Pat Burrell Designated For Assignment

Like life, mistakes in baseball are unavoidable. It’s not always about avoiding mistakes – okay, it is largely about avoiding obvious mistakes – as much as responding and evolving from mistakes made. The focus is going to be on whether the Pat Burrell signing was a mistake. Or perhaps categorizing just how big of a mistake it was, and well, that’s fine. Ostensibly the move is a mistake looking back, but at the time, it was unreasonable to expect a .672 OPS. That figure now represents Burrell’s legacy with the Rays, along with the $16 million the Rays paid him.

Fresh from winning the American League, the Rays allowed Eric Hinske and Cliff Floyd to reach free agency while non-tendering Jonny Gomes. Clearly they would pursue a designated hitter, and clearly it would be one of the top few designated hitters on the market. Milton Bradley was out there, Jason Giambi and Bobby Abreu from the hated Yankees too. And, yes, Burrell. The same Burrell who, just months beforehand, had turned a J.P. Howell pitch into a double and cemented the Phillies’ World Series victory.

The Rays offered Abreu more money than he would eventually sign for. Giambi seemingly had his heart set on an Oakland reunion. And Bradley, well, who knows what Bradley was thinking when he signed with the Chicago Cubs who had the ever mercurial Lou Piniella as manager and played without a designated hitter. Adam Dunn refused to become a DH too. That left Burrell as the guy not only willing to sign, but best suited for the job.

What went wrong? Who knows. Burrell’s bat may have slowed due to natural decay or because of poor conditioning. There was the neck injury that occurred before Burrell even had a chance to settle in. And yeah, there will be other speculation about what put the bat in Pat the Bat, but the entire story just seems odd. Burrell was once the number one selection in the amateur draft. He played college ball at the University of Miami – as a third baseman, of all things – and he hit 251 home runs for the Phillies. He got on base nearly 37% of the time for the Phillies. He had an .852 OPS for the Phillies. None of that translated.

Shortly before the 2009 season started Andrew Friedman was on a local radio show and said something to the effect of, “You can pencil Burrell in for his 30 home runs right now.” Burrell would hit 16 in a little over 140 games with the Rays. But there was reason to believe he would hit 30 home runs. He had hit at least 25 in every season since 2005 and clearly the Rays didn’t foresee him collapsing as a 32- or 33-year-old.

That’s not to say there wasn’t expected decline. Burrell walked, struck out, and homered a lot. He held negative value on the basepaths and defense except when it came to the realm of unintentional comedy. Those players simply do not age well, but Burrell’s decline has been more radical than even the most pessimistic of projections. This wasn’t quite a Greg Vaughn situation – a similar player a few years older coming from an extreme hitter’s park. The consensus on the Burrell deal was positive.

Maybe the world title weakened Burrell’s sense of drive. Maybe he felt like he’d accomplished everything. Maybe he just became bored with the mundane nature that comes with playing 162-plus games a year and doing so while only hitting once every few innings. Maybe the neck hurt him more than we’ll ever know, or maybe he figured no fielding responsibilities meant his conditioning could slide. Maybe a mixture.

The only comforting thoughts from the Burrell era are that 1) none of the other options, minus Abreu, have turned out to be bargains or excessively superior and 2) Burrell only cost the Rays money, not draft picks, not minor league talent, just money. Obviously the money could be better spent elsewhere, although it’s impossible to say where it would have went. Maybe a Cliff Lee or Victor Martinez deal gets done. Or maybe a Scott Kazmir deal doesn’t happen. What’s more important than what may have happened is what will happen. Knowing the front office, this is what it is. A potential learning experience.

Theo Epstein has his Julio Lugo, Billy Beane his Esteban Loaiza, Brian Cashman his Jaret Wright, and I guess Andrew Friedman his Pat Burrell.

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