Owings.

The Diamondbacks basically traded three nobodies for cold hard cash, because three month later, they released Dunn into free agency.

Sure Dunn is a member of the 400-Home Run club (403 to be exact), but he’s more known for being a select member of the 2,000 whiff club. In fact, if you Wikipedia “strikeout” – there’sDunn’s picture. That’s no joke.

Dunn is tied for fifth (with Andres Galarraga) on baseball’s all-time strikeout list with a whopping 2,004.  The four guys ahead of him were/are difference players, contributing to successful teams. Just for kicks, I’ll list them here (compare the home runs to Dunn's 403):

1.    Reggie Jackson (563 home runs and one of the greatest clutch hitters of all time) – 2,597 strikeouts

2.    Jim Thome (611 HR and counting) – 2,534 strikeouts

3.    Sammy Sosa (609 HR) – 2,306 strikeouts

4.    Alex Rodriguez (644 HR and counting) – 2,005 strikeouts

WARNING: The following information should piss off any baseball fan. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK:

• In 2003 the left-handed hitter lead Major League outfielders in errors with 10 while finishing the season with a .215 batting average.

• In 2004, Dunn finished the season with an MLB all-time 195 strikeouts.

• In 2006, Dunn led all outfielders in errors with 12 while finishing the season with a .234 batting average.

• In 2009, Dunn signed $20 million deal with the Washington Nationals while finishing the season with 177 strikeouts.

• In 2012 agreed to a four-year $56 million deal with the Chicago White Sox. He is currently leading the Majors in homeruns with 38 – with 194 strikeouts and 88 RBI (as of September 11).

Slam Dunnk:

Dunn's estimated career-to-date salary is listed at approximately $69 million (not including future salaries). In 2010, the Chicago White Sox signed the .240 hitter for four years, $56 million (that's $15 million a year). Pissed off yet?

MLB Career Totals (as of September 11, 2012)
AB: 5862
Hits: 1410
HR: 403
RBI: 1010
BB: 1161
SO: 2003
AVE: .241

Teams:
Cincinnati Reds (2001-2008)
Arizona Diamondbacks (2009)
Washington Nationals (2009-2010)
Chicago White Sox (2011-Present)

Now Batting 9th: David Ross

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Remember the days of ol’ when backup catchers were either budding stars or over-the-hill guys waiting to retire to first base? That all changed with David Ross, who has found the secret to staying in the big leagues despite being a No. 3 catcher with a career batting average of…wait for it – .239.

David Ross, in his 10th Major League Baseball season and with his sixth team (Atlanta Braves), has single-handedly redefined the role of backup catcher.

The swing that has kept David Ross in the Majors is captured in his 2002 Rookie Card.

 When Ross was coming up through the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, he was a mediocre prospect with limited expectations. In 2002, the Dodgers needed a backstop and this was his opportunity to seize the moment. Ross not only seized the moment, he seized the decade.

To Ross' credit (insert sarcasm), at the time he made it to the Dodger's roster, he was battling for the starting position with three other guys: 34-year old Brent Mayne, 33-year old Todd Hundley and Koyie Hill (recently released by the Nationals). Hey, where are they now? Not with David Ross in the bigs that’s for sure.

Here’ why David Ross is so extremely righteous…

MLB Career Totals (as of August 11, 2012)
AB: 1635
Hits: 390
HR: 81
RBI: 239
BB: 207
SO: 497
AVE: .239

The traveling will not bury

Teams:
Los Angeles Dodgers (2002-2004)*
Pittsburgh Pirates (2005)*
San Diego Padres (2005)
Cincinnati Reds (2006-2008)
Boston Red Sox (2008)
Atlanta Braves (2009-Present)
*Denotes Jim Tracy at the helm (I hope Ross sends Tracy a bouquet of flowers every day).

Interesting Stat:
Ross’ first career home run came off of Arizona Diamondback first baseman, 38-year old Mark Grace, who came in to pitch because the Dodgers were winning 18-0. Did Ross really need to do that? Yes he did because without it, he would only have 80 homeruns today instead of 81.

Cashing in:
MLB teams may be attractive to Ross because of his accommodating salary requirements. In 2004, he was more than fine with taking $310,000 a year from the Dodgers and $500,000 from the Reds in 2006. Ross should be OK with taking less than the $1,625,000 he's been pulling in for the past two years with the Braves.

What team wouldn't want a guy like David Ross sitting behind the plate? The Lynchburg Hillcats, perhaps?

Now batting 9th: Chris Getz

 

(Authors note: I thought it only fitting that Chris Getz be the first athlete I spotlight here, since I’m using his picture as my wallpaper – Yeah, that’s him looking at another called strike)

(Chris Getz update: On August 17, 2012, Getz fractured his thumb on a botched bunt, landing him on the DL for the remainder of the season. Don't worry, KC fans, he'll be back next year!).

Every year I make my spring pilgrimage to Arizona to cover MLB Spring Training games for my gig as Orange County High School Sports reporter for Examiner.com. I usually don't make it farther than Surprise Arizona and surprise – That’s where the Kansas City Royals play. And that's where I get to experience the stylings of Royals second baseman, Chris Getz.

I love Chris Getz because he’s there every spring – like an old friend. In fact, when I go to spring training, I tell everyone that I'm going to see Chris Getz. There's something comforting about consistency.

Sitting in the stands with a bunch of Royals fans really gives you an education. And one thing I've learned about Royals fans is they really don't get Getz (I was dying to say that). I've sat by diehard KC fans who yell things at Getz like – "Another strikeout Getz. Do what you do!" and "C'mon at least get a walk!"

But I like Getz because he's a career .258 hitter who has managed to hang around the bigs for about five seasons. Getz recently came back from playing down with the KC triple-A team, Omaha Storm Chasers, after rehabbing from a lateral strain in his lower leg that came after trying to field a ball against the Cardinals. I believe it was his way of avoiding the Card's pitching staff.

To be fair, Getz hasn't had a great season. About 17 days before that injury, he came off the DL with a bruised rib (from laughing too hard on his way to the bank, maybe?). But just like a bad penny, the consistent second baseman came back. That's what makes him so great.

Getz is a second baseman who throws right, yet bats left (pay attention to this phenomenon, because it will be an ongoing trend in this blog). A left-handed-hitting second baseman? Brilliant. This is the kind of stuff that keeps guys going strong in the Majors and Getz is no dummy.

Background:
The 5-foot-11, 185-pound infielder turns 29 on August 30, 2012. If you look at Getz’s high school and college record, it looks a lot like other baseball prospects – All-Star, All-American, Championship Season, Future's player – everything you'd expect from a kid trying to make the big leagues.

The Michigan native came up through the White Sox organization and in 2008, they traded him (with Josh Fields) to KC for Mark Teahen. Who? What? Anyway, that was when Getz punched his golden ticket. The Royals love this guy and couldn't wait for him to get back from vacationing in Omaha.

Getz will make $967,500 this season (why not a full mill, KC?). He's up for first-year arbitration next season. I'm sure the Royals will happily clump down fewer dollars to keep him until 2015, when he becomes a free agent (are you listening, Dodgers?).

To date, Getz has made approximately $2,226,000. That's what consistency gets you in the Major Leagues. And that's why I will continue to root for Chris Getz!

MLB Career Totals (as of July 31, 2012)
AB: 1122
Hits: 289
HR: 2
RBI: 88
BB: 86
SO: 137
AVE: .258