Taking a look at the gargantuan Chicago Cubs payroll, one must think, “Wow, this has to be a ball club filled with talent and perennial all stars.” Sadly, that is not the case. In fact just the opposite is true. Along with the fluffed up contracts, the Cubs roster lacks plenty of performance.
Case in point number one, Alfonso Soriano. The guy is making around 19 Million this year, but has the stats of a decent rookie call up. Sure, when he was a 40-40 man at one point in his career, his contract made sense, but the fact that he hasn’t stolen more than 20 bases in the past two and a half seasons says something. The lack of speed and hustle has also dragged along with his lack of power…and bat speed. Let’s not even mention his horrendous golf swing strikeouts. He has a shot at 400 career homers, but still doesn’t look like a Hall of Famer in my eyes.
What’s so great about 400 HR when you’re hitting .250 or not driving in your teammates? Overrated players attempt to heighten their success by pointing out their one attribute, but fail to recognize their long list of flaws. And to call Soriano’s fielding “a flaw” is the understatement of the year.
Another proven Cubs Clunker is Japanese product Kosuke Fukudome. Now in his fourth and final year of his contract, ‘Fuk has made a grand total of around 35 million dollars. That’s enough dough to give each fan at a sold out Wrigley Field crowd a hot dog and beer, 75 times. Kosuke is a lesser known name around the league, but any athlete making as much as him should be popping in more than 50 RBIs a year. Besides him cannon of an arm and stellar defense in right field, Kosuke Fukudome has not lived up to MLB standards. “Mr. April,” pejoratively nicknamed for fast starts and consistent steady seasonal decline, is better suited for the Chunichi Dragons than a big league club.
The list of overpaid Cubs Clunkers can practically spread throughout the whole roster, minus the young talent up the middle, Starlin Castro and Darwin Barney. Overrated players are not an oddity in the MLB. Every team has their fair share. However, it’s become commonplace for the North Siders to accumulate and overpay theirs.
–Peter Skiadopoulos
Irrationally Overrated Archive
Tigers: Brandon Inge
White Sox: Mark Buerhle