The Hidden Stars of Baseball

by Adam Ulrey

It seems like all we hear about any more are the superstars of baseball like Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, Mike Piazza and others of their ilk, but there's a growing group of second tier players who are slowly making a name for themselves. I used the following criteria for these players:

1. They have to be less than 31 years of age.
2. They must have at least played three full seasons.
3. In most cases they are playing second fiddle to a better-known teammate.

Some of the following players have been around for years, or have played on big-name teams. Others have been improving year-after-year.

I've been a big Cleveland Indians fan for over 35 years and have enjoyed a nice seven-year run with my boys. But as much as former GM John Hart did to bring the Indians back to prominence he did just as much to ruin this team. He did a great job of getting the young players signed to long-term contracts and rebuilding the farm system. Yet over the last four years he has made some of the worst trades in the history of baseball. First he trades Brian Giles to the Pirates for Ricardo Rincon. Rincon has done little to nothing for the Indians, while Giles has gone on to become a star. In his three years in Pittsburgh Giles has hit 111 homers and driven in 333 runs while hitting over .310. Last year he even added a little bit of speed to his repertoire by stealing 13 bases. He plays an excellent centerfield and has a lot of pride in his defense. Instead of keeping Giles the Indians gave a ton of money to Kenny Lofton who was past his prime. Simply put, a stupid trade. Then Hart followed that brilliant move of trading Sean Casey, Danny Graves and Damien Jackson for Dave Burba. Burba did win 56 games over the four years he was with the Indians, but you would still rather have all three of the players you gave up for him. Casey has gone on to become one of the better hitting first basemen in the NL. In his last three years he has hit .332, .315 and last year, .310 and during this period he has hit 58 homers and driven in 273 runs. He also is very good defensively. Graves has pitched in at least 66 games every season and accumulated 97 saves with a very solid 3.23 ERA. You can't tell me that with all the trouble the Indians have had finding a closer over the years they couldn't have used the steady influence of Graves. Then I guess Hart felt like going for the trifecta by trading outfielder/first basemen Richie Sexson to the Brewers for Bob Wickman and a couple of stiffs. Wickman is a solid closer, but you don't give up a great young hitter for an ok closer. Sexson is coming off an incredible 2001 campaign, hitting 45 homers and driving in 125 runs. He's a 27-year-old stud who would have been the Indians' left fielder for years. Can you imagine the Indians with Sexson, Giles, Casey and Graves all under 30? I would never wish bad things on somebody, but let's just say I hope Hart is a bust in Texas.

Who would you think is the leading homerun hitter in Cleveland Indians history: Earl Averill, Joe Gordon, Rocky Colavito or Albert Belle? Wrong. It's Jim Thome, who for the last seven years has been one of the best run producers in the game. He has also been one of those guys who seem to rise to the occasion with big game homers one after another. He holds the Cleveland record for the longest home run, with a mammoth 511-foot shot. He has averaged 37 home runs over the last six years, along with of 106 RBI. At his current pace, along with the fact that barring injury he'll probably play seven more seasons, 500 home runs is not out of the question. He has always been overshadowed by Belle and Ramirez, yet goes about his business being a great hitter who doesn't get a lot of fanfare.

With Philadelphia's success this past season you heard a lot about Scott Rolen and his contract issue, as well as his torrid second half. As good as Rolen is, over the last four years the best player on on this team is Bobby Abreu. He has increased his home run total every year, hitting 17 followed by 20, 25; last year he put 31 into the seats. He has hit over .310 and has increased his stolen base total every year with 19 his first year, followed by 27, 28 and 36. Twice in the last three years he has achieved double figures in doubles, triples and home runs in the same year. That is a very rare accomplishment, having been done only 13 times in the last three years. Abreu is one of only two guys to have done it twice. He might have the best outfield arm in baseball. In his four years he has received the respect of his peers, as players simply don't run on him.

Every year I hear rumors that the Angels are going to trade Garrett Anderson and I ask myself why? Apparently they don't like good young ball players. All this guy has done is play in the shadow of Tim Salmon while hitting 135 homers and driving in 633 runs in a little more than six full seasons. Over the last three years he has really improved, hitting 84 homers and driving in 310 runs to outproduce Salmon. I love the way this kid plays, having missed only 30 games in the last six years. He can play any outfield position and can spell whomever at first base if needed. His lifetime batting average is .296 and he also has averaged just over 37 doubles a year. This guy is just hitting his prime so look for even better years coming up.

The Oakland A's have a couple of great young hitters in Miguel Tejada and Jermaine Dye, who came over from KC midway through last season. Tejada has had to play second fiddle to Jason Giambi along with playing in the shadow of that great trio of shortstops, Alex Rodriguez, Nomar Garciaparra and Derek Jeter. Over the last three years only Rodriguez has out-performed Tejada on a consistent bases. Miguel has hit 82 homers, driven in 312 runs, and averaged over 30 doubles, while playing a stellar shortstop. He has improved himself into one of the better fielding shortstops. Dye was traded for Michael Tucker back in 1997 and it looked like the Braves had made a wise decision, but hold the phones as Dye has now made himself into one of the best right fielders in the game. Over the last three years Dye has hit 27, 33 and then 26 homers with over 100 RBI each year. Two years ago he hit a career high .321. Like Anderson, he also possesses one of the better outfield arms in the game. At 28 is just now coming into his prime and it seems like for the last three years the Braves have been searching for a right fielder when all along they had one but didn't know it.

In Houston they have talked about the B & B Show for years, referring to Bagwell and Biggio, but over the last three years a young center fielder named Richard Hidalgo has emerged. Just two years ago he hit 44 homers, with 28 of them coming on the road. He drove in 122 runs that year while hitting .314. Last year his numbers took a dip, but at the age of 26 look for him to continue up the superstar chart as he is the real deal.

I remember when my Dodgers decided to give up a great young hitter named Paul Konerko for closer Jeff Shaw and thinking the whole time, 'You are crazy.' How you give up on a 22-year-old hitter for an unproven closer is beyond me. Then the Reds turn around and decide that they must join the Dodgers "we are a moron club" by trading Konerko to the White Sox for Mike Cameron. I will admit that they took Cameron and traded him for Griffey Jr., but they have fared no better than before. Konerko has become one of the mainstays of the Chisox lineup, hitting 77 homers and driving in 277 runs over the last three years. He has hit .294, .298 and although he slipped a little last year, he still ended up with a nice .282 average. He can play first, third and either left or right field if needed. At age 26 his numbers should continue to climb. Playing in a town with Frank Thomas he gets lost in the media, but is a star waiting to happen.

I had heard about the great Cliff Floyd all the way back in 1994, when he was touted as the next great superstar. Yet year-after-year he would be hurt with one injury after another. The Expos finally said enough and traded him to the Marlins, where over the last four years he has become the player that everybody had predicted. In his three full seasons 1998, 2000 and 2001 he has been a hitting machine, with his 1999 season cut short because of an injury. In the three full time seasons he averaged 25 homers, 94 RBI's and a .300 batting average. What sets him apart from other young players is even at his size he has tremendous speed, with over 70 stolen bases while hitting in the three hole in the lineup. At 29 he is still young enough to put up the lofty stats that so many predicted for him. The question remains can he stay healthy?

Last year was the breakout year for the San Francisco Giants shortstop, Rich Aurilla. He got lost in the Bonds homerun chase, but managed to hit a career high 37 homers and drive in 97 runs from the second spot in the lineup. He also hit a career high .324 with a league-leading 206 hits. This was the third year in a row that the 30-year-old shortstop hit over 20 homers. With Bonds back in the fold and batting right behind him, look for Aurilla to have another monster year. The last player to shed some light on is the Brett Favre look-alike named Geoff Jenkins of the Milwaukee Brewers. He was on his way to a huge season until a broken bone in his hand cut his season short. Over his first three full time seasons he has hit 75 homers, driven in 239 runs and batted over .300 twice. He is all of 27 and with Sexson there with him they could form one of the best one-two punches in the game. Look for him to rebound and have the season this year that everybody thought he would have last year.