Thursday, May 31, 2007

Overrated-Underrated Dumbnitude

I have long thought that the word stupidity sounds, well, too smart, so that's why I came up with dumbnitude, which just sounds harsher.

Jayson Stark decided that he was going to start the conversation with his list of who's overrated and who's underrated. It's one thing to discuss the contents of these lists, but it's the methodology that really drives me nuts. Nonetheless, I'll at least post his top 10 overrated and underrated players, with my commentary on whether or not they belong on the list, and if they should be higher up or lower down. In a future post, I'll describe what I think a bit further.

OVERRATED
1) Barry Zito (maybe, but the most overrated?)
2) JD Drew (don't think so)
3) Andruw Jones (no, because I read this)
4) Juan Pierre (why doesn't he top the list?)
5) Bobby Abreu (no, wrong list, though he has had some odd struggles the last couple years)
6) Brian Giles (wrong list entirely)
7) Alfonso Soriano (he used to be the type to top the list, but now, I'm not sure he belongs on it)
8) Richie Sexson (no, don't think so)
9) Bob Wickman (yeah, he's a fat dude that gets saves. yippie)
10) Jeff Suppan (yeah, he just finds run support and defense)

UNDERRATED
1) Roy Oswalt (no, everyone knows he's good and that Houston's offense just sucks)
2) Trevor Hoffman (hell no, people overrate him now because of his past; I don't know how he still gets people out)
3) Hanley Ramirez (he won Rookie of the Year last year, try again)
4) Jake Peavy (yes, should be near the top if not at the top)
5) CC Sabathia (yes likely)
6) Carl Crawford (no, people know he's the best player on Tampa Bay)
7) Placido Polanco (wrong list actually)
8) Kevin Youkilis (yay, you got something right)
9) Joe Nathan (probably, probably in the right spot too)
10) Travis Hafner (definitely, in fact he tops the list. Why the hell hasn't he been an allstar yet?!)

So here's what I'll actually discuss:
1) Analyze what Stark says about Overrated Players
2) Analyze what Stark says about Underrated Players
3) Attempt to derive what analytical methods Stark uses
4) Create my own analytical methods
5) Create my own top 10 Overrated List
6) Create my own top 10 Underrated List

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