Why Chris Davis is the Most Overpaid/Overrated Player in the MLB

By Djack

Ever since the steroid era ended the combination of hitting for a good average while hitting for power has become a very rare commodity in the MLB. Obviously the most elite players are doing it, but still they aren't in the upper echelon of homerun hitters. In this day an age of baseball the guys leading the league in homeruns, are the same guys that don't have a batting average above .250. Khris Davis, Chris Carter, Chris Davis, Todd Frazier, and Mark Trumbo all fit that criteria, you can even add Brian Dozier and Edwin Encarnacion to that list since they're only hitting in the .260's. That leaves like 2-3 guys that actually hit for a solid average while hitting a lot of homeruns. It's apart of today's game, every team has that one guy that can hit a lot of homeruns, knowing he's also going to bat for a really low average in the process. The Yankees had an entire lineup full of those types of players a couple years back, was successful to a degree, however once they couldn't hit homeruns they couldn't score. Most of these guys don't get paid top dollar, but one player does, Chris Davis.

The fact the Orioles are paying Chris Davis on average around $23 Million per year is astonishing. This is the same guy that has led the league in strikeouts the last two seasons, and in 2 of the last 3 seasons failed to hit above .225. Back in 2013 when he put up 53 homeruns, batted .286, and drove in 130+ runs he would've been worth that money, although he's never been able to duplicate that season or anything close to it for that matter. They signed him in 2016 to this extension, so they saw him bat .195 for a season striking out a bunch, and then he had another monster homerun hitting season also striking out a bunch. Then they signed him to his big deal and walla he's hitting .220, hitting a lot of homeruns, and striking out a bunch. Money well spent if he hits that many homeruns though, right? WRONG.

The New York Yankees just signed the exact same player for about $18 million less, Chris Carter. Chris Carter hit more homeruns than Davis, struck out less, had more RBI's, and hit for a higher average, the numbers were extremely close, however Chris Carter comes at a fraction of the cost. Now, Davis does have the ability to hit for a tiny bit better of an average, yet he hasn't been able to do it on a consistent basis. The Orioles could be paying a lot less for equal product. Don't get me wrong I love this because the Orioles are handicapped for a long time by this huge long term deal with Davis, so the Yankees won't have to worry about them whatsoever once we steal Manny Machado from them next season. Just wanted to state how crazy it is that a player gets paid so much more than guys that put out the same production as him, really makes me scratch my head how some of these GM's could be trusted giving out so much money to players that don't deserve it whatsoever.