Second Basemen:
What Th'?

Derek Zumsteg

In putting together this article, I was constantly frustrated by the lack of good second basemen. I began to dream about working on another position. I really dislike these guys, almost to a man. If you can't hit for power, here's an idea for you -- learn to take a walk. Think about it, okay? I was appalled that players like Todd Walker have to play for $200K while Mike Lansing gets paid $3M. Maybe Scott Boras has a point about the inequity of pay for young players. In general, this is a pretty scrubby crowd, composed in large part by unspectacular veteran players.

This is probably the weirdest chart I've ever drawn up. There seem to be two groupings, one significantly above the average and the other significantly below it, both parallel to the total group's trendline.

Vertical numbers represent OPS, horizontal figures are salary. The trendline represents the average salary-to-OPS figure.

Significant good and bad values of the second base free agents:

Damion Easley, Detroit Tigers

Not a good on-base man, but he hits for good power and signed for just under two million. A good pickup for any club. If Damon would take a walk (52 Ks, 16 BBs), he'd be the apple of my eye.

Delino DeShields, St. Louis Cardinals

Delino walks as often as he strikes out and is known to leg out extra bases frequently (15 double, 7 triples). Once a media darling, then a disappointment, he remains a good, solid player, and a great value for his salary.

Craig Biggio, Houston Astros

You're going to get tired of me praising Houston's management before this is all over, but they make great deals. Biggio is one of the highest paid players at his position at 6 million, but he's a good deal for the money. Despite striking out about twice as often as he walks, Biggio gets on base a leadoff-esque 40% of the time. And he seems like a pretty good guy.

Mickey Morandini, Chicago Cubs

You don't see the Cubs spending smart money that often, and I'm inclined to think they just got lucky on this one. Pay low for a veteran player, if he has a good year you're a genius, and they're unlikely to have a real poor season. Still, he's getting on base a lot and that means good things happen for his team.

Joey Cora, Seattle Mariners

Not a particularly bad signing for the money, ranking just below Roberto "I Spit in Your Face" Alomar (this week's "Right on the Trendline" poster boy) but this is a case where I'm willing to wander into the untamed wilderness of subjective judgments and say this: his defense makes him about as useful to his team as contaminated Gatorade. He sucks. He's worthless. There are unwanted prospects in the minors that would kill for a crack at his spot who could outhit and embarrass him in the field, but Joey's a proven veteran and he's cute. Snipers, where are you?

Chuck Knoblauch, New York Yankees

I'm just as surprised as you are. If you're keeping track, Todd Walker continues to make Knoblauch look like a slouch at 1/30th the cost. Knoblauch seems to have lost his power (three-year slugging: .473, this year .369, a huge drop, equal to the difference between Ken Griffey and, say, Damion Easley). Ow.

Carlos Baerga, New York Mets

Not a good town for two-baggers. Boy couldn't draw a walk against Mssr. Kile (who leads the league). I'd say he was on the decline but you knew that. Moral of the story: don't trade for overpaid declining second basemen with inadequate bat control. 4,750,000 smackers for this?

Mike Lansing, Colorado Rockies

It amuses me that even the offensive circus of Coors can't make him look good. His .293 on-base percentage is terrible, right there with one-tool Tony Womack, and he can barely drive a ball better than Rey Ordonez. Lucky to have a job. For all my vitriol, I don't begrudge players like Lansing, but it frustrates me that baseball people cultivate a superior air as if we couldn't do their jobs, but any Colorado fan can open Baseball Weekly, look at his stats and say "Why are we paying him four million dollars again?"

Player	SLG	OBP	OPS	Salary	Diff from Trendline
Damion Easley	.541	.348	.889	$1,900,000	.135
Delino DeShields	.480	.410	.890	$3,000,000	.114
Craig Biggio	.521	.401	.922	$6,120,000	.083
Mickey Morandini	.424	.403	.827	$2,000,000	.071
Jeff Kent	.492	.355	.847	$3,250,000	.066
Luis Alicea	.419	.378	.797	$750,000	.066
Ray Durham	.449	.368	.817	$1,920,000	.062
Bret Boone	.484	.342	.826	$2,800,000	.054
Tony Fernandez	.447	.360	.807	$2,000,000	.051
Fernando Vina	.416	.369	.785	$1,100,000	.047
Jose Offerman	.411	.379	.790	$1,700,000	.040
Quilvio Veras	.373	.401	.774	$1,100,000	.036
Roberto Alomar	.394	.452	.846	$6,269,000	.004
Joey Cora	.361	.354	.715	$1,500,000	-.031
Eric Young	.383	.363	.746	$4,500,000	-.060
Chuck Knoblauch	.376	.389	.765	$6,000,000	-.071
Carlos Baerga	.417	.317	.734	$4,750,000	-.077
Shawon Dunston	.395	.248	.643	$1,000,000	-.093
Mark Lewis	.318	.296	.614	$1,350,000	-.129
Mike Lansing	.324	.293	.617	$3,750,000	-.174

 Derek Zumsteg is currently being questioned by police regarding the mysterious disappearance of an entire truckload of Lil' Joey Cora Beanie Babies. Offer to act as a character witness at dmz@strikethree.com.