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Your most underrated player of the last 20 years

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In terms of playing the Indians.....Elvis Andrus. I believe he hit about .600 against us.
 
First thought that comes to mind when thinking of Juan Pierre.....is the first thought that comes to mind with my entry of Todd Helton........Coors Field.
 
I dont know about all of MLB, but for the Indians, the most underrated or under appreciated players IMO have been Brian Shaw, Casey Blake, Jake Westbrook, and Cookie.

Shaw was constantly chastised, but for five years was simply one of the best relievers in baseball.

Blake's ability and willingness to play any position needed made him more valuable than simply his WAR. You had to consider that his WAR should be compared to whatever black hole in the lineup we would have had if he had not been able to play that position, and play it well.

Just think how good he would look on this team. Need a 1B? Need a RF so Naylor could play first?

Westbrook was denigrated constantly, simply because he wasn't an ace, but he was a solid #2 SP.

Everybody loves Cookie, but he was over shadowed by Kluber. Cookie was an ace who was never looked at that way here.

Over a five year period...2014-2018... he was the seventh best SP in baseball.
 
Criznit said:
Whoever said Juan Pierre... Good one.
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I chatted with Michael Brantley's agent when Michael was still in the minors and asked what he thought his client's upside was. He thought for a moment and said, "Juan Pierre." He could tell I was disappointed by the response and hastened to say, "The good Juan Pierre."

You see, I never thought Juan Pierre was any good. I'm glad Michael Brantley was a sight better than the "good" Juan Pierre.
 
Beltre had the David Ortiz thing where he really took off as he got older. Now granted the tools were always there cause his 2004 season if I recall was a monster.

Was pretty blah during those Mariners years. Had a good season in Boston to recapture what he was and had a great Rangers tenure.

Very interesting career...
 
No longer appreciated thanks to his precipitous decline and bloated contract.
 
Gotta agree on Casey Blake.
I recall thinking “AAAA player” when he first broke through on the Indians, and might be good for a hot spell here and there. Seemed to be bad with RISP for that first year and I believe that was the year we won 94 games but missed the playoffs - in part because he sucked it up against the White Sox in the final series of the season. He was part of the “Killer Bs” in that same season - and that was not a term of endearment. Three guys with last names that began with B that always seemed to fail in key moments. At least for me, I always was negative on him as a result.

But the for the next 2-3 years he was a dependable bat and a versatile mitt. Solid average, solid power, good 5, 6, 7 in the order guy.

Then we got Santana for him from the Dodgers and he continued being the same guy for them that he was for us.
 
PIP said:
Miguel Tejada
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Tejada won the MVP in 2002.

Arod, then with the Rangers, finished 2nd.

Now, forget the fact that Arod's bWAR was 8.8 and his fWAR was 10 (both easily lead the AL), while Tejada was not even in the top 10. This was 2002, and WAR wasn't really a thing.

Both Arod and Tejada were shortstops. Arod won the Silver Slugger Award (best offensive SS) and the Gold Glove (best defensive SS). So the voters said Arod was better offensively and defensively, but Tejada was better overall.

If anything, Tejada was overrated.
 
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