erik lundegaard

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Tuesday June 26, 2012

A Team without Superstars

Remember when they said that of the vaunted 2001 Mariners? After we lost Randy, Junior and A-Rod and kept on winning? A team without superstars. After one game, mid-season, I remember someone, possibly Ron Fairly, trotted this out again, and Dave Niehaus responded, “Oh, there's a superstar.” He meant Ichiro.

Well, give or take a king on the mound, we're now truly a team without superstars. But this time we're a sucky team without superstars.

Today I was looking at our abyssmal OBP and SLG and OPS numbers, and then noticed that our best OPS from an everyday player was the .772 mark shared by Kyle Seager and Michael Saunders, noticed again that they were ranked 77th and 78th in the Majors, and wondered if every team had a player above our best player.

The answer? Yes. Every team has a player above our best player. Only San Diego really makes it close.

Team Best player 2nd Best 3rd Best 4th Best 5th Best
Cincinnati 1 33 67    
Texas 2 25 53 68 76
NY Mets 3 69      
Boston  4        
Milwaukee 5 50 59    
St. Louis 6 24 28 48  
Philadelphia 7 52      
Colorado 8 18 57    
LA Angels 9 15      
Pittsburgh 10        
Chi Sox 11 30 47 60  
NY Yankees 12 38 42 62 63
Toronto 13 27 49    
Minnesota 14 34      
Detroit 16 21 29    
Baltimore 17 61 66 72  
Tampa Bay 19 65      
San Francisco 20 43      
Miami 22 70 75    
Arizona  23 26 37 56  
Oakland  31        
Atlanta 32 44 54 64  
Cleveland  35 55      
Kansas City 36 46 71    
LA Dodgers 39 41      
Houston  40 58 74    
Washington 45        
Chi Cubs 51        
San Diego 73        
Seattle 77        

Statistics via ESPN.com

In fact, 23 teams have a second player ranked before the M's first, and exactly half (15) have a third player. Seven teams have a fourth player, and two teams, Texas and the Yankees, have a fifth player whose OPS is better than the M's best player.

Yeesh.

That's part of why it's so difficult watching these games. There's no one scary in our lineup. Not one. Not even close.

On the plus side, we do have a second player on the list before the Padres. Plus our team is young, and they play at Safeco.

But a star would be nice. Or at least a bright light. 

Safeco Field

Safeco Field: No bright lights, no big city.

Posted at 07:08 PM on Tuesday June 26, 2012 in category Seattle Mariners