The Unlucky Thirteen
13) Mike Mussina NYYYeah he was 28 but people still thought he had something in the tank. He posted 15 wins and a 3.51 ERA and a 1.110 WHIP the previous year and absolutely unraveled last season with a career worst 5.15 ERA and a 1.467 WHIP to go with an 11-10 record despite pitching for the best offense in the MLB
12) Lance Berkman HOU
When your stats drop from one year to the next by 11 homers, .037 batting average points, and 34 RBI you think you'd be higher on this list right? Well not when you can still post 34 homers, a .278 average, and 102 RBIs to go along with 95 runs scored. Berkman still had a great season, maybe people just had unrealistic expectations of him
11) Alfonso Soriano CHC
Here's what Alfonso Soriano's average season looked like the 5 years prior to signing his $136 million deal with Chicago: .283 average, 37 homers, 97 RBIs, 108 runs scored, and 33 SBs. Add that to the fact that Soriano was coming off a career year the previous year that saw him become only the third player in Major League history to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season (46 HR, 41 SB) and the friendly folks in Illinois were expecting huge things this season from their newest superstar. While his season of 33 homers, 70 RBIs, 97 runs scored, and "only" 19 steals were nothing to be ashamed of, it wasn't what Chicago was expecting. He still hit a respectable .299, but his OBP was a treacherous .337. To articulate just how unimpressive that is compare it to Milwaukee Brewers' second baseman Rickie Weeks who hit a paltry .235 on the season, but boasted a .374 OBP
10) Manny Ramirez BOS
Manny's streak of nine straight seasons with 100 or more RBIs came to a sudden end in 2007, so did his streak of 12 straight seasons with 25 or more homers. In fact ManRam had the worst statistical season of his career since becoming a full time player in 1995. Not that that's a bad thing since he's been a monster for those 12 years averaging 38 homers, 121 RBIs, 100 runs scored, a .318 batting average, and an incredible 1.021 OPS. This year's output of .296 average, 20 homers, 88 RBIs, 84 runs scored, and a sub .493 SLG is not a bad season by any stretch of the imagination, but it just isn't Manny being Manny
9) Ervin Santana LAA
Before the season started he was a Breakout Player of the Year favorite. When you talked about Santana pitching a great game people actually started asking "which one". The young Santana got a lot of attention coming into the year for his great career home ERA (3.14) and terrible career road ERA (7.14), and he did nothing to change anybody's minds on that this year (3.27 vs 8.38). Overall last season he boasted a 5.76 ERA, and that's including the 2.96 ERA he had in the last six games of the season
8) Jason Bay PIT
Heading into last year Jason Bay was everything Pittsburgh could want, and quite frankly everything they had. He averaged a .296 average, 34 home runs, 105 RBIs, 106 runs scored, .546 SLG, and 16 stolen bases over the previous two seasons with the Pirates. Unfortunately for the Pittsburgh faithful (and his wife too) the heavy hitting left fielder fell apart after his great start. On June 3rd Bay was hitting .312 and slugging .540. However he hit just .204 after that with a .337 SLG. He ended the season with a disappointing .247 average, 84 RBI, 74 R, 4 SB
7) Travis Hafner CLE
Pronk tore up the American League the previous three season by averaging 34 homers, 111 RBIs, 97 runs scored, and a .308 average to go along with a ferocious .611 SLG. Like Soriano, Hafner was also coming off a career year where he posted career highs in runs (100), RBI (117), HR (42), and an American League leading .659 SLG. Last season however the Indian's DH hit just 24 bombs and posted a "mere" 100 RBI, 80 runs season with a career low .266 batting average and .451 slugging percentage
6) Vernon Wells TOR
Vernon Wells has half the home runs (16) he hit in 2006, and his average is .057 lower (.245). Maybe he was just mad because he found out the $126 million he signed for in the off season wouldn't be payed to him in Canadian dollars
5) Jeremy Bonderman DET
So how do you start a season as a Cy Young candidate with a 10-1 record and a 3.53 ERA and end it by being asked to sit out the rest of the season? It's easy if you have an ERA of 8.23 in your final 10 appearances to match a 1-8 record like Bonderman did. We probably shouldn't put anything past a guy who lost 19 games in 2003
4) Jermaine Dye CHW
Jermaine Dye was never a great player in his career until 2006 (.315, 44 HR, 120 RBI, 103 R), but he was never a bad player in his career either until 2007r (.254, 28 HR, 78 RBI, 68 R). Is he a giant in a deep slumber, or a one year wonder? He was sitting on a .229 average on August 1st but he did finish the season strong with a .304 average the rest of the way
3) Richie Sexson SEA
His production dipped in each of his three seasons in Seattle so far dipping from his impressive 39 homer, 121 RBI season in 2003 to his .205 average, 21 homer, 63 RBI, 58 run atrocity of 2007
2) Dontrelle Willis FLA
Oh how fast the mighty have fallen. Willis entered 2007 with a 58-39 record and a 3.44 ERA in his career. For his 2007 campaign he wenr 10-15 record with a 5.17 ERA. Like Bonderman, at least he's still young and (unlike Bonderman) could still have a great career
1) Andruw Jones ATL
When you average 46 home runs, 129 RBIs, and 101 runs the previous two seasons and you're heading into a contract year you can pretty much guarantee you're going to be under a microscope. The only thing under a microscope in 2007 for Jones was his batting average, and that's because it's the only way you could see it. .222 with 26 home runs in a career year earns him the top spot in this list
