Andruw Jones
Posted by Andy on January 7, 2009
To me, the most surprising thing about Andruw Jones' very poor 2008 season is how unprecedented it was. Although it's common for players to hit so poorly, it's usually at the beginning or end of their career and rarely does it cover more than 200 AB.
Here are the 25 times in history a guy at least as old as Jones had an OPS+ as low as 34 in a season with at least 200 ABs:
Cnt Player Year AB OPS+ Age Tm Lg G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Positions +----+-----------------+----+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+ 1 Andruw Jones 2008 209 34 31 LAD NL 75 238 21 33 8 1 3 14 27 0 76 1 0 1 5 0 1 .158 .256 .249 .505 *8/D 2 Tomas Perez 2006 241 32 32 TBD AL 99 254 31 51 12 0 2 16 5 0 44 0 4 4 3 1 0 .212 .224 .286 .510 564/937 3 Luis Sojo 1996 287 32 31 TOT AL 95 308 23 63 10 1 1 21 11 0 17 1 8 1 10 2 2 .220 .250 .272 .522 456 4 Felix Fermin 1995 200 20 31 SEA AL 73 219 21 39 6 0 0 15 6 0 6 4 8 1 7 2 0 .195 .232 .225 .457 *64 5 Tony Pena 1993 304 32 36 BOS AL 126 347 20 55 11 0 4 19 25 0 46 2 13 3 12 1 3 .181 .246 .257 .503 *2 6 Al Newman 1991 246 30 31 MIN AL 118 278 25 47 5 0 0 19 23 0 21 1 5 3 5 4 5 .191 .260 .211 .471 645/D37 7 Bud Harrelson 1977 269 34 33 NYM NL 107 305 25 48 6 2 1 12 27 1 28 1 7 1 3 5 4 .178 .255 .227 .482 *6 8 Jerry Zimmerman 1967 234 26 32 MIN AL 104 267 13 39 3 0 1 12 22 5 49 2 8 1 8 0 1 .167 .243 .192 .435 *2 9 Bob Lillis 1961 239 22 31 TOT NL 105 256 24 51 4 0 0 22 8 2 14 2 5 2 8 3 3 .213 .243 .230 .473 *64 10 Willy Miranda 1957 314 30 31 BAL AL 115 349 29 61 3 0 0 20 24 2 42 0 8 3 5 2 1 .194 .249 .204 .453 *6 11 Pete Suder 1954 205 34 38 PHA AL 69 215 8 41 11 1 0 16 7 0 16 0 2 1 6 0 0 .200 .225 .263 .488 *45/6 12 Pete Castiglione 1953 211 33 32 TOT NL 112 227 23 42 4 1 4 24 7 0 19 1 8 0 7 1 1 .199 .228 .284 .512 *5 13 Mike Guerra 1951 246 32 38 TOT AL 82 270 21 48 2 1 1 22 22 0 23 0 2 0 8 5 4 .195 .261 .224 .485 *2 14 Bob Ramazzotti 1949 203 12 32 TOT NL 70 214 15 36 3 1 1 9 5 0 36 0 6 0 10 9 0 .177 .197 .217 .414 *5 15 Rollie Hemsley 1942 200 34 35 TOT ML 67 211 19 38 4 3 0 22 9 0 20 0 2 0 3 1 0 .190 .225 .240 .465 *2 16 Ray Berres 1940 261 31 32 TOT NL 106 289 14 50 4 1 0 16 19 0 20 0 9 0 7 0 0 .192 .246 .215 .461 *2 17 Luke Sewell 1938 211 32 37 CHW AL 65 236 23 45 4 1 0 27 20 0 20 1 4 0 0 0 0 .213 .284 .242 .526 *2 18 Hughie Critz 1935 219 19 34 NYG NL 65 227 19 41 0 3 2 14 3 0 10 0 5 0 4 2 0 .187 .198 .242 .440 *4 19 Ed Gagnier 1914 337 30 32 BTT FL 94 360 22 63 12 2 0 25 13 0 24 1 9 0 0 8 0 .187 .219 .234 .453 *6/5 20 Bill Bergen 1911 227 -4 33 BRO NL 84 250 8 30 3 1 0 10 14 0 42 0 9 0 0 2 0 .132 .183 .154 .337 *2 21 Bill Bergen 1910 249 6 32 BRO NL 89 273 11 40 2 1 0 14 6 0 39 0 18 0 0 0 0 .161 .180 .177 .357 *2 22 Bill Bergen 1909 346 1 31 BRO NL 112 372 16 48 1 1 1 15 10 0 0 0 16 0 0 4 0 .139 .163 .156 .319 *2 23 Billy Sullivan 1909 265 29 34 CHW AL 97 302 11 43 3 0 0 16 17 0 0 5 15 0 0 9 0 .162 .226 .174 .400 *2 24 Malachi Kittridge 1905 238 33 35 WSH AL 77 263 16 39 8 0 0 14 15 0 0 0 10 0 0 1 0 .164 .213 .197 .410 *2 25 Jack Ryan 1902 267 31 33 STL NL 76 284 23 48 4 4 0 14 4 0 0 1 12 0 0 2 0 .180 .195 .225 .420 *2/3546
I expected to see at least a few aging star veterans, but the list is really unimpressive. Certainly nobody had as good a career as Jones before their dreadful career, nor did anybody do much of anything afterwards. But the bigger point is that Jones has sunked down to an offensive level of players that were, at best, marginal hitters for their entire careers.
I leave you below with the 64 seasons where a player the same age as Jones or younger did as badly over at least 200 ABs. All the age-31 seasons are repeated on this list as with the one above. Similar deal here...I had hoped for Jones' sake to see some young guys who rebounded later in their careers, but that's simply not the case. Most of these guys were never again able to amass 200 AB in a season because they were so bad offensively.
Cnt Player Year AB OPS+ Age Tm Lg G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Positions +----+-----------------+----+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+ 1 Andruw Jones 2008 209 34 31 LAD NL 75 238 21 33 8 1 3 14 27 0 76 1 0 1 5 0 1 .158 .256 .249 .505 *8/D 2 Tony Pena 2008 225 7 27 KCR AL 95 235 22 38 4 1 1 14 6 2 49 0 2 2 4 3 1 .169 .189 .209 .398 *6/1 3 Enrique Wilson 2001 228 34 27 TOT ML 94 241 17 48 8 1 2 20 9 0 37 0 2 2 10 0 5 .211 .238 .281 .519 *654/D 4 Homer Bush 2000 297 33 27 TOR AL 76 325 38 64 8 0 1 18 18 0 60 5 4 1 10 9 4 .215 .271 .253 .524 *4 5 Eli Marrero 1999 317 33 25 STL NL 114 343 32 61 13 1 6 34 18 4 56 1 4 3 14 11 2 .192 .236 .297 .533 *23 6 Andy Sheets 1999 244 31 27 ANA AL 87 269 22 48 10 0 3 29 14 0 59 0 6 5 6 1 2 .197 .236 .275 .511 *6/45 7 Kevin Polcovich 1998 212 32 28 PIT NL 81 238 18 40 12 0 0 14 15 2 33 5 3 3 7 4 3 .189 .255 .245 .500 *64/5 8 Luis Sojo 1996 287 32 31 TOT AL 95 308 23 63 10 1 1 21 11 0 17 1 8 1 10 2 2 .220 .250 .272 .522 456 9 Felix Fermin 1995 200 20 31 SEA AL 73 219 21 39 6 0 0 15 6 0 6 4 8 1 7 2 0 .195 .232 .225 .457 *64 10 Kim Batiste 1994 209 34 26 PHI NL 64 214 17 49 6 0 1 13 1 0 32 1 1 2 11 1 1 .234 .239 .278 .517 *56 11 Juan Bell 1991 209 26 23 BAL AL 100 223 26 36 9 2 1 15 8 0 51 0 4 2 1 0 0 .172 .201 .249 .450 *46/7 12 Al Newman 1991 246 30 31 MIN AL 118 278 25 47 5 0 0 19 23 0 21 1 5 3 5 4 5 .191 .260 .211 .471 645/D37 13 Angel Salazar 1987 317 23 25 KCR AL 116 332 24 65 7 0 2 21 6 0 46 0 8 1 6 4 4 .205 .219 .246 .465 *6 14 George Wright 1985 363 33 26 TEX AL 109 393 21 69 13 0 2 18 25 5 49 0 3 2 9 4 7 .190 .241 .242 .483 *98/D 15 Ned Yost 1984 242 28 28 TEX AL 80 251 15 44 4 0 6 25 6 0 47 0 2 1 5 1 2 .182 .201 .273 .474 *2 16 Houston Jimenez 1984 298 32 26 MIN AL 108 317 28 60 11 1 0 19 15 0 34 0 2 2 7 0 1 .201 .238 .245 .483 *6 17 Tom Donohue 1980 218 28 27 CAL AL 84 230 18 41 4 1 2 14 7 0 63 1 3 1 0 5 1 .188 .216 .243 .459 *2 18 Luis Gomez 1980 278 26 28 ATL NL 121 307 18 53 6 0 0 24 17 2 27 1 10 1 9 0 4 .191 .239 .212 .451 *6 19 Mario Mendoza 1979 373 25 28 SEA AL 148 401 26 74 10 3 1 29 9 0 62 1 13 5 12 3 0 .198 .216 .249 .465 *6 20 Dave McKay 1977 274 32 27 TOR AL 95 293 18 54 4 3 3 22 7 0 51 2 9 1 9 2 1 .197 .222 .266 .488 456 21 Doug Flynn 1977 314 25 26 TOT NL 126 333 14 62 7 2 0 19 11 2 29 0 5 3 4 1 3 .197 .223 .232 .455 *645 22 Tom Veryzer 1977 350 30 24 DET AL 125 373 31 69 12 1 2 28 16 0 44 0 4 3 5 0 1 .197 .230 .254 .484 *6 23 Rob Picciolo 1977 419 31 24 OAK AL 148 446 35 84 12 3 2 22 9 0 55 1 14 3 8 1 4 .200 .218 .258 .476 *6 24 Jim Mason 1976 217 31 25 NYY AL 93 236 17 39 7 1 1 14 9 0 37 0 7 3 4 0 0 .180 .210 .235 .445 *6 25 Jim Mason 1975 223 26 24 NYY AL 94 251 17 34 3 2 2 16 22 0 49 0 5 1 10 0 2 .152 .228 .211 .439 *6/4 +----+-----------------+----+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+ Cnt Player Year AB OPS+ Age Tm Lg G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Positions +----+-----------------+----+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+ 26 Rich Morales 1973 248 28 29 TOT ML 97 280 10 40 6 1 0 17 28 6 37 0 2 2 4 0 1 .161 .245 .194 .439 *46/5 27 John Vukovich 1971 217 15 23 PHI NL 74 233 11 36 5 0 0 14 12 1 34 1 1 2 4 2 1 .166 .211 .189 .400 *5 28 Danny Thompson 1970 302 32 23 MIN AL 96 318 25 66 9 0 0 22 7 0 39 0 6 3 6 0 0 .219 .234 .248 .482 *45/6 29 Ray Oyler 1968 215 20 29 DET AL 111 247 13 29 6 1 1 12 20 0 59 2 7 3 8 0 2 .135 .213 .186 .399 *6 30 Al Weis 1968 274 33 30 NYM NL 90 301 15 47 6 0 1 14 21 3 63 2 2 2 3 3 1 .172 .234 .204 .438 *64/5 31 Mike Ryan 1968 296 31 26 PHI NL 96 314 12 53 6 1 1 15 15 3 59 0 2 1 12 0 3 .179 .218 .216 .434 *2 32 Jerry Zimmerman 1961 204 29 26 CIN NL 76 222 8 42 5 0 0 10 11 0 21 2 4 1 10 1 1 .206 .252 .230 .482 *2 33 Bob Lillis 1961 239 22 31 TOT NL 105 256 24 51 4 0 0 22 8 2 14 2 5 2 8 3 3 .213 .243 .230 .473 *64 34 Willy Miranda 1957 314 30 31 BAL AL 115 349 29 61 3 0 0 20 24 2 42 0 8 3 5 2 1 .194 .249 .204 .453 *6 35 Del Young 1937 360 23 25 PHI NL 109 386 36 70 9 2 0 24 18 0 55 1 7 0 8 6 0 .194 .235 .231 .466 *4 36 Chile Gomez 1936 332 34 27 PHI NL 108 360 24 77 4 1 0 28 14 0 32 1 13 0 8 0 0 .232 .265 .250 .515 *46 37 Skeeter Newsome 1936 471 33 25 PHA AL 127 508 41 106 15 2 0 46 25 0 27 1 11 0 0 13 4 .225 .266 .265 .531 *6/475 38 Jim Levey 1933 529 24 26 SLB AL 141 567 43 103 10 4 2 36 26 0 68 3 9 0 0 4 6 .195 .237 .240 .477 *6 39 Jim McLeod 1933 232 27 24 PHI NL 67 251 20 45 6 1 0 15 12 0 25 1 6 0 4 1 0 .194 .237 .228 .465 *5/6 40 Art Scharein 1933 471 34 28 SLB AL 123 522 49 96 13 3 0 26 41 0 21 1 9 0 0 7 9 .204 .269 .244 .513 *56/4 41 Tommy Thevenow 1929 317 34 25 PHI NL 90 355 30 72 11 0 0 35 25 0 25 2 11 0 0 3 0 .227 .288 .262 .550 *6 42 Clyde Barnhart 1926 203 29 30 PIT NL 76 234 26 39 3 0 0 10 23 0 13 1 7 0 0 1 0 .192 .278 .207 .485 *7/9 43 Harry Pearce 1919 244 25 29 PHI NL 68 260 24 44 3 3 0 9 8 0 27 1 7 0 0 6 0 .180 .209 .217 .426 *46/5 44 Cy Perkins 1918 218 34 22 PHA AL 68 230 9 41 4 1 1 14 8 0 15 0 4 0 0 1 0 .188 .217 .229 .446 *2 45 Bert Adams 1918 227 21 27 PHI NL 84 247 10 40 4 0 0 12 10 0 26 1 9 0 0 5 0 .176 .214 .194 .408 *2 46 Walter Barbare 1915 246 32 23 CLE AL 77 274 15 47 3 1 0 11 10 0 27 4 14 0 0 6 5 .191 .235 .211 .446 *5/3 47 Mike Balenti 1913 211 29 26 SLB AL 70 227 17 38 2 4 0 11 6 0 32 1 9 0 0 3 0 .180 .206 .227 .433 *6/7 48 Charlie French 1910 210 32 26 TOT AL 54 229 21 36 2 1 0 7 11 0 0 3 5 0 0 5 0 .171 .223 .190 .413 *4 49 Bill Bergen 1909 346 1 31 BRO NL 112 372 16 48 1 1 1 15 10 0 0 0 16 0 0 4 0 .139 .163 .156 .319 *2 50 Bill Bergen 1908 302 31 30 BRO NL 99 320 8 53 8 2 0 15 5 0 0 0 13 0 0 1 0 .175 .189 .215 .404 *2 +----+-----------------+----+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+ Cnt Player Year AB OPS+ Age Tm Lg G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Positions +----+-----------------+----+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+ 51 Charlie Armbruste 1906 201 34 25 BOS AL 72 231 9 29 6 1 0 6 25 0 0 1 4 0 0 2 0 .144 .242 .184 .426 *2/3 52 Bill Bergen 1906 353 16 28 BRO NL 103 372 9 56 3 3 0 19 7 0 0 0 12 0 0 2 0 .159 .175 .184 .359 *2 53 George Gibson 1906 259 33 25 PIT NL 81 282 8 46 6 1 0 20 16 0 0 0 7 0 0 1 0 .178 .225 .208 .433 *2 54 George McBride 1906 313 34 25 STL NL 90 338 24 53 8 2 0 13 17 0 0 1 7 0 0 5 0 .169 .215 .208 .423 *6 55 Fritz Buelow 1905 239 29 29 CLE AL 75 254 11 41 4 1 1 18 6 0 0 2 7 0 0 7 0 .172 .198 .209 .407 *2/935 56 Bill Bergen 1905 247 32 27 BRO NL 79 265 12 47 3 2 0 22 7 0 0 0 11 0 0 4 0 .190 .213 .219 .432 *2 57 Bill Lauterborn 1905 200 32 26 BSN NL 67 219 11 37 1 1 0 9 12 0 0 2 5 0 0 1 0 .185 .238 .200 .438 54/68 58 Bill Bergen 1904 329 28 26 BRO NL 96 347 17 60 4 2 0 12 9 0 0 0 9 0 0 3 0 .182 .204 .207 .411 *2/3 59 Fritz Buelow 1904 255 22 28 TOT AL 84 287 17 36 5 2 0 10 19 0 0 1 12 0 0 4 0 .141 .204 .176 .380 *2 60 Ossee Schreckengo 1904 311 33 29 PHA AL 95 326 23 58 9 1 1 21 5 0 0 0 10 0 0 3 0 .186 .199 .232 .431 *2/3 61 Harry Smith 1903 212 21 28 PIT NL 61 234 15 37 3 2 0 19 12 0 0 1 9 0 0 2 0 .175 .222 .208 .430 *2/9 62 Sport McAllister 1902 240 31 27 TOT AL 69 252 19 49 5 2 1 33 6 0 0 2 4 0 0 1 0 .204 .230 .254 .484 39/26547 63 Bill Bergen 1902 322 30 24 CIN NL 89 342 19 58 8 3 0 36 14 0 0 0 6 0 0 2 0 .180 .214 .224 .438 *2 64 Bill Bergen 1901 308 29 23 CIN NL 87 326 15 55 6 4 1 17 8 0 0 0 10 0 0 2 0 .179 .199 .234 .433 *2
There has been so much talk of Jones moving to another team this off-season. While I don't doubt that he won't be playing for the Dodgers in 2009, I do doubt that he'll be playing in the majors for anybody else.
January 7th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
There are some infamous mediocre hitters on these lists, such as Mario Mendoza and Bill Bergen. Tony Pena's OPS+ of 7 is rather striking as well.
January 7th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
I'm not impressed until you have a negative OPS+.
January 7th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
Hey, it just took Bergen some time. He got there when he was 33.
January 9th, 2009 at 12:20 am
After posting a lifetime OPS+ of about 120 over the first 10 seasons of his career, and then going from 126 (2006), 88 (2007) and 32 (2008) through what should be his best years makes me think there must be something seriously wrong with him, like Lou Gehrig's Disease or some severe bipolar stuff going on. Or is his knee simply just that bad now? I really feel bad for the guy.
January 11th, 2009 at 2:34 am
Calling Bill Bergen a mediocre hitter is an insult to mediocre hitters.