YEAR 2001
SEASON PREVIEW
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Welcome to the Year 2001 section of the website. Here you will find
comments, stats, and (sometimes) predictions for hundreds of players who
will be taking the field in the upcoming 2001 season. These are just my
own interpretations of each player's abilities and potential. The players have been sorted by the teams they play for. Last year, I sorted them alphabetically as well; that's a cumbersome process that I have decided not to repeat. I hope finding players won't be too difficult... but I also hope to have a more sophisticated search process in place sometime during the year. As well, rosters are constantly changing, so I will try to keep up with the changes. Last year I gave up pretty quickly trying to keep things updated, but this year I've made some changes that should make things easier. Don't expect to find complete 40-man rosters, but there are over 1100 players listed, so you should find most of them. As of this writing (March 12) the player comments are not finished, there are still a few more to do, plus I'm also trying to get more information on some players. Some of the pages have been proofed, some haven't, but hopefully things will be in better shape in the coming weeks. If you are looking for a player and can't find him, check back later to see if he's been added. If you want to see all the players that are currently listed, with links to their team pages, CLICK HERE. |
| Here are a few examples of the player comments. These guys aren't listed in any of the team pages, only because I'm not sure which camps they're in right now (or, like Rickey Henderson, they are still looking for work). |
| Trent Durrington (IF, 26, R/R) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1999 ANA 43 122 22 2 0 0 14 2 9 28 180 237 197 4 3 |
| Durrington is a road runner who played very badly in his first year at Edmonton - bad enough, in fact, that the Angels released him in August. His long-term prospects weren't good to begin with; he has no power, is not a very successful base stealer, and 1999 was his first and only good year with the bat. The fact that he no longer has a team doesn't help, either. He may resurface again in 2001 as a pinch runner. |
| Gary Gaetti (3B, 43, R/R) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1998 STL-CHC 128 434 122 34 1 19 60 70 43 62 281 356 495 1 1 1999 CHC 113 280 57 9 1 9 22 46 21 51 204 260 339 0 1 2000 BOS 5 10 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 000 000 000 0 0 |
| Gaetti signed to play with Boston before the season, but decided to retire in April. In total, he played 20 years, hit 360 homers, drove in 1341 runs, won four Gold Gloves and won a World Series with the Twins in 1987. He was very similar to Graig Nettles, perhaps not quite as good with either the bat or the glove but close. |
| Dwight Gooden (36, R) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1998 CLE 8 6 23 23 0 0 0 134 135 51 83 376 1999 CLE 3 4 26 22 0 0 0 115 127 67 88 626 2000 3TEAMS 6 5 27 14 0 0 2 105 119 44 55 471 |
| Gooden began the year in Houston, was dealt to Tampa Bay, and eventally ended up with the Yankees again. He wasn't awful, but his career is on its last legs, and I won't be surprised if this is his last season. He now has 194 career wins. |
| Orel Hershiser (43, R) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1998 SF 11 10 34 34 0 0 0 202 200 85 126 441 1999 NYM 13 12 32 32 0 0 0 179 175 77 89 458 2000 LA 1 5 10 6 0 0 0 25 42 14 13 1314 |
| Hershiser had nothing on the ball when the season began, and decided to retire. He finished with 204 wins, a Cy Young Award, a World Series MVP Award and a record for consecutive scoreless innings pitched. He'll make a good pitching coach one day. |
| Lance Johnson (OF, 38, L/L) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1998 CHC 85 304 85 8 4 2 51 21 26 22 280 335 352 10 6 1999 CHC 95 335 87 11 6 1 46 21 37 20 260 332 337 13 3 2000 NYY 18 30 9 1 0 0 6 2 0 7 300 300 333 2 0 |
| Johnson was released by Cleveland in the spring, signed with the Yankees in May, and was quickly released by them as well. His 14-year career appears to be over; for the record, he led the league in triples five times (117 in his career) and in hits twice (1565 lifetime). |
| Lyle Mouton (OF, 32, R/R) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1999 AAA 127 467 145 43 3 23 89 94 40 98 310 367 563 22 1 2000 AAA 52 197 60 23 0 12 33 51 23 41 305 378 604 4 1 |
| Mouton is a big guy who can hit for a decent average, but has never displayed much power at the major league level. He has to find a team that needs a right-handed pinch hitter. |
| Jesse Orosco (44, L) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1998 BAL 4 1 69 0 0 0 7 56 46 28 50 318 1999 BAL 0 2 65 0 0 0 1 32 28 20 35 534 2000 INJURED |
| Tony LaRussa decided he didn't have enough ancient left-handers in his bullpen, so the Cardinals when out and got the oldest of them all. Orosco appeared in six games, then hurt his elbow and never came back. A successful comeback is unlikely... but then, it was unlikely that he would last this long in the first place. Orosco has pitched for 21 years, and has appeared in a record 1096 games. His lifetime ERA is only 3.03, and he has averaged over 8 strikeouts per game during his career. |
| Yorkis Perez (34, L) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1998 PHI 0 2 57 0 0 0 0 52 40 25 42 381 1999 PHI 3 1 35 0 0 0 0 32 29 15 26 394 2000 HOU 2 1 33 0 0 0 0 23 25 14 21 516 |
| Perez was acquired by Houston before last season. Despite the armageddon that struck the Astros' bullpen, they still felt it worth their while to release Perez in July. I can find no record of anyone signing him since then. |
| Craig Wilson (IF, 31, R/R) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1998 AAA 120 432 132 21 1 14 67 69 37 41 306 361 456 4 2 2000 AAA 62 230 85 14 2 3 43 34 32 26 370 448 487 1 0 |
| Wilson's hot streak at Charlotte may have saved his career. He's a veteran utility infielder, can play several positions and hit a little. He didn't play well in 1999, and last year started slowly. He went on the DL in June with a sore back, then was returned to Charlotte, where he hit .370. The White Sox have lots of infielders, and I doubt they will have room for Wilson to play, but I'm sure there is a team that will offer him a job. |