Johnny Damon, Jose Canseco and Rays' Designated Hitters

by Erik Hahmann on Jan 11, 2012 10:00 AM EST

J. Meric - Getty Images

over 1 year ago: ST PETERSBURG FL - FEBRUARY 01: Johnny Damon #22 of the Tampa Bay Rays talks with reports during a press conference at Tropicana Field on February 1 2011 in St. Petersburg Florida. (Photo by J. Meric/Getty Images)

The chatter about who the Rays' 2012 designated hitter will be has been relentless. Not a day goes by without someone, somewhere writing something about it. How is Vlad Guerrero looking? Does Hideki Matsui have anything left? Hey, Luke Scott's available. Can Eric Chavez stay healthy? It's the same thing rehashed a thousand times. Roger Mooney's column in Friday's Tampa Tribune is no exception. In it, he laments the current state of the DH across the league, mentioning the Rays constant lack of production from the position and adding this line...

The Rays historically have struggled at DH, making Damon (.261, 16 home runs, 73 RBIs, .326 on-base percentage and .418 slugging percent) easily the best DH in franchise history.

In the below image, imagine Mooney (Brian), has just uttered the statement above to Me (Stewie). That was my reaction.

"Easily the best DH in franchise history."

Easily

I like Roger Mooney and this isn't mean to be indicitive of him as a writer but that's simply false.

He’s covered the Rays for their entire existence so surely he remembers the 1999 team. Those teams are easy to forget, I know, but Jose Canseco had one of the greatest seasons in franchise history that year. And he played DH. The sad, depressing, table below shows players from 1998-2011 that played 50 percent of their games at DH with a minimum of 200 plate appearances, sorted by greatest adjusted OPS+.

Rk	Player	OPS+	PA	Year	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
1	Jose Canseco	134	502	1999	34	95	58	135	3	0	.279	.369	.563	.931
2	Jose Canseco	112	264	2000	9	30	41	65	2	0	.257	.383	.450	.832
3	Cliff Floyd	111	284	2008	11	39	28	58	1	0	.268	.349	.455	.804
4	Johnny Damon	110	647	2011	16	73	51	92	19	6	.261	.326	.418	.743
5	Greg Vaughn	102	562	2001	24	82	71	130	11	5	.233	.333	.433	.766
6	Ben Grieve	96	205	2003	4	17	32	41	0	0	.230	.371	.345	.716
7	Jonny Gomes	95	461	2006	20	59	61	116	1	5	.216	.325	.431	.757
8	Greg Norton	89	240	2007	4	23	37	55	1	1	.243	.358	.347	.705
9	Paul Sorrento	85	495	1998	17	57	54	133	2	3	.225	.313	.405	.718
10	Willy Aybar	83	309	2010	6	43	30	61	0	0	.230	.309	.344	.654
11	Pat Burrell	81	476	2009	14	64	57	119	2	0	.221	.315	.367	.682
12	Al Martin	79	258	2003	3	26	17	51	2	2	.252	.306	.357	.663
13	Greg Vaughn	62	297	2002	8	29	41	82	3	2	.163	.286	.315	.601

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used

Generated 1/11/2012.

You can see that Canseco’s 1999 season dwarfs the rather weak competition. He arguably greatest first half in franchise history, hitting 31 home runs with a .982 OPS. Surgery for a herniated disc would cause Canseco to miss a good chunk of the second half -- allowing him to compare himself to a car – and zap all his power, but he still managed a .391 on base percentage in 31 games. You can see Damon ranks fourth on that list. Since he’s only a couple of points behind Floyd and 2000 Canseco I’ll bump him up to second on the greatest DH list due to his advantage in playing time. They may have had a greater OPS+ but the fact that Damon had more plate appearances than them combined has to count for something.

It's easy to overlook Canseco and recognize Damon. They’re nearly polar opposites when it comes to reputation and respect. In terms of :) % Damon is light years ahead of Canseco. But Canseco was better and there’s no argument to be made otherwise.

0 recs | 76 comments

Comments

That's a sad DH performance list

One ’roider who had a good half-season & a fading Johnny Damon who was half-decent in another, plus old Cliff Floyd.

Another season of Damon in decline isn’t a good answer to the “Who DH’s in 2012” question.

I’m mostly an NL/Rockies fan and I’d like to offer my 2 cents’ worth on one 2012 option: Seth Smith. The dude can flat-out hit … right-handers at least. Since that’s 2/3 of pitchers, that’s 2/3 of a good DH, which would exceed most totals on that list.

I hear Smith is considered redundant with Joyce. I disagree. Smith’s not a very good outfielder. He’s not a total disaster out there, and would do OK on an as-needed basis, but he’d cost too much on defense as an everyday or 2/3-time OF. Not so Joyce, He should be a fulltime RF, perhaps with some platooning with Guyer if Joyce struggles versus lefties.

Smith would be a good 2/3 DH, platooned against lefty starters with Guyer or SRod. And something that many may overlook with Smith, in games he doesn’t start: he’s probably the best pinch-hitter in baseball – .336 avg over 5 seasons. He’s a valuable late-innings weapon, particularly against RH closers.

The Rockies are trying to trade him, having acquired Michael Cuddyer. Their efforts to send him to Atlanta in a Martin Prado deal have fallen through. They need pitching. The Rays have a lot of it and need a DH. There ought to be a match there somewhere.

maris61 - January 11, 2012 reply

There's a reason why we've typically referred to that spot here as the Designated (s)Hitter

Power = money and if you don’t spend it, you do what you can. Damon exceeded my expectations last season but I’d personally prefer not to go back there in 2012.

Jason Collette - January 11, 2012 reply

Damon

29 doubles, 7 triples, 16 home runs, and 19 stolen bases.

Not a bad guy to fall back if needed. 52 extra base hits and I don’t see a rapid decline in 2012 from him…do you?

MrNegative1 - January 11, 2012 reply

THE QUEST FOR 3000 [singles]!!

pudieron89 - January 11, 2012 reply

I like this idea a lot

Smith kills righties, use Canzler as DH against lefties, both can spot start as needed in a variety of positions. Can probably get Smtih at a reasonable price, plus much lower risk than Luke Scott, who has recent shoulder surgery. Sign a Pena or Kotchman for 1b (or trade for a LaRoche/Smoak depending on where Fielder lands) and you’re ready to go..

SamRay - January 11, 2012 reply

Ugly home/road splits.

Especially concerning given he plays at Coors.

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