Alex, Derek meet Cliff
Friday, August 27, 2010 at 12:14 am by SJK
They are cases we've highlighted throughout the year. Yet, as we enter the last full month of the season, and with no significant improvements evident, we can say that 2010 was a year when two of baseball's biggest superstars fell off a cliff.
Alex Rodriguez
Current line: .265/.333/.485 -- (Career: .303/.387/.571)
- Career lows in OPS (.818), OBP (.333), SLG (.485), wOBA (.351)
- Lowest ISO (.222) since 1997
- Lowest BB% (9.3%) since 1999
- Lowest LD% (14.6%), Highest GB% (45.4%), Lowest HR per FB ratio (14.7%) since origin of these stats (2002)
- Lowest productivity versus a fastball (0.97 runs above average per 100 fastballs thrown) since origin of this stat (2002)
Derek Jeter
Current line: .275 /.338/.388 -- (Career: .315/.385/.455)
- Career lows in OPS (.727), OBP (.338), SLG (.388), wOBA (.326)
- Lowest LD% (17.1%), Highest GB% (65.8%) since origin of these stats (2002)
- Swinging at a career high of pitches outside the strike zone (28.5%)
- Swinging at a career low of pitches inside the strike zone (67.8%)
- Jeter's SLG is only .008 higher than Brett Gardner's SLG
- Jeter has a lower OPS+ (100) and wOBA (.326) than the much-maligned Curtis Granderson (107 OPS+, .335 wOBA)
While it would be heresy to bump Jeter down in the order, he really shouldn't be leading off. Having an OBP of .338 and leading the AL in plate appearances (583) is not a good combination.
Reason for real concern
Time will tell if 2010 is the beginning of a sustained decline for both Alex and Derek. Hopefully, they will bounce back next season. However, age and injury (A-Rod especially) are not on their side. There is reason for real concern, and both players have very unique contract situations.
ohhhhhhhahhhhhhhhh slugging % good one. i like the “this gay guy” response, hopefully you’re 12 cause anyone older then that that gets upset and answers with “well you’re gay” has a hard hard life ahead of them. good luck with that.
“At least Joe won’t have to bat me leadoff or 2nd due to garbage sentimentality”
ok so that’s the only reason he bats on top of the lineup? great logic. I’m done with this stupid topic. Id rather talk about the rest of the season not meaningless topics. I’ll let Jeter himself make my point when he’s getting big hits in oct and you’re all beating off to pics of Jeter’s swinging at a pitches inside the strike zone %. You’ll be thankful he bats 1st or 2nd and not 7th.
and i’m not exactly “defending him” he doesnt need to be defended, his stats do the talking for me. I’m simple making my case as to why im not ready to throw dirt on him and send him home with a thankyou bag.
“Curtis Granderson has been a better hitter than Jeter this year. ‘Nuff said.”
OMG i cant answer that, you hurt my feeling’s, you’re gay, You must be 20 lbs over weigh, my dad can beat up yours. wahhh wahhh why is Jeter playing for the yankees wahhh wahhhh someone change my diaper.
I think the immediate reaction of “it isn’t Jeter it’s going to be Ramiro Pena” is somewhat juvenile. Come on The Yankees can’t have Jeter at short forever folks own up to it. Also Pena has a good glove and bats ninth, I don’t see Jeter bat that low in the line-up. Save for a handful of guys (ie Omar Vizquel) most Short Stops move positions later in their career it’s natural, it’s common.
What Jeter does now is position himself to make plays and when he is positioned correctly he excels. However, watching the games his lateral movement is not what it used to be, combine that with achey A-rod and I can’t count the ammount of hits I have seen go directly between them, there are too many. This is something that will not sustain a winning record for long in this league over time.
I know the anti stats folks won’t agree but his UZR/150 is -7.3 and RngR is -9.2… Just for comparison Pena is 20.8/1.2 and in this particular instance that correlates exactly to what I see during the games.
Anyway, Pena isn’t the defacto next shortstop, Nunez who just came up is a higher rated SS prospect and has shown a better bat in the minors. We also have other SS in the minors and there is a thing called Free Agency.
So yes Jeter is awesome, he is hard to replace but he will be replaced eventually. He’s 36 and for comparison sake Phil Rizzuto was done at SS at this age only getting 43 starts / 79 games at SS the year he turned 37.
Things will change, be open minded, we don’t need an all-star/hall of famer at every postion.
Just saying what is your point? that jeter wont play SS forever? thanks, we all know this.
Please stop with zone rating it’s a joke. Up the middle maybe but i dont know where ur seeing all these so called hits getting by jeter and arod, are you sure you’re not watching met games?
“Anyway, Pena isn’t the defacto next shortstop, Nunez who just came up is a higher rated SS prospect and has shown a better bat in the minors. We also have other SS in the minors and there is a thing called Free Agency.”
Do you remember yanks SS’s before Jeter? there was minor leagues and free agency then to.
Jeter will never embarrass himself or the yankees out there. He’ll know when it’s time to move positions or retire. More reason this is little to no concern to me.
Our playoff rotation? now that a concern, not Jeter’s next contract. But why would nomass talk about pitching when it can take the easy way out and post one of it;s thousands of saved Jeter hogwash.
Hey nomass, Burnett tonight. Go to open file, click on the folder named “aj electric” and post of of your pre-made aj stories. I really think this site wants AJ to fail so bad that they root against him when he pitches.
I like how the Jeter Defender changes names to make it look like multiple people are siding with him.
The Nomaas writers are about as insightful as the big shit I took this morning.
WOW GUYS GET OLD AND LOSE A STEP. HOLY FUCKING SHIT NOMAAS IS SO SMART AND INTELLIGENT!
Fuck this site.
This site could never roll with my Big Red Machine.
DJ is still the man u dick lickers. One bad year for him with another playoff appearences is fine since he has carried the yanks to 5 championships already
One thing I’ve always appreciated about Nomaas is the fact that they do admit they were wrong from time to time. I’d like them to revisit this post after ARod heals from this injury laden season.
Out of all of our worries, Jeter and A-Rod drop very low on the list. We know pitching wins championships. The most overused cliche ever I know, but it’s the most truthful.
Look at our freakin set up men. Chamberlain & Robertson gave up 2 earned runs each again last night!! WTF!
The Jeterites on here sound like Flat-Earthers. To say something like: “he doesnt need to be defended, his stats do the talking for me” can only prove you don’t know what stats are. To say that Jeter does not appear to have entered a decline phase over the past five years is asinine in the extreme. It’s just a fact: Jeter is sucking it this year, compared to his normal performance. This statements matches statistical reality and the much vaunted (by idiots) “eye test”.
It doesn’t mean that he’s the worst player in baseball, or on the Yankees, but it sure as hell means Girardi shouldn’t be knee-capping his team by keeping him in lead-off or near the top of the batting order with his crappy OBP and abysmal approach at the plate, and it also sure as hell means the FO shouldn’t burden the organization with a huge contract extension to satisfy the retards who want to keep paying him for his salad days 10 years ago, as if he hadn’t already been paid millions of dollars for them. Stop pretending that the Yankees really don’t have a budget, or that they aren’t constrained by the 25-man roster.
Maybe Jeter and A-Rod will improve next year. I hope they do, and I even feel sure that they (especially A-Rod) will look better than they do right now. But they certainly will not magically go back to their peak years as they home in on their 40th birthdays.
Do all you Jeter defenders really think all of the things your saying? Or are you just indenial about the thought of the captain actually having a bad season. Since most Jeter defenders dissmiss statitical advancements made in the past 20 years, I guess they haven’t really been able to see the numbers (mostly the defensive ones, as he has been a productive hitter up until now). But this year, even the classic stats (AVG, etc.) are showing that he’s not too productive. So I don’t really see what leg they have to stand on in this argument. And I love DJ more than the next guy, but nobody in baseball (except maybe Mariano Rivera) is unaffected by age.
Heaven for bid that Derek Jeter and A-Rod have off years not like anyone in baseball has ever done that… you call yourselves yankees fans? I would not be surprised to see Jeter come out next season and bat somewhere between .300 and .350, and then all of a sudden you people will be right back on his dick, A-Rod will also have a comeback season with a .290-.310 batting avg and about 30-40 HR… get over yourselves they are having off years, and i wouldnt be surprised either to see Jeter put on a hitting clinch in september, when any real fan knows thats when the games mean the most… so lay off and get a life
Can we just close the comments on these posts? They were so much more enjoyable when the general public couldn’t make their opinions seen (because they are dumb).
“Heaven for bid that Derek Jeter and A-Rod have off years not like anyone in baseball has ever done that… you call yourselves yankees fans?”
I doubt anyone would be too worried if they were both 28 years old. But people are afraid these aren’t just “off-years”, but the start of declines.
“But people are afraid ”
Afraid? I dont think so. The comments i read on here are not people being afraid that Jeter is what he is now. It’s constant whining that he is killing the team, needs to be moved in the lineup, crying about his next contract, etc, etc, etc.
It’s all Jeter bashing, Girardi bashing, jeter whining blah blah blah, its not people being afraid by any means.
“So I don’t really see what leg they have to stand on in this argument. And I love DJ more than the next guy, but nobody in baseball (except maybe Mariano Rivera) is unaffected by age.”
No one is trying to say he hasnt lost a step or hasnt been affected bu age. The argument is that he’s not “done”, doesnt need to be batting 7th, and is not killing this team in any way, and what his next contract is means nothing whay does anyone care what he gets paid
“Stop pretending that the Yankees really don’t have a budget, or that they aren’t constrained by the 25-man roster.”
It’s comments like this that just prove people have no clue what they are talking about.
A budget LOLOL it’s insulting to every other team in MLB and their fans to say the yankees need to watch what they pay Jeter because of their “budget” LOLOL, as stephen a smith would say,,CMON NOW.
Even if they pay him the same rate he makes now how does this hamper the team in anyway?
squirrel
@ Matt K: come on over to RAB and get away from the great unwashed…
“Afraid? I dont think so. The comments i read on here are not people being afraid that Jeter is what he is now. It’s constant whining that he is killing the team, needs to be moved in the lineup, crying about his next contract, etc, etc, etc.
It’s all Jeter bashing, Girardi bashing, jeter whining blah blah blah, its not people being afraid by any means.”
I think you’re too sensitive when it comes to the Yankee captain. Moving him down in the lineup would most likely help the team, statistics can back this up. People are AFRAID that the Yankees will give someone on the decline a huge contract.
“No one is trying to say he hasnt lost a step or hasnt been affected bu age. The argument is that he’s not “done”, doesnt need to be batting 7th, and is not killing this team in any way, and what his next contract is means nothing whay does anyone care what he gets paid”
No contract means nothing…that’s really not a difficult concept to grasp. The less money the Yankees spend on Jeter, the more they have to spend on other talent. His contract is very significant. Yes the Yankees have lots of money, but if they had as much as you make it out to be, everyone could get 20 mil and it “wouldn’t matter”.
I can tell you for a fact, that Derek hasn’t lost a step.