Best (And Worst) of 2007 Part I

Well, what a season it has been. Some players did really great, and we expected them to do so. Others, did horrible, and we expected them to do that also. However, today I'd like to focus on players who we expected to do good, but performed bad, and vice versa. I'll break it down my hitting and pitching, good and bad. I'm going to go by winshares, so if you don't know how that works I suggest you read this (http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/2004-win-shares-have-arrived/) Remember, this isn't who performed the best, its who exceeded their expectations the most. This is Part I of this compilation with only hitters. Soon I'll be posting Part II with the pitchers and any players I feel left out. Anyway, on we go, starting off with the best hitters:

1) Prince Fielder: +9 win shares. He was a touted prospect, Had decent last year. I expected good things from him this year, but 50+ home runs definitely exceeded our expectations. He carried his team, and is now a MVP caliber player. he's justifying his first round selection back in 2002.

2) Magglio Ordonez: +14 win shares. Amidst the Tigers potent offense there was one standout player this year, Magglio. He was on pace to break the doubles record for most of the year, and sustained an unsustainable batting average (for him) of .360. His avoidance of the injury bug was key to this, since we all knew he was an offensive weapon, but not this sharp.

3) Carlos Pena: +27 wins shares. Wow, in 2004 this guy did hit 27 home runs, but where was he the last 3 years? His first round talent finally showed up again, and showed up big time. This year he blasted an amazing 47 homers in just under 500 ab's. Question for next year, is he for real?

Honorable mention: Eric Byrnes, Jorge Posada, Curtis Granderson, Brandon Phillips, and Hanley Ramirez

Onto the bad list. Those hitters who killed your fantasy teams and dreams.

1) Jason Bay: -10 win shares. A huge disappointment this year for the Pirates, the only thing going for them. Was an around .300 hitter and for 3 years, and out of nowhere his b.a. drops below .250. His OPS dropped a whopping .182 points. There were signs of regressions this year, but if anyone predicted this much of a drop, I'd like to meet them and kiss their ring or shoe or something.

2) Andrew Jones: - 10 win shares. Andrew's disappointing year came at the worst time, in a contract year. He's losing tons of money because of this. But here we are interested in the stats the Braves lineup are missing. He hit 26 homers this year after averaging 46 over the last two seasons. He's never been good at hitting for average about a .260 hitter, but .222 this year! His OPS dropped exactly .170 points, and has had a season we'd all like to forget. Although, I'm not so sure he will bounce fully back.

3) Travis Hafner: -10 win shares. I was the fortunate owner of him in my most prestigious baseball league this year, and that did not work well. 18 less home runs, a 30 point drop in batting average, and an incredible 260 drop in OPS, mostly due to slugging. Hafner was and still is in the middle of his prime, and this season was not expected by anyone, not one person. Every year there are a couple of disappointments like this, and there is nothing you can do about it, just hope it's not you. Sometimes a 162-game season can't cure the worst of droughts.

Unhonorable mention: Vernon Wells, Manny Ramirez, Joe Mauer, Troy Glaus, and Bill Hall.

That's it! Check back soon for the pitchers chance at glory/shame. Leave comments or e-mail me at cowchow4you@gmail.com I ask that you watch and enjoy the postseason, and feel free to give in your two cents.

Cheers!

Paul