Overrated / Underrated

[Hubs]

This AM I started wondering which players this fanbase drastically overrates and which they underrate. I've been a die hard fan for around 20 years now, so I don't remember some of the guys like this from my youth (The 1980's) but do remember a lot of overrated or underrated Halos from the 1990's and 2000's.

Who is your most overrated current Halo? Underrated?

Who is your most overrated Halo from the Scioscia years? Underrated?

How about before that?

 

I'll start:

Overrated current Halo? Jett Bandy

Underrated? Jose Alvarez

 

Overrated Halo from the 2000's? Benji Gil or Shawn Wooten

Underrated Halo from the 2000's? Adam Kennedy or Ervin Santana

 

Go!

[Tank]

all time overrated would have to go to brandon wood.

most underrated in the sosh era would be orlando palmeiro.

[Hubs]

Tank what about on the current team?

[Angelsjunky]

Overrated: Kole Calhoun. People will take issue with this, which partially proves my point. I love Kole, was on his bandwagon as soon as anyone, but some speak of him like he's a star. He's not. He's a good player, above average in a number of ways, but not a true star.

Underrated: Kole Calhoun. Sometimes when you're average or above average in every facet of the game, you're more than the sum of your parts. That's Kole. He's a very valuable player to have on a team.

Overrated/Underrated from past eras: Garret Anderson. Non-stat people looked at his triple crown numbers and thought he was a star. Stat guys looked at his OPS+, WAR, etc, and realized he was just average. The truth is somewhere in-between: solid, above average player, but not a star.

I'd also say Bobby Grich is chronically underrated. He's got the 8th highest WAR total among second basemen in baseball history, yet isn't in the Hall of Fame. He's got a higher WAR than Hall of Famers Roberto Alomar, Craig Biggio, Ryne Sandberg, and Jackie Robinson.

[Tank]

2 minutes ago, Hubs said:

Tank what about on the current team?

overrated: houston street

underrated: guerra. he's got a very live arm, and with the right coaching, i think he could be an excellent reliever.

[Troll Daddy]

Overrated : Richards

Underated : Pujols

[eaterfan]

Overrated: Wally Joyner. I might get some heat for that. 

Underrated: Shields. That dude pitched all the innings and made games very short for the Halos. He gets plenty of respect from guys on message boards but he's long forgotten by the average fan.

Honorable mention for underrated: Howie Kendrick. The man was a solid major league starter for a decade (a sometimes all-star) and a great locker room guy. He was never very highly paid freeing up money for other needs. He never lived up to the prospect he was, but if he had the prospect ranking that Calhoun had then he would be a fan favorite like Kole instead of GIDP Howie.

[Oz27]

Overrated - Pujols, Bandy, Perez, Street and Skaggs

Underrated - Trout (seriously), Bedrosian, Cowart

 

On Bandy, it fascinates me how much early performance influences opinion. His bat was really bad after a hot start. The average opinion of him now would be worse if you flipped his hot and cold period, so the cold came first, because people made positive early judgements and stuck with them.

[Second Base]

Overrated - Kole Calhoun. We treat him as great, but in reality the speed and OBP just haven't transferred to the major leagues. The defense has and then some.

Underrated - Tyler Skaggs and Alex Meyer. People forget just how good these guys were as prospects. That kind of dominance isn't fleeting without injury. If healthy, they both can be #2/3 starters.

[totdprods]

39 minutes ago, Scotty@AW said:

Overrated - Kole Calhoun. We treat him as great, but in reality the speed and OBP just haven't transferred to the major leagues. The defense has and then some.

Underrated - Tyler Skaggs and Alex Meyer. People forget just how good these guys were as prospects. That kind of dominance isn't fleeting without injury. If healthy, they both can be #2/3 starters.

Literally same post I was going to make.

[Angel Oracle]

Shields may well be the most underrated in the Scioscia era.   He dominated for 5 seasons in the pen.  

[Ohtaniland]

umm let me think about that. 

 

[Troll Daddy]

10 minutes ago, CALZONE said:

umm let me think about that. 

 

Time's up

[ten ocho recon scout]

Good thread. ill have to post when not drinking.

AJ makes a good point about GA. one thing ill add is that while i lean towards sabr stats, hes one of rhose guys the actual guys doing it (players) love. im a fan.

Kudos to the adam kennedy mention as well. you dont have to be a star to be a cog. i can say that ive talked to more than a handful of guys from other teams who laughed at the howie trade...not a knock on heaney, but a nod to howie. other players valued him more than aw.com. aybar is in that same category.

 

[tdawg87]

Not sure why people are calling Bandy overrated. I understand he had a fair amount of hype (at least from Angels fans) especially after his hot start but he's had just 233 PA's at the MLB level and he still managed a 1.1 WAR during that span. Seems like a perfectly solid catcher to me.

I'd give him a full season of at bats before deeming him "overrated".

[Second Base]

27 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

Not sure why people are calling Bandy overrated. I understand he had a fair amount of hype (at least from Angels fans) especially after his hot start but he's had just 233 PA's at the MLB level and he still managed a 1.1 WAR during that span. Seems like a perfectly solid catcher to me.

I'd give him a full season of at bats before deeming him "overrated".

Well if Angels fans would've viewed him as his scouting reports and minor league numbers dictated, there never would've been any hype. Bandy's a very good defensive catcher, with some pop. But he's a platoon catcher. He's perfect for that role.

[Jig Stew]

Mathis - Overrated 

Napoli - Underrated 

[jimbo]

Overrated: Disarm

Underrated: Mike Witt

Sosh era: 

Overrated: Garrett Richards

Underrated: K Rod.  I mean c'mon, this team has never been the same since he left.

[Ohtaniland]

overrated Scioscia 

underrated Eppler

overpaid P _ _ _ _ S

[Second Base]

12 minutes ago, CALZONE said:

overrated Scioscia 

underrated Eppler

overpaid P _ _ _ _ S

Pacers.

[Second Base]

And as far as our prospects, I won't go near overrated, but off the top of my head, underrated would be Michael Hermosillo, Jonah Wesely.

[Erstad Grit]

Overrated- Richards-people talk like he is an ace 

Underrated- Simmons-best SS I may have ever seen

90's/2000's

Overrated- Colon-back when wins would get the cy young

Underrated- Figgins - if I read one more "we haven't had a legit 3b since Glaus"

[Stradling]

Over rated- Escobar

Under rated- Simmons 

During the Scioscia Era

Under rated- Scot Shields

 

 

[tdawg87]

I'll definitely echo jimbo's underrated pick of K-rod. Dude was by far the best reliever we've ever had and it seems like pretty much everyone was fine when he left. 208 saves by age 26, with a 189 ERA+? Not to mention good all-around peripherals. He's a fair shot at being a HOF'er if he keeps pitching like he has the last few years. 

[NJHalo]

Overrated: Jeter Day at the stadium

Underrated: Scot Shields Day at the stadium. That guy is so under-appreciated it is crazy.