Last year’s free agent market had a surplus of one thing – talented starting pitchers with health concerns. The market was flooded with guys who had previous success but were battling questions about the conditions of their arms, and were going to settle for one year deals because of it. And, pretty much without fail, they’ve all been busts.

Ben Sheets, Rich Harden, Justin Duchscherer, Chien-Ming Wang, and Erik Bedard were given a total of $25 million in guaranteed money as free agents. They have produced a grand total of +0.3 wins of value as a group, so they’re on pace to have bilked their teams out of $20 million over the course of the season. Now, things could change, and maybe Bedard or Wang will pitch well down the stretch or Sheets will have a great finish to the year, but so far, they’ve essentially been a waste of cash. It gets even worse if you include Brandon Webb’s $8 million option that the Diamondbacks exercised to keep him from hitting the market.

I think most of us thought that these deals were, by and large, good risk/reward propositions. Sheets got a bit more money than expected, but still, his contract wasn’t seen as too far out of line with what he could produce. And yet, the whole group has basically been a failure. It makes me wonder if most of us are overvaluing perceived upside in pitcher valuations.

After all, arm injuries don’t just sideline players, but they also diminish velocity and command, leading to lower levels of effectiveness. Even though Sheets has avoided the DL, he’s still not what he used to be. Harden lost enough off his fastball that he can’t really challenge hitters anymore, leading his always problematic walk rate even higher. And the rest of the group has spent nearly the entire season on the DL.

Upside is a tricky thing. It is the perception of what a guy could be, not necessarily a realistic expectation of what he will be. So far, in 2010, teams who spent on upside have been burned by doing so. I would imagine the money won’t flow so freely for guys with health concerns this winter, and perhaps that reaction is the correct one.

This summer, American audiences have gotten to channel-flip between the two sports that are most frequently called boring: soccer and baseball. Yet they could hardly look more different. Soccer is a timed game of nonstop movement in which players are in motion for 45 minutes at a time, and scoring is rare and highly random; baseball is an untimed game in which players are rarely in motion for more than a few seconds at a time, in which players can acquire nicknames like “The Human Rain Delay” for their facility at slowing down play. Non-soccer fans (I’m one of them) often complain that, in soccer, no one ever scores; non-baseball fans often complain that, in baseball, no one ever moves.

Of course, the World Cup has an added dimension beyond regular soccer: it’s a single-elimination tournament with excitement fueled by nationalism. It’s like March Madness, if the universities had armies and navies. It’s the only chance most of us ever get to watch a single soccer game in a packed bar surrounded by hundreds of other rabid fans. Major League Soccer has been hurt by the recession, but the U.S. men’s soccer team has probably never been as high-profile as it is now. Bill Simmons predicts that Landon Donovan’s winning goal over Algeria to send America into the Round of 16 was such a signal moment in American sports that it will, ultimately, cause soccer to take off in America.

Part of baseball’s genius is that, at its heart, it’s a game of individual matchups: each pitch is a moment frozen in time, the isolated product of mostly discrete and intelligible forces, handedness, true talent, park effect, and so forth. Each moment is a data point, each game a data set. It is the perfect playground for statistical inquiry. On the other hand, soccer is a game of flow. The clock never stops, the whistle never blows, and the action hardly ever resolves neatly, at least until the ball has hit the back of the net. FIFA keeps few statistics more advanced than pass completion percentage, and goals are so rare that — when they aren’t being waved off or ignored by the referee or mucked by the goalie — it seems mostly a matter of luck that any are ever scored at all.

The meaning of “luck” in baseball is hotly contested, of course, but over the course of a long season, controversial calls have a habit of evening out. That isn’t necessarily the case in a seven-game-series, let alone a single-elimination tournament. But while the best baseball in the world is played in America, that isn’t true of soccer. Among the major professional sports leagues in America, Major League Soccer is the only one that doesn’t possess the best players in the world who play its sport. Major League Baseball, the National Basketball League Association, the National Hockey League, and the National Football league all monopolize global talent in their respective sports; MLS mostly makes do with Americans who aren’t good enough to play elsewhere. That isn’t a problem with the rules of soccer, but a problem with the concentration of talent. If the English Premier League were moved brick by brick to America, like the London Bridge, it’s likely that Americans would watch.

I don’t expect I’ll watch much soccer after this weekend’s championship match — I’d probably rather watch Arsenal-Manchester United than Orioles-Pirates, but Comcast rarely gives me the option. I’ve spent a fun few weeks watching the best players in the world, but I’ll be happy to return my full attention to my favorite sport. After watching Spain play the Netherlands, I imagine that trying to watch DC United would just seem boring.

Last Tuesday night, I watched the Royals score 2 runs in the tenth inning to beat the Mariners. The Mariners were actually lucky because 2 Royals were thrown out trying to steal in the tenth inning. The Royals seem to get 1-3 runners thrown out on the base paths during each game (e.g. as I write this Billy Butler gets thrown out making a wide turn at 1st base).

Well, how does the Royals base running compare to the rest of the league. I took all the times a runner was safe at first and was then picked off, caught stealing or thrown out running the bases in a non-force out situation (e.g. trying to go from 1st to 3rd on a single). Some teams will have more chances to get thrown out because they have more base runners so I found the percentage of times a runner was thrown out on a non-force play once the runner was safe at first.

How does the Royals compare to the rest of the league? Here is a list of the worst running teams so far this season (team and percent of time thrown out by a non-force play) :

White Sox 7.9%
Angels – 7.7%
Rays – 7.6%
Rangers – 7.6%
Padres – 7.6%
Royals – 7.5%

Now that base path incompetents have had their 5 seconds of shame, here are the teams that get thrown out the least amount of times on the base paths:

Red Sox – 3.3%
Phillies – 3.6%
Blue Jays – 4.0%
Tigers – 4.2%
Braves 4.4%

Note: Here is a Google Spreadsheet of the all the teams for reference

The Royals are not the league’s worst team, but are not too far off. A few more running errors and they could quickly over take the White Sox.

Unnecessary outs on the base paths are frustrating to deal with as fans. Some of us fans though have to deal with it more than others.

Sometimes the timing works out well. On May 13 I wrote about my appreciation of the Rangers’ ability to make adjustments on the fly. They faced a number of problems early in the season, but found adequate solutions at first base, catcher, in the rotation, and in the bullpen. One area I neglected, possibly because the Rangers hadn’t moved to solve the problem, was center field. Julio Borbon impressed after making his debut last season, and was installed as the everyday center fielder to start the season. It was just a few days before I wrote this that he hit rock bottom.

On May 6, the Rangers and Royals engaged in a shootout. The Rangers jumped out to an 8-0 lead, but the Royals then cut that in half by the fifth before tying the game in the top of the sixth. The Rangers recaptured the lead in the bottom of the inning only to squander it again in the seventh. The Royals then took their first lead in the top of the eighth, but the Rangers scored two in the bottom half to take a lead they’d keep. Borbon had none of the fun, going 0-for-4 and lowering his season batting line to .184/.202/.230. The Rangers clearly had a problem in center field.

Rather than look for a fix, they let the problem play out. It turns out to have been the right decision. Since that game on May 6 Borbon has hit very well, .342/.379/.462 in 172 PA. That checks in a bit better than his 2009 triple slash of .312/.376/.414, which he achieved in 179 PA. In other words, after a painfully slow start Borbon has recovered to essentially improve upon his performance from 2009. While his season stats haven’t quite caught up — his wOBA still sits at a well below average .305 — he will have quite an impressive line at the end of the season if he continues this pace.

This is the kind of performance the Rangers envisioned when they drafted Borbon with the 35th pick of the 2007 draft. Coming from the University of Tennesee, he was considered something of a raw talent, a player with a few plus or plus-plus tools that still had plenty to work on. It didn’t take him long to show improvement. After a rough pro debut in 2007, Borbon hit .306/.346/.395 in the class-A California League before hitting .337/.380/.459 in the AA Texas League. Baseball America rated him Texas’s No. 9 prospect heading into the 2009 season. While they praised him as a “slashing leadoff man and solid center fielder in the Johnny Damon mold,” they did note that his plate approach, notably his ability to work the count, needed more work.

To that point Borbon had drawn a walk in just 5 percent of his plate appearances, and in 2009 he did improve on that, walking 33 times in 457 PA, or 7.2 percent of the time. His overall performance in AAA, .307/.367/.386, earned him a summer call-up and a place in the Rangers lineup. As he did in 2008 at AA and in 2009 at AAA, Borbon showed that he belonged. He ran a high BABIP, but he also showed even more discipline, walking in 8.4 percent of his plate appearances. It’s no wonder the Rangers considered him their starting center fielder for 2010.

That discipline, it appeared, was lost earlier in the season. He walked just once in his first 91 PA while striking out in 16 percent of his at-bats. But then, after the game against Kansas City, it’s like he picked up right where he left off last season. He has walked nine times in his last 172 PA, no great feat but still an enormous improvement from earlier. He has also cut down on his strikeouts. The most noticeable difference is on the results he has produced on balls in play. After posting a .219 BABIP to start the season he has been at .355 in his last 172 PA, which nearly matches the .360 mark he posted last season.

Can Borbon possibly keep up this high rate of hits on balls in play? It is possible. With a plus-plus speed tool, he can beat out his share of infield hits. His batting average has also been less dependent on a high BABIP this year. While he hit .312 on a .360 BABIP last year, he’s hitting .286 on a .313 BABIP this year, and again his average is .342 in his last 172 PA, when his BABIP has been .355. Part of this comes from his batted ball profile. His ground balls are up, fly balls are down, and line drive rate is up, at least compared to the earlier portion of the season.

Seventeen major leaguers posted a BABIP of .355 or greater last season, though few of them have achieved that mark on a consistent basis. For Borbon, however, it might not matter all that much. Last year he hit .312 on a .360 BABIP, but this season he’s hitting .286 on a .313 BABIP. When his BABIP rose, his average shot up with it. Even if Borbon’s BABIP does drop into the .330 range, he should still be able to hit for a decent average.

Heading into May, after a sub-.500 April, the Rangers needed to make a number of adjustments. They found reasonable solutions and replacements in some areas, but left center field alone. That non-move ended up working out. Julio Borbon has been excellent since mid-May

Yesterday, Corey Seidman (no relation to Baseball Prospectus writer Eric Seidman…oh wait, yes there is. They’re brothers) and I were discussing Jamie Moyer over Twitter. Needless to say, just about everybody loves Moyer:

“I don’t know about other people, but I know I’m amazed at what he can do,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “That shows his love, his passion and his desire for the game. I don’t mind giving Jamie Moyer the ball, because I know he’s gonna give you everything he’s got when he goes out there.”

“He’s a great pitcher. That’s the best way to put it,” Jeter said. “Whether you’re throwing 95 [mph] or 65 [mph], there’s still an art to hitting your spots, and he’s mastered it as good as anyone.”

I wanted to take a look at Moyer to discuss some deeper things:

2010: 5.19 K/9, 1.67 BB/9, 4.13 ERA, 4.56 FIP, 4.40 xFIP, 4.26 tERA, 1.0 WAR

So, is Jamie Moyer pitching well this year? There’s no question that his walks are way down, which is a huge asset for a guy that does not strike many people out. His ERA is okay, his FIP is mediocre, and his xFIP is solid. But why hasn’t Moyer declined after aging another year (insert “Jamie Moyer is so old that…” joke here) and posting a 5.08 FIP last year? Maybe because of his insanely low BABIP. Hitters are reaching on hits on just 24.4% (.244 BABIP) of the balls put in play against Moyer this year, which is due to regress any minute now.

Many people will say that Moyer is producing a lower BABIP because he is giving up fewer line drives:

2010: 14.3 LD%, 45.9 GB%, 39.8 FB%
2009: 19.0 LD%, 41.0 GB%, 39.9 FB%
Career: 19.9 LD%, 39.7 GB%, 40.4 GB%

So Moyer is giving up fewer drives, which means he’s pitching better, right? No, not really:

I would make another bold prediction at this point, except for one caveat. We really don’t know how persistent the ability is among major league pitchers to manage the number of line drives allowed. In fact, the evidence I’ve seen would indicate that, once a major league pitcher reaches the major leagues, his line drive-stopping capability is pretty much the same as every other pitcher’s.

In other words, the line drive is usually a result of the batter’s skill, and not a lack of the pitcher’s.

That was Dave Studeman in a piece at The Hardball Times from 2005. Here’s Tom Tango:

…MGL, in his fantastic DIPS Primer article from 7 years ago showed the correlation in two things:
(i) frequency of LD per BIP among MLB pitchers, and the r was low, something like r=.05

(ii) the rate of outs per LD, and the r was quite high, something like r=.35; getting r=.35 on a low frequency denominator like LD is fantastic.

So, you can look at half the equation and say “little skill in frequency of line drives”, and ok, let’s accept that with some provisions. But, the other half, the quality of each line drive shows a definite skill. And that you can’t ignore.

We don’t believe an Albert Pujols line drive is the same as a Juan Pierre line drive. While not to that extent, we also shouldn’t ignore the fact that pitchers have their own quality level on line drives.

So while the quality of line drives can be measured, I agree with the findings of Tango, Studeman, and some others (I think Matt Swartz at BP comes to mind), that the rate at which they occur is pretty random.

If Jamie Moyer is an old dog learning new tricks, then he’s bucking the trend. I think he’s just getting lucky with his line drive rate, and I think you’re going to see him get beat up soon.

Justin Morneau has the highest WAR in baseball right now, but you probably knew that. Know who is second?

Josh Johnson. With another dominating start last night, the Marlins ace has now thrown 122 innings and is running a 2.33 FIP. Yes, that’s likely to rise over the course of the season (his HR/FB is just 3.8 percent), but for the first half of the season, he’s been basically unhittable.

However, this post is not to praise Johnson as much as it is to ask his agent “what were you thinking?” Six months ago, he signed a four year extension with the Marlins that will pay him $39 million through 2013. He would have been a free agent at the end of the 2012 season, so he gave up two years of free agency in order to sign the deal.

Two other pitchers with the same amount of service time signed long term contracts this winter as well. Felix Hernandez got $78 million over five years, and Justin Verlander got $80 million over five years, both getting about 60 percent more in annual salary than Johnson in addition to an extra year on the end of their deal.

Johnson didn’t have the same track record as either of those two, but he did have – and still has – similar talent levels. He’s out-pitching both of them right now, in fact. If Johnson had not signed a long term deal last winter, he’d be staring at one of the largest arbitration payouts in history this winter, and he’d have enough leverage to command a deal equal to those signed by Hernandez and Verlander a year ago.

Instead, he left a lot of money on the table. A lot. Here’s what he said at the time of the deal:

“I’m excited,” Johnson said. “It sets up me and my family for life. One of the best parts is knowing where I’m going to be the next four years. I won’t have to hear about any trade rumors or anything like that. I’m happy to be in South Florida.”

Johnson was clearly motivated to avoid going year to year, valuing long term security and peace of mind so highly that he signed a contract that makes him one of the most underpaid players in the game, relative to his ability. The next time you hear someone say that players are just all about the money nowadays, remind them of Johnson and his contract. Just like the rest of us, players value a variety of things, and they make decisions on where to work based on a variety of reasons.

This is a long-delayed continuation of my series previewing the Futures Game rosters. We have seen the American pitchers and the World hitters. Today, the dangerous and powerful American offense.

Hank Conger | C | Los Angeles Angels | Age 22 | Triple-A (PCL)
.275 AVG / .375 OBP / .408 SLG | 38 BB / 37 K | 278 PA

It’s been a slow and steady development for Conger, because while his OPS numbers have dropped every season for three years, he’s actually a better prospect now than when he hit .303/.333/.517 in the California League. His contact skills are still very good, but with a career-high showing in the walks column, Conger’s become a very tough out. The power is settling in at Major League average, so the big question — the only question — is whether the defense at catcher is good enough.

Austin Romine | C | New York Yankees | Age 21 | Double-A (Eastern)
.286 AVG / .368 OBP / .432 SLG | 33 BB / 59 K | 302 PA

I sort of wondered before the season if Austin Romine and Jesus Montero had closer likely outcomes than we were giving them credit for. Montero is probably a first baseman, and in the Yankees organization, that means probably a DH. Romine, on the other hand, will stick behind the plate, though his ghastly 18% rate of throwing out baserunners this year isn’t encouraging. He’ll need to improve that to convince me, and more importantly, Yankees brass, that he’s Jorge Posada’s successor and Gary Sanchez’ placeholder.

Lonnie Chisenhall | 3B | Cleveland Indians | Age 21 | Double-A (Eastern)
.275 AVG / .342 OBP / .424 SLG | 20 BB / 36 K | 284 PA

I called out Chisenhall when I did my series on the history of first-round third baseman, which found that, without fail, the successful first round draftees at this position hit in Double-A. When I wrote the article, Chisenhall wasn’t, his OPS hanging around .700. But after a return from injury, Chisenhall showed some power in June, so I’m not writing anybody off yet. The juice in his bat — which I’ll only have batting practice to gauge — is the storyline going forward.

Drew Cumberland | SS | San Diego Padres | Age 21 | A+ / AA
.360 AVG / .396 OBP / .516 SLG | 16 BB / 41 K | 314 PA

The last time I saw Cumberland was when he was a high school rising senior at the East Coast Showcase. I liked him, and 10 months later, I wrote this: “Cumberland was on another level during infield practice in Wilmington, showing natural actions at shortstop that should keep him at the position. Cumberland is extremely athletic and has good bat speed,and while he won’t hit for much power, I had his batting practice ranked in my top five at the event.” He’s been oft-injured since then, but it seems he is much the same player — patience is the last thing missing from his game.

Danny Espinosa | SS | Washington Nationals | Age 23 | Double-A (Eastern)
.252 AVG / .330 OBP / .427 SLG | 27 BB / 74 K | 323 PA

The long line of Long Beach State shortstops extends to Espinosa, who burst onto the scene with a big Carolina League season a year ago, and is now settling into the player he’ll become. His contact skills are not good, and as a result, he won’t hit more than .260 in the big leagues consistently. But I hope he’s finding out the importance of walks — his 8.4% rate this year is down from 12.8% last year, which represents 35 really important OBP points. The power in his bat is above average for the position, and he’ll stick at shortstop, so he’s a better prospect than you’d think.

Dee Gordon | SS | Los Angeles Dodgers | Age 22 | Double-A (Southern)
.276 AVG / .329 OBP / .356 SLG | 20 BB / 43 K | 358 PA

In fact, for all the praise that Gordon receives, Espinosa might be a better prospect than this Dodger. Gordon is more exciting, sure, with blinding speed that could very well translate to 50 (or more) steals in the Major Leagues. But the value of that, relative to Espinosa’s obvious power advantage, is minimal. Where Gordon has a chance to close the gap is with his contact ability. His BABIP should be higher than .310 — it needs to be higher — because he’s a guy that will have to hit .300 consistently.

Grant Green | SS | Oakland Athletics | Age 22 | High-A (California)
.320 AVG / .370 OBP / .479 SLG | 24 BB / 75 K | 364 PA

Green was a pick that no one seemed to hate from last year’s draft — he had entered the spring as a potential top 3 pick, so the A’s got real value. But I think we all started second-guessing ourselves when his OPS stood at .700, in the California League, on May 29. Since then, Green has hit .376/.418/.648, and his numbers are far more reflecting his potential. The plate approach needs work, and as a result, he always will be susceptible to the slumps that plagued him for the season’s first two months. I do wonder which West Coast shortstop, Espinosa or Green, will show better pop in BP.

Eric Hosmer | 1B | Kansas City Royals | Age 20 | High-A (Carolina)
.356 AVG / .431 OBP / .551 SLG | 41 BB / 33 K | 350 PA

Because these articles always run long, and because Royals minor league fans have enough going for them, I’m going to keep this short. It’s because I really want to look at Hosmer more in detail next week. Specifically, I want to try and investigate how often highly regarded first baseman have looked like hell in Year 1, managed to keep scouts believing, and validated them in Year 2 and beyond. Article forthcoming…

Logan Morrison | 1B | Florida Marlins | Age 22 | Triple-A (PCL)
.324 AVG / .430 OBP / .514 SLG | 34 BB / 27 K | 223 PA

That walk-to-strikeout ratio is inspiring, isn’t it? The Marlins have a really interesting decision on their hands, as Gaby Sanchez has been very good in his rookie season in Miami. But no one doubts that Morrison is a better long-term commodity. The options: 1) trade Sanchez, 2) platoon. The latter works, as Sanchez has a .978 OPS this year vs. LHPs in 89 PA, following an OPS of 1.007 in 105 PA’s last year. But limiting Morrison in his development against southpaws this early seems foolish, too. What about playing Morrison at 1B vs. RHP and in LF vs. LHP, with Chris Coghlan getting the platoon treatment? Because, if I know anything, it’s that Morrison is a better prospect than last year’s Rookie of the Year.

Mike Moustakas | 3B | Kansas City Royals | Age 21 | Double-A (Texas)
.355 AVG / .417 OBP / .705 SLG | 25 BB / 41 K | 288 PA

I worked for MiLB.com in 2008, and during my summer there, toured the Midwest League with regularity. I probably saw 80% of the players in that league take batting practice, and only one looked like a big league power hitter: Moustakas. I know the bat is going to play, but the question is how he’ll look in infield practice.

Domonic Brown | RF | Philadelphia Phillies | Age 22 | AA / AAA
.332 AVG / .398 OBP / .622 SLG | 32 BB / 60 K | 322 PA

Before the season, I wrote up Brown, and concluded with this: “[The question is] essentially: does Brown’s power develop, or doesn’t it?” The answer is a resounding yes, as we’ve seen Brown develop each of the last two years right before our eyes. In that article, I also listed the 25 players that Baseball America has ranked that stood 6-foot-3 or taller (Brown is 6-foot-5). With this year, it looks like Brown might follow the higher path of comps: Juan Gonzalez, Tim Salmon, Vlad Guerrero, Josh Hamilton, etc.

Brett Jackson | CF | Chicago Cubs | Age 21 | A+ / AA
.320 AVG / .426 OBP / .527 SLG | 49 BB / 70 K | 357 PA

I wasn’t the only one that fancied Jackson as a tweener the day the Cubs drafted him, but I’m probably the happiest of that bunch to admit I might be wrong. Jackson has been on an epic tear of late, gaining praise as a line drive machine. He’ll need to be, as the strikeouts are going to keep his average on the low end. But with very good patience and more power than I thought, Jackson would probably work in a corner spot if centerfield doesn’t stick. Hopefully I’ll get to see what range he brings to the table on Sunday.

Desmond Jennings | OF | Tampa Bay Rays | Age 23 | Triple-A (International)
.295 AVG / .369 OBP / .419 SLG | 23 BB / 39 K | 245 PA

If I know anything, it’s that this is going to be one special defensive outfield on the United States side, as Mike Trout in center, Jennings in right and Revere in left would cover an insane amount of ground. Jennings has been working on his outfield versatility in Durham, as it’s unclear whether he’ll replace B.J. Upton in center, Carl Crawford in left, or make Ben Zobrist move out of right field full-time. Either way, he can’t be denied much longer.

Ben Revere | CF/LF | Minnesota Twins | Age 22 | Double-A (Eastern)
.307 AVG / .380 OBP / .361 SLG | 26 BB / 23 K | 276 PA

In the interest of full disclosure, Revere is probably the nicest ballplayer I have ever interviewed, and a guy you can’t help but root for. His limitations are obvious when you see his diminutive build, as this is a guy that isn’t going to hit Major League home runs. But you can’t strike him out, so I’m almost as confident that he’ll hit .300 in the big leagues, as well. The questions, then, are how often he’ll walk, and how good his defense will be. All signs point to the latter being fantastic, so don’t close the book on Revere — multiple seasons replicating the 2009s had by Nyjer Morgan and Ryan Sweeney are in play.

Mike Trout | CF | Los Angeles Angels | Age 18 | Low-A (Midwest)
.364 AVG / .448 OBP / .531 SLG | 41 BB / 50 K | 355 PA

The assumption by most is that Domonic Brown is the #1 prospect in minor league baseball. Considering that he hasn’t disappointed at all this year — even improving by some respects — and all the players ranked before him have graduated to the Majors, it’s a fair assessment, but I’m not sure it respects just how historic a season Mike Trout is having. To show that kind of patience, to steal 42 bases in 50 attempts, to show power potential, all at the age of 18 in the Midwest League — this is uncharted territory. There is no one I look forward to seeing this weekend more.

Tomorrow, before I jet-set off to Los Angeles, I finish this much-spread-out series. Thanks for your patience.

The Angels are once again making like their namesake and defying natural laws. Looking over the names that have taken plate appearances for Los Angeles of Anaheim over the past month is a bewildering experience when combined with their above .500 record and second place rank. Let’s take a look at a few of the most random cameos on the 2010 Angels.

Michael Ryan

The last time Ryan appeared in a major league game prior to this season was 2005 with the Twins. He was teammates with Torii Hunter then, too. Of course he was also teammates with Dustan Mohr, Bobby Kielty, Lew Ford, and Jason Tyner at various points. Truthfully, he wasn’t good then (.265/.313/.408 over 285 plate appearances) and he’s not good now (.205/.220/.308 over 41 plate appearances). Ryan spent the first few weeks of the season in the minors with the Angels Triple-A team, hitting .331/.383/.500 after multiple seasons bouncing from Triple-A team to Triple-A team. He really doesn’t belong in the majors.

Kevin Frandsen

This one isn’t too surprising. Frandsen always seemed destined to be shunned by the Giants and when the Red Sox acquired him in March the collective droves of Fransend supporters responded by tilting their neck, puffing their cheeks, and sounding “mmmmmhmm”. Four weeks later the Angels plucked Frandsen off waivers. He’s been decent for the Angels given his cost; so far a below average UZR but above average hitting in a little over 100 plate appearances while walking more than he has struck out.

Paul McAnulty

Another former National League West player who went through Boston’s clutches before joining the Angels. If you love short and delightfully plump outfielders who bat left-handed and walk while striking out quite a bit and not hitting for a ton of power in their major league stint, then McAnulty is your man.

Cory Aldridge

This is the ultimate “Huh?” play. Aldridge debuted with the Braves in 2001 as a 22 year old. He played in eight games, recording five plate appearances and zero hits with four strikeouts. The Braves didn’t call him back up in 2002 or in 2003. In 2004 he left the Braves for the Royals. He didn’t appear in a game for the Royals in 2005. No such luck in 2006 with the White Sox or Mets, either. He lost his phone in 2007. Things got complicated in 2008 when he returned to Kansas City. And in 2009 he decided to move out to the west coast where, hey, he finally got the call. In two games, he has recorded six at-bats, zero hits, zero walks, and a strikeout. Someone let Aldridge get a hit so he doesn’t have to play until he’s 40 to get another shot.

Reggie Willits

This one isn’t so much a shock as a reminder. Willits is essentially the baseball version of rapper Chingy. Broke onto the scene hot with one good skill and then was completely forgotten as soon as the next catchy tune came along. Willits of course debuted in 2006 as a gritty reserve outfielder with a ridiculous ability to grind out walks. He couldn’t hit for power and despite his speed he wasn’t an overly good defender. Still, he was a switch-hitter and when he received more than 500 plate appearances in 2007 it became apparent that he fit the Angels way – mostly because every announcer would mention his specialty. Since 2008 began Willits has barely received 300 plate appearances, hitting .214/.310/.245 with eight extra base hits and eight stolen bases. Safe to say, Willits didn’t hit the jackpot after all.

Mark Reynolds is a special breed. The stereotype of the slugger swinging from his heels is well known, but Mark Reynolds has been setting a new benchmark for that this season, far eclipsing his peers.

On pitches located outside the strike zone, Reynolds makes contact just 44% of the time when he swings. That is the league’s worst rate by a couple percentage points, even worse than the likes of Ryan Howard, Adam Dunn and Justin Upton, the only other hitters to fall below 50%.

What truly sets Reynolds apart though is his contact rate on pitches inside the strike zone. At 69%, Reynolds is a whopping eight points behind the next nearest whiff master, Mike Napoli. Of course, that means that Reynolds paces the league in swinging and missing both at pitches inside and outside the zone. Even with a moderate overall swing rate of just 46%, Reynolds far and away leads the league in pitches swung at and missed at 17%, three points more than Josh Hamilton.

Reynolds is striking out in 42% of all his plate appearances, also leading the league by a considerable margin over fellow Diamondback Justin Upton. Incidentally, teammate Adam LaRoche ranks seventh in the league in strikeout rate and Arizona as a whole is the worst hitting team in baseball when it comes to strikeouts.

This is not new territory for Reynolds however. Reynolds had baseball’s worst contact rate and highest swinging strike rate in 2008 and 2009 as well. Reynolds also led in strikeout rate last season, but Jack Cust managed to eclipse him in 2008. Despite all those strikeouts, Reynolds has been a productive hitter his whole Major League career. Nobody launches more fly balls in the league than Reynolds does and doing that in a home run haven as Arizona is can pay big dividends when you have power behind them. Mark certainly has that to spare and as a result, his home run per fly ball ratio is one of the league’s best.

Now if only he could field.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have used 21 different pitchers this season. That doesn’t lead the National League – the Marlins and Diamondbacks at 22 apiece do – but it is above the National League average, and tied with the Nationals. It seems the Pirates will be adding at least one more name to their list in the coming days, though, as today they traded cash to the Padres for the rights to Sean Gallagher.

Gallagher has been around the block a few times now. Just two years ago he was part of the package that lead to the acquisition of Rich Harden. At the time, Gallagher was 22 years old and in nearly 60 innings for Chicago had a 4.12 FIP and 4.40 xFIP. Despite lacking a top-end fastball or a great outpitch, Gallagher looked to be a decent bet heading forward as a cheap mid-to-back of the rotation starter in the typical Athletics’ mold. As time has since revealed, not only did that prophecy fail to come to fruition but Gallagher would be sent to the Padres as part of the first Scott Hairston deal.

Now, if one had to choose two ballparks that a starting pitcher with so-so stuff and a career 35.7% groundball rate would pitch in for the most optimal results, odds are the ballparks in Oakland and San Diego would make the list along with maybe Safeco Field. Yet, Gallagher never found that level of success he had in 2008. In 2009 he only appeared in the majors for a brief time and looked pretty poor, and in 2010 he’s spent 23 innings in the majors while posting a 5.85 xFIP.

So here he is. Joining his fourth organization since 2008 and in yet another pitcher’s park; it’s an odd story because Gallagher has only amassed 173 innings in the majors. He’s only 24. He held pretty decent upper minor league numbers and he wouldn’t be the first young pitcher to experience some growing pains. At the end of the day, he’s a righty without supreme status stuff and with a high reliance on flyballs and a strong strikeout to walk ratio. The margin for error is small, and yet if any team can afford to take a chance on Gallagher and see if something – anything really – can be milked out of an arm, why not Pittsburgh right now?

It may not be pretty, but it doesn’t have to be when the alternative is Brian Burres.