Top 5 Biggest Disappointments in Baseball

As we approach the trade deadline in Major League Baseball, the time has come to officially announce whether a team is a contender or a pretender. Along with this come the countless excuses and the calls by fans and the media for teams to blow up their rosters and build for next year, or the year after that, or the year after that…

Regardless, it’s time for labels and the one label all teams want to avoid is that of “underachiever.” The following are the five times that have most underachieved and failed to live up to lofty expectations. If your team currently resides in a West division, you may want to avert your eyes.

Honorable Mention #1: Washington Nationals (38-64) – No, the Nats weren’t expected to be contenders, and they knew as much coming in, but this is still embarrassing. Opening a brand-spanking new stadium and coming off a season where they actually flirted with .500 throughout, the Nats were hoping that this year might be the first step toward a promising future. Instead, the Nats are the worst team in their division by a wide margin and they’re only a half game out of dead last in the NL.

Honorable Mention #2: Los Angeles Dodgers (49-52) – Yes, they’re still “contenders,” but that’s only because they’re in the woeful NL West. The Dodgers believed that they had a solid-enough core of young talent and a handful of veterans that Joe Torre could mold into a playoff team. Instead, big-time acquisitions Andruw Jones and Jason Schmidt have been hurt and bad, and the team is staggering towards another sub-.500 season and watching the playoffs from home.

5. Toronto Blue Jays (51-51) – While the prognosticators didn’t jump on the Jays band wagon too much this past offseason, there was the usual buzz that this just might be the year the Jays finally break into the playoffs. Toronto had a good year last year and had the payroll to play with the big boys in the AL East, but things never really came together. Add very poor offensive performance (they still don’t have a player with 10 home runs) to a manager that got run out of town before the All-Star break, and you can see why this team once again rests at mediocrity, and out of the playoff hunt before August 1.

4. Seattle Mariners (38-63) – The Mariners easily could be higher on this list, but I give them a pass (to an extent) because of the fact that they haven’t been a playoff team in over 5 years and the expectations were probably too high. That said, this team made a run at the division last year with basically the same roster, and might have made the playoffs if not for a late-August into September collapse. In the offseason they made a big splash acquiring Eric Bedard from the Orioles, and had what many considered one of the top rotations in the AL. Unfortunately, injuries to Bedard and Jarrod Washburn blowing up have helped the Mariners reach the worst record in the AL and cost their manager his job before the break. But on the plus side, at least they finally got rid of Richie Sexton.

3. Colorado Rockies (45-58) – Yes, the Rockies were the NL Champions last year, but it was widely considered to be at least a bit of a fluke. Still, expectations were high, especially from Rockies fans such as myself, and hopes of a repeat were quite prevalent. The Rockies have struggled all season with their pitching, something that was a great strength in their late run in 2007. Also the team had trouble filling the void at second base left by Kaz Matsui’s departure to the Houston Astros. On top of that, offensive star Brad Hawpe failed to break .250 until July and second-year phenom Troy Tulowitzski spent two stints on the DL and is batting under .200 when healthy. All this has led to a highly unsatisfying season and while the Rockies can still sniff the division lead (6 games back right now), they aren’t exactly doing it in the toughest division.

2. San Diego Padres (38-65) – Hard to believe that the team that came 3 outs shy of the NL Wild Card in 2007 would have THE WORST RECORD IN BASEBALL, but that’s the case. The Padres, who last year survived on great pitching and timely hitting, have been lacking the latter and it’s killed them. Playing half of their games in the pitcher-friendly confines of PetCo Park, the Padres are 28th in the Majors in batting average and dead last in runs scored (just 3.7 per game). Expectations were definitely high for the team as it hadn’t lost any significant players from 2007 and the division, rightfully so, seemed ripe for the taking. Instead, the Pads are trying to figure out if they have any tradable pieces and hoping that maybe next year things will be better.

1. Cleveland Indians (44-56) – The Indians were a win away from the World Series in 2007, and they had 3 chances to get that win. Instead, the team blew a 3-1 series lead on the Red Sox in the ALCS and started looking to 2008. With virtually the entire roster from 2007 returning, the Indians were considered by many to be a World Series favorite, or at least a favorite to take on the Sox in the ALCS again. But the wheels came off early, and the team was never able to establish itself offensively. The man they expected to carry the offense, Travis Hafner, seems to have fallen off a cliff as his numbers have plummeted, although that started happening even last year. The pitching was great despite CC Sabathia’s slow start with Cliff Lee picking up the slack, but there just weren’t enough runs to go around. Amazing that things were so bad that Sabathia was dealt before the break, effectively signaling that the Indians had already thrown in the towel on such a promising season. Cleveland earns this spot because of just how high the expectations were, even though their record isn’t the worst.

So what do you think? Agree or disagree? Let’s hear it.

The Sad State of the Houston Astros

The Houston Astros are in last place in the NL Central and a whopping 9 games under .500 putting them 12 games back in the wild card race. The Colorado Rockies are in third place in the NL West and a staggering 13 games under .500, 14 back in the wild card but just 6 back in the division race. While it seems like the Rockies are in a worse place this year with a worse record and such high expectations, it’s the Astros that are feeling like the sky is falling.

After the 2007 season, the Astros cleaned house, firing much-despised general manager Tim Purpura and firing manager Phil Garner in the middle of the season. That is, 2005 World Series manager Phil Garner. Astros fans rejoiced, saying finally the owner is making a stand against mediocrity. Well, maybe not. To replace those two high-profile positions, the Astros turned to Cecil Cooper, a man that had never been the head manager in the big leagues, and Ed Wade, a man that had led the Philadelphia Phillies to exactly 0 playoff appearances during his tenure as GM in the city of brotherly love.

Regardless, Astros fans were excited. When Wade made several radical moves in the offseason, acquiring Michael Bourn (a speedy center fielder), Miguel Tejada (a veteran and former AL MVP), Jose Valverde (NL saves leader in 2007), Kaz Matsui (speedy 2B from the 2007 NL Champs), among others, people started to believe things were about to turn around. I’ll admit even I got excited about the prospects. Unfortunately, things haven’t exactly worked out.

Bourn has struggled to stay above the Mendoza line (.200 BA), Tejada started the season red-hot but has been ice cold since mid-May, Valverde is second in the Majors in blown saves, and Matsui has bounced back and forth from the DL. The Astros farm system is barren, but that was largely the case when Wade arrived. Brad Lidge is making Wade look even worse with his dominating season in Philly, as Lidge was traded for Bourn.

Worst of all may be Cooper although the jury is still out on him. Has he made many poor managerial decisions? Yes. Has he struggled to keep his composure with the media? Sure. Has he been managing one of the worst and most underachieving teams in the Majors? Absolutely. It’s because of that last one that Coop can hardly be blamed for having a poor season. Few managers not named “La Russa” or “Cox” or maybe, MAYBE “Torre” could have this group in the hunt for the playoffs.

Herein lays the greatest problem facing the Astros: their minor leagues are so bereft of talent that they have no real prospects that they can plug in the rest of this year to get them some experience. This also means they have no prospects to trade in the offseason to try and improve the club. They’re left with just two options: overspend to try to get better now, which is doable but very difficult and will be VERY expensive; or the Astros can try to blow the team up, trading their big contracts like Tejada and Carlos Lee for some minor league prospects.

The consensus here in Houston seems to be that they should go for the latter, but what I've heard is that owner Drayton McLain won’t stand for a rebuilding process, and that’s why Wade was forced into making the deals he has. It’s a terrible situation to be in, and it’s one that many, many teams have gone through over the years. The Baltimore Orioles are in a very similar situation, in fact, and it took that team years to realize it. Now they have some younger pieces and a much more manageable payroll and appear to be on the way back up. The Astros need to decide if they’re willing to take a long-term approach, or if they want to keep putting that band-aid on the gunshot wound.