By any measure, Darin Erstad has been a pretty bad baseball player over the past six seasons. You do not have to be a stats geek to come to this conclusion. I'm not sure if Mark Gonzales looked at any stats before writing the garbage. Here are some choice selections out of his column today:
Erstad signing may take some of the heat off Ken
Williams
General manager Ken Williams will bring much welcomed relief to douse the verbal flames directed at him Friday when sold-out SoxFest opens.That break will come from Darin Erstad, who will bring more than 11 years of solid production when he's introduced to fans craving a return to the postseason after a one-year absence.
Are any fans excited about this signing? Most people I know just hope he won't be worse then Pods or Brian Anderson.
And if Erstad is recovered fully from a right ankle injury that limited him to 40 games with the Los Angeles Angels last season, he could provide the Sox with the same type of bargain Jermaine Dye has during his two seasons after being hindered by leg injuries.
Well, Erstad and Dye are the same age, so the chances of Erstad having a breakout season ar age 33 are much less than they were for Dye at age 31. Dye was also a much better hitter than Erstad throughout his career.
As a former Nebraska punter, Erstad provides manager Ozzie Guillen with the athleticism the Sox lacked last year. Erstad can bat anywhere in the top of the order, and his ability to bat second could allow Tadahito Iguchi to slide down to more of a run-production spot if leadoff hitter Scott Podsednik recovers from a sports hernia operation.
If Erstad was actually an athletic, top of the order type hitter, he would have commanded much more than a one year, one million dollar contract as a free agent. The Angels only offered Erstad a minor league contract.
The Sox most likely signed a player who is done, and the chances of him being out of baseball by the end of they year are greater than him earning a starting spot in the outfield.