Mismanagement Monday

Mondays are the best day of the week for mismanagement.  There’s always a cluster of work that somehow came in over the weekend, and that just adds to the pile left from Friday afternoon (it’s ok to admit that you check out at 1:35 every Friday, I won’t tell).  By 11:00 am on Monday, you have half of Friday, a weekend pile, and then the work from the people that DON’T work on weekends.  There’s probably a lot of talent in your workplace, but it’s probably mismanaged.  And Monday is probably the day that it is more apparent than the other days of the week.  Kind of like the early 1990’s Toronto Blue Jays.

DON'T CROSS THE BORDERS!

The Blue Jays of the early 90’s had a lot of success.  They were back to back World Series champs in 1992 and 1993.  They had established stars such as Paul Molitor, Joe Carter, Tony Fernandez, Dave Stewart and Jack Morris, and youngsters John Olerud, Roberto Alomar and Pat Hentgen.  With all of that talent around, no one noticed that Pat Borders hit a combined .248 with 25 home runs between 1992 and 1994.  His fielding percentage was .987 during that time, which I suppose is why no one really cared what Pat Borders was doing when he wasn’t catching.  He still wasn’t Ivan Rodriguez-good, who won the Gold Glove award those seasons with a … .987 fielding percentage.  Of course, Rodriguez threw out 131 batters in those seasons.  Borders only threw out … 138.  It was a much lower percentage of base runners though.  OK, I guess this had no point other than to make fun of Pat Borders.

The only thing that Borders seemed to be REALLY good at was blocking a young catcher in the Blue Jays’system from coming up.  That catcher was Carlos Delgado.  In the minors, Delgado had a .982 fielding percentage at catcher, which wasn’t horrible, and seeing how during those seasons he hit .298 while hitting 98 home runs, I’m guessing the slight falloff could have been overlooked.  I’m not saying that a 20 year old Delgado could have came up and hit .324 with 30 home runs and 100 RBIs like he did at A+ Dunedin in 1992, but he probably could have matched Borders’ .242 with 13 home runs and 53 RBIs.  Those numbers were almost identical in 1993 for Borders, hitting .254 with nine home runs and 55 RBIs, while Delgado, advancing to AA Knoxville hit .303 with 25 home runs and 102 RBIs.  He even drew 102 walks that year.  Borders only walked 155 times in his CAREER.

Now that we’ve gotten all that out of the way, let’s take a look at Delgado’s career.  He was signed by the Blue Jays as an amateur free agent out of Aguadilla High School in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico in October 1988.  Upon his signing, he was assigned to A- St. Catharines, where he hit .180 with five doubles and 11 RBIs in 31 games.  He found himself back there for the 1989 season, where he did much better, hitting .281 with 13 doubles, six home runs and 39 RBIs in 67 games.  In those two combined seasons, he had 58 walks and 104 strikeouts.

In 1991, other than one game where he went hitless in three at bats for Syracuse, Delgado spent the season in A ball Myrtle Beach.  There, he hit .286 with 18 doubles, two triples, 18 home runs and 10 RBIs, with 75 walks and 97 strikeouts.  You can see his 1992 and 1993 statistics above.

After a very brief callup in 1993 to the Blue Jays, he would return to Syracuse for the 1994 season.  In 85 games, he hit .319 with 11 doubles, 19 home runs and 58 RBIs, with 42 walks and 58 strikeouts.  He was yet again in Syracuse in 1995.  In 91 games, he hit .318 with 23 doubles, four triples, 22 home runs and 74 RBIs, with 45 walks and 78 strikeouts.  It was this season that he also found himself out from behind the plate, playing 14 error free games in left field, and 79 games at first base, with a fielding percentage of .995.  In both 1994 and 1995, he also got a bit of time with the Blue Jays.  Let’s take a closer look at his big league career.

Delgado would make his major league debut on October 1st, 1993 in a 7-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.  He entered the game as catcher for Randy Knorr in the bottom of the sixth inning, he came to bat once that day in the eighth, drawing an eight pitch walk off of Todd Frohwirth.  One batter later, he was erased off of a ground ball double play by Alfredo Griffin.  Two days later, he would taste sweet victory as the Blue Jays beat the Orioles 11-6.  Pinch hitting in the eighth inning for Paul Molitor, he popped out to short to end his season hitless.

Third base, left field,
whatever. There's enough
Darnell Coles to go around.

In 1994, Delgado would start the season with the Blue Jays as the opening day left fielder.  This was the first professional game that he ever played a position other than catcher.  The move instantly paid off, as he went 5-15 with three home runs in his first three games that season.  On April 11th, he went 2-4 with two home runs and five RBIs in a 14-5 win over the Oakland A’s.  By the end of April, he was only hitting .234, but he had eight home runs and 21 RBIs.  He also had 11 walks and 28 strikeouts.  Unfortunately, after May 1st, he hit .189 with only one home run and three RBIs, despite his BB/K ratio improving to 14 walks and 18 strikeouts.  His on base percentage over that span was .377 due to his increased walks, but still, the Blue Jays decided that June 8th would be his last day in the majors, and they sent him back to Syracuse.  After all, the Blue Jays DID have Mike Huff, who at that point in his career was a .230 hitter with five home runs and 41 RBIs in 217 games.  And don’t forget Darnell Coles, who at that point in his career was a .248 hitter with 67 home runs and 335 RBIs in 825 games.  Huff and Coles shared left field while Delgado was back in Syracuse abusing the opposition.  Borders hit .247 with three home runs and 26 RBIs that season as well.  Delgado ended the season at .215 with two doubles, nine home runs and 24 RBIs, with 25 walks and 46 strikeouts.  In his first ever attempt at anything other than catcher, he made two errors 41 games in the outfield, and added two assists.

Delgado once again opened the season with the Blue Jays in 1995.  This time, they decided they REALLY wanted to mismanage him.  In his first seven games that season, he only received one plate appearance.  In his next game, he went 0-4 with three strikeouts, before finally getting his first hit in his next game.  His first home run of the season came on May 23rd, as a pinch hitter in a 10-6 victory over the Kansas City Royals.  Five days later, he was only hitting .154 with one home run and three RBIs when he was sent back to Syracuse.  After putting up gaudy numbers again in AAA, he was called back up at the end of the season.  Over the final month, he hit .169 with two home runs and eight RBIs.  Overall for the season, he hit .165 with three doubles, three home runs and 11 RBIs, with six walks and 26 strikeouts.

Delgado would return to the majors for good for the 1996 season.  By now, he had officially made the transition to first base, although with Olerud already having established himself there, Delgado primarily served as the DH.  He was hitting .300 as late as June 19th, but he ended the season at .270 with 28 doubles, two triples, 25 home runs and 92 RBIs, with 58 walks and 139 strikeouts.  Fun fact – in the two games where he had a triple, he also homered, but those were the only two hits he had those days.  No cycle for you!

Delgado had similar numbers in 1997.  Again hitting .300 in mid-June, he had a stretch from June 16th through August 6th where he hit.184, before finishing the season at an even .300 from August 7th on.  He would hit his first career grand slam on April 25th, followed by two more on June 6th and July 24th.  He homered in four straight games in early June, and fell a double short of the cycle on July 11th.  Overall for the season, he hit .262 with 42 doubles, three triples, 30 home runs and 91 RBIs, with 64 walks and 133 strikeouts.  With Olerud having moved on to the New York Mets, Delgado was now the primary first baseman.  In 119 games, he only made 12 errors, good for a .988 fielding percentage.  This would actually be his worst fielding percentage of any season where he played over 100 games at first base (it was .983 in 27 games there in 1996).

In 1998, Delgado took a big step toward showing the world the player he would become.  He would hit grand slams on May 7th and August 12th.  The May 7th game was also his first career five hit game.  He had his first career three home run game on August 4th.  He had a 19 game hit streak that bridged May and June, and an on base streak of 38 games.  He was batting .301 on September 1st, but from there on out, a horribly unlucky BABIP of .170 translated into a .244 batting average, even though over that span he still had 11 home runs and 19 RBIs, with 20 walks and 19 strikeouts.  Overall for the season, he hit .292 with 43 doubles, a triple, 38 home runs and 115 RBIs, with 73 walks and 139 strikeouts.  He was AL Player of the Week the weeks of June 7th (.407 average, four home runs, nine RBIs) and August 23rd (.370 average, four home runs, 10 RBIs).  He would finish a distant 21st in the AL MVP voting.  Manning 141 games at first base, he only made 10 errors, good for a .992 fielding percentage.

Delgado’s average dipped a bit in 1999, but many of his other numbers improved.  It was a season of ups and downs, as he was hitting .241 on April 28th, .286 on May 19th, and .246 on August 3rd, before hitting .340 from that point out.  He had a six game streak in early August where he hit .577 with eight home runs and 13 RBIs.  In total, he hit .272 with 39 doubles, 44 home runs and 134 RBIs, with 86 walks and 141 strikeouts.  He would finish 12th in the AL MVP voting, and would win his first Silver Slugger award.  In the field, he would play in 147 games at first base, committing 14 errors, good for a .990 fielding percentage.

So, you're saying, I should
have won MVP that year too?

In 2000, at the age of 28, Delgado had arguably his best season in a career full of great seasons, but it didn’t start out that way.  After the first eight games, he was only hitting .138 with no home runs.  By the end of April, he had that average up to .319 with eight home runs.  In June, he played in 26 games, and had more than one hit in 14 of them, hitting .411 with nine home runs and 26 RBIs, including a grand slam on June 7th.  In the only game of the season where he hit a triple, he fell a home run short of the cycle in an 8-7 loss to the Royals on August 7th.  He would add another grand slam on September 17th, although he faded a bit down the stretch, only hitting .245 with two home runs that month.  Overall, he would hit .344 with a league leading 57 doubles, one triple, 41 home runs and 137 RBIs, with 123 walks and 104 strikeouts.  His increased average and walk rate made this on base percentage jump to .470, and his OPS was 1.134.  He was AL Player of the Week the weeks of April 23rd (.480 average, four home runs, eight RBIs), June 11th (.556 average, four home runs, 13 RBIs), and July 9th (.524 average, one home run, eight RBIs).  He played in all 162 games that season, all at first base, with only 13 errors equaling a .991 fielding percentage.  He was an All Star for the first time in his career, again won a Silver Slugger award, and finished fourth in the AL MVP voting behind Jason Giambi, Frank Thomas and Alex Rodriguez.  He won the AL Hank Aaron award and The Sporting News Major League Player of the Year award.

Delgado wasn’t quite able to duplicate that success in 2001.  At the end of April, he was “only” batting .293, but he added 10 home runs and 22 RBIs, thanks to two games with three home runs each and one game with two home runs.  He was only batting in the .250’s at the end of May, June, and July before hitting .328 after August 1st.  On the season, he hit .279 with 31 doubles, one triple, 39 home runs and 102 RBIs, with 11 walks and 136 strikeouts.  He was AL Player of the week the week of April 8th, when he hit .368 with five home runs and 10 RBIs.  One thing that very well may have hurt his numbers were fewer opportunities with runners on.  He was intentionally walked 22 times that season.  He had 18 the year before, but 11 of those were in the second half of the season, which may have also contributed to his slightly lower numbers then as well.  Playing all 162 games again, he only made nine errors, good for a fielding percentage of .994.

Delgado would miss the majority of August and only play in 143 games in 2002, but he would put up similar numbers to the previous season.  He was hitting .280 at the end of April, but from that point out, his average didn’t get much above the .250’s until he caught fire at the end of the season, hitting .435 with 10 home runs and 22 RBIs in the last 20 games that year.  Overall, he hit .277 with 34 doubles, two triples, 33 home runs and 108 RBIs, with 102 walks and 126 strikeouts.  He was AL Player of the Week for the week of September 29th, when he hit .450 with four home runs and 11 RBIs.  In the field, he had 12 errors at first base, good for a .991 fielding percentage.

In 2003, Delgado would again find himself as an All Star.  He came out of the gate strong, hitting .365 in the month of April.  He hit grand slams on June 6th and September 28th.  On September 25th, he was 4-4 with four home runs and six RBIs in a 10-8 win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.  For the year, he hit .302 with 38 doubles, one triple, 42 home runs and a league leading 145 RBIs, with 109 walks and 137 strikeouts.  He was AL Player of the Week for the week of August 28th, when he hit .318 with six home runs and 11 RBIs.  Along with the All Star nod, he was a Silver Slugger, and finished second in the AL MVP race behind Alex Rodriguez.  He only made 10 errors in the field for a .993 fielding percentage.

2004 would mark Delgado’s last year in Toronto.  His April started off slow, as he was only hitting .119 through the first 12 games of the season, but he hit .415 over the last 10 games to finish the month at .265.  By May 29th, his average was down to .227.  He would miss all of June and the first few games of July, but he still wasn’t really right, with his average falling slightly to .221 by the end of July.  From August 1st on, he hit .330 to somewhat salvage his season.  By the end of the season, he was hitting .269, his highest mark since May 3rd, with 26 doubles, 32 home runs and 99 RBIs, with 69 walks and 115 strikeouts.  He was AL Player of the Week for the week of September 5th, when he hit .381 with three home runs and seven RBIs.  He only played in 128 games, and despite missing time, he still played most of them at first base.  He only made five errors, setting a career high for fielding percentage at .996.

Why is my name and number ironed on?

In 2005, Delgado would switch leagues, signing with the Florida Marlins.  Back at full health, he once again continued to do Carlos Delgado things.  He hit safely in 15 of 22 games that April, finishing the month at .300.  He missed the last few games in July and some games the first of August, but other than that, he was pretty much back to playing every day.  In 144 games, he hit .301 with 41 doubles, three triples, 33 home runs and 115 RBIs, with 72 walks and 121 strikeouts.  His only grand slam of the season came in a pinch hit at bat on July 7th in an 11-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.  He would finish sixth in the NL MVP voting.  In the field, he made 14 errors at first base, which was still good for a .989 fielding percentage.

In the offseason, Delgado was traded to the New York Mets for Grant Psomas, Mike Jacobs and Yusmeiro Petit.  His numbers would take a dip, but he was still a very effective player.  He came out of the gate strong, hitting .298 with nine home runs and 20 RBIs in 24 games in April, but his average had fallen to .250 by the end of May.  He was hitting .247 in mid-August before finishing the season hitting .320.  Overall, he hit .265 with 30 doubles, two triples, 38 home runs and 114 RBIs, with 74 walks and 120 strikeouts.  He finished a distant 12th in the NL MVP voting.  He only committed eight errors at first for a .994 fielding percentage.  With the Mets winning the NL East, Delgado made the playoffs for the only time in his career.  He made good use of his time, hitting .429 with a home run and two RBIs in a sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers.  In the seven game loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, he hit .304 with three doubles, three home runs and nine RBIs.  That combined for a .351 average and a 1.199 OPS.

Delgado’s lone grand slam of the year was against the Cardinals in an 8-7 victory on August 22nd.  He also added a solo home run that game and finished with five RBIs.  Although he lost the war that day, Albert Pujols won the battle of first basemen, also hitting two home runs – a grand slam and a three run – with all seven Cardinals RBIs.  Future Cardinal Carlos Beltran would hit a walk off two run home run off of Jason Isringhausen.

In 2007, Delgado’s numbers would continue to decline.  He was batting under .200 as late as May 3rd, but he would raise his average to .231 by the end of May.  He would miss some time in the middle of September, but came back to hit .297 in the last 10 games of the season.  Overall, he hit .258 with 30 doubles, 24 home runs and 87 RBIs, with 52 walks and 118 strikeouts.  Despite his dip in offense, there was no decline in the field, as he committed eight errors good for a .993 fielding percentage.

He's more of a cake guy.

2008 would be the last full season for Delgado.  Seemingly healthy again, the 36 year old Delgado’s numbers returned to something closer to the average Delgado season.  At the end of June, he was only hitting .228, but after hitting .357 in July, his season average jumped to .260, and he would hit .292 over the final two months of the season to increase it further.  He was a home run short of the cycle in an 8-6 loss to the San Diego Padres on June 8th.  On June 27th, he went 3-5 with a grand slam, a three run home run and a two run double, finishing the day with nine RBIs in a 15-6 win over the New York Yankees.  He would add his final career grand slam in a 9-6 loss to the Chicago Cubs on September 24th.  On the season, he hit .271 with 32 doubles, one triple, 38 home runs and 115 RBIs, with 72 walks and 124 strikeouts.  He would finish ninth in the NL MVP voting.

Delgado would start the season with the Mets in 2009, but after the first 30 games of the season, he was done.  Overall, he hit .298 with seven doubles, one triple, four home runs and 23 RBIs, with 12 walks and 20 strikeouts.  In his last game on May 10th, he was 1-4 with a double off of Ian Snell in an 8-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.  In 25 games at first base, he made two errors for a .990 fielding percentage.

PHOTOGRAPHIC PROOF.

A few days after his last game, he had hip surgery.  He was only expected to miss 10 weeks, but didn’t play another game that season.  Before the 2010 season, he had another procedure on his hip.  In early August, he signed a minor league contract with the Boston Red Sox.  He would only play in five games at AAA Pawtucket, hitting .231 with two RBIs, before suffering another setback.  He announced his retirement in April of the following year.

For his career, Delgado hit .280 with 483 doubles, 18 triples, 473 home runs and 1512 RBIs, with 1109 walks and 1745 strikeouts.  His career on base percentage was .383, and his career OPS was .929.  He was never accused of being fleet of foot, with only 14 career stolen bases, but he actually had more intentional walks – 186 – and hit by pitch – 172 – than double plays grounded into – 152.  Despite all of his games at catcher in the minor leagues, he only caught five errorless innings in two games in the majors.  Overall at first base, in 1767 career games, he only made 129 errors for a .992 fielding percentage, but never won a Gold Glove award.

It's easier to hit with two bats.

Despite his average being, well, average, his on base percentage is actually 147th best in major league history.  His slugging percentage of .546 ranks 28th all time, and his OPS ranks 37th all time.  His 473 home runs rank 31st all time.  One stat that stuck out to me is that his hit by pitch total ranks 14th all time.  That’s somewhat unusual for a slugging first baseman.  Jason Giambi (180) and Andres Galarraga (178) rank just ahead of him, but other than that, not many other first basemen among the leaders in that category.  His intentional walk count ranks 22nd all time, and his HR/AB ratio of 15.4 is 23rd all time, right between Ron Kittle and Ken Griffey, Jr.  He is one of six major league players to have hit 30 home runs in 10 consecutive seasons, the others being Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols, Jimmie Foxx and Sammy Sosa.

It will be VERY interesting to see what kind of response that Delgado gets from Hall of Fame voters next year when he first becomes eligible.  Never linked to any sort of steroid allegations, that may earn him a few votes alone.  He was also the 2006 winner of the Roberto Clemente Award.  Before we feel sorry for Delgado, worrying he might not make the Hall of Fame, let’s not forget that he made a crap-ton of money in his career – well over $140 million.  But he’s used some of that money for good use.  He was, and still is, quite active in charitable causes in his native Puerto Rico.

Here’s to you, Carlos Delgado!  We might not sleep on a pile of money at night, but most of us can certainly empathize with your career mismanagement.