The over and under on player rankings

By Ryan Wilkins Sports Central Columnist

Every year, it seems, amidst the drudgery of a winter without baseball, one source or another decides that it's time to announce who they feel are the most underrated players in the game.

Whether these lists are determined through the utilization of statistical analysis, or just good ol' intuition, is something that varies from list to list -- but nevertheless, such an index is something that always causes a stir within the literate baseball community.

With that being said, about two weeks ago, ESPN.com published just "that" type of list for their Major League Baseball page -- entitled "MLB's ten most underrated players" -- but, unfortunately, failed to capitalize on this chance to bring something new to the table.

The list, drawn up by writer Bill Konigsberg, while better than most attempts to shed some light upon the identities of baseball's most unrecognized stars, is only about 50 percent correct in my opinion - uneven in it's analysis of each player, and what makes him truly valuable in the end.

However, that is not to say that such a list can't be corrected!

By following me, ladies and gentlemen, let's take a look at the aforementioned list of players and see how close ESPN.com came to being "right," by, this time, using consistent methods of evaluation to see what's what in terms of player ratings.

1. Brian Giles, Pittsburgh Pirates

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I have absolutely no complaints here. Giles is probably the most underrated player in the game today, posting a gaudy OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 994 in what was a "down" 2001 for him. ESPN.com says: "Giles deserves much more respect than he gets," and I couldn't agree more. An easy pick, if you ask me.

2. Trot Nixon, Boston Red Sox

Personally, I'm lukewarm on Nixon. Though his overall numbers of .280/.376/.505 (AVG/OBP/SLG) are worthy of definite praise, one only has to look as far as his home/road splits to see where some of that inflation comes from. Nixon, last year, batted an astounding .299/.401/.545 at Fenway, only to post a significantly less impressive .262/.352/.464 on the road. Those, my friends, are not the numbers of one of the most underrated players in baseball -- worthy of "star" status -- they are the numbers of a good-but-not-great ballplayer ... someone who gets about as much recognition as he deserves.

3. John Olerud, Seattle Mariners

Even at 32 years of age, Olerud remains as one of the least-heralded first-basemen in the game, even though his career numbers of .300/.404/.476 are better than some first-basemen in the Hall of Fame (Tony Perez, anyone?). Come the end of his career, many people will try to make a push for Mark Grace into Cooperstown, but if I had a say in the matter, I would probably vote for Olerud ahead of MG.

4. Ryan Klesko, San Diego Padres

Though Klesko is good and has improved greatly since joining the Padres in 2000, it's hard for me to mention his name and the word "underrated" in the same sentence without smiling a little. For most of his career with the Atlanta Braves, Klesko was touted as the next big thing to hit Major League Baseball, but never managed to live up to his full potential. Until now. For a third straight year, Klesko posted an OPS of 900+, and set a career-high for RBI. Although, he might not be underrated after being hyped as much as he was, early on, Ryan certainly has silenced the critics who thought he would struggle after being traded to San Diego.

5. Jose Cruz, Jr., Toronto Blue Jays

ESPN.com compares Cruz, Jr. to Sammy Sosa, Manny Ramirez, and Jeff Bagwell in reference to his high strikeout totals and good power. Needless to say, ESPN.com is flat wrong in this comparison. If anything, he is overrated. Even after you make the defensive positional adjustment, Cruz doesn't stand a chance against the strengths of the other three players. His career OBP is .333, ten points lower than Sosa's, 70 points lower than Ramirez's, and 80 points lower than Bagwell's. That's not a comparison -- that's a joke.

6. Jon Lieber, Chicago Cubs

Lieber is an above average pitcher, nothing more. This is man who has posted an ERA of below 3.99 twice in his career, and has surrendered nearly 30 homeruns per season over the past three years. Yes, he won 20 games last season ... but guess what? He also received close to six runs of support per game, seventh highest in the National League.

7. Matt Lawton, Cleveland Indians

I like Lawton, yet I don't have a lot to say about him. His walk-rate is strong, yet his power is below average for an American League corner-outfielder, with a career slugging percentage of .424. Nevertheless, subtracting his poor second-half in 2001 with the Mets, Lawton has been better than Johnny Damon over the past three seasons -- a man who just got $31 million from the Boston Red Sox.

8. Frank Catalanotto, Texas Rangers

Definitely underrated. Excellent on-base skills, coupled with a surprising amount of power that has improved over time.

9. Orlando Cabrera, Montreal Expos

This is ridiculous. Yes, as Konigsberg was so dutiful to point out, Cabrera did manage to drive in 96 runs last year in the middle of the Expo order. However, it would be conservative to say that the man did little else aside from that -- posting an OPS of 752, with an OBP of .324, along the way. That, my friends, is Brian L. Hunter territory, or, in other words, "not good."

10. Garret Anderson, Anaheim Angels

Believe it or not, Anderson is probably the most overrated player in baseball. Yes, he has hit a reasonable number of home runs these past few seasons -- solidifying his reputation as a consistent "run producer" -- but, the fact of the matter is that Anderson walks less often than Stephen Hawking, and that, even if he were to hit 50 homeruns, is not the sign of a quality player.

Article courtesy of Sports Central.