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Baseball’s most overpaid and underpaid players

By John Lindsay Scripps Howard News Service 4 min read

Among the endless stats, graphics and nuggets during Tuesday night’s All-Star Game, the Fox crew made no mention of one number. $159,200,000. That’s the combined salaries of the 18 starters at PNC Park. So it should come as no surprise that the American League ran its unbeaten streak to 10 years considering their bunch will haul in $99.1 million (average of $11 million per starter) to the National League’s paltry $60.1 million ($6.66 million per starter).

So now that we’ve established that modern baseball is simply one big game of Texas Hold ‘Em, spending your pot wisely should be the top priority. And with that in mind, here are our choices for MLB’s most overpaid and underpaid players.

Overpaid money pits

– Catcher: Mike Lieberthal, Phillies. Salary: $7.5 million. The former All-Star is a shell of himself (.250, 0 HR, 9 RBI in 26 games), symptomatic of a downer of a year in Philadelphia.

– First Base: Richie Sexson, Mariners. $13 million. Pushing for free-agent bust status, Sexson has more strikeouts (92) than hits (72). A recent 6-for-35 slide hasn’t helped.

– Second Base: Kazuo Matsui. $8.03 million. The highest-paid player in the minors after the Mets paid the Rockies to take him. The former Japanese phenom is now at Class AAA Colorado Springs, where he’s 8-for-22 in six games with three errors.

– Third Base: Aubrey Huff, Houston. $6.91 million. When you’re making nearly 20 percent of your team’s payroll, you’ve got to do better than Huff has (.283, 8 HR, 28 RBI). Maybe that’s why Tampa Bay sent him to Houston on Wednesday for a couple of prospects.

– Shortstop: Rafael Furcal, Dodgers. $8.7 million. .267 with 58 strikeouts and 18 errors is hardly what L.A. had in mind when they lavished the former Braves star with a four-year, $39-million deal.

– Outfield: Dmitri Young, Tigers. $8 million. Forgotten in Detroit’s joy ride has been the plummet of Young (.169, 0 HR, 4 RBI, 18 strikeouts in 59 at-bats), who is lost amid legal and physical woes.

– Outfield: Barry Bonds, $19.3 million. Literally, crawling toward Hank Aaron’s all-time HR mark, Bonds (.249, 12 HR, 39 RBI) is chewing up 21 percent of San Francisco’s payroll. Where – or if – he plays next year and for how much is a baffling question.

– Outfield: Luis Gonzalez, Arizona. $10.7 million. Set to turn 39 in September, one of the game’s nice guys looks washed up (.257, 7 HR, 38 RBI).

– Pitcher: Kerry Wood, Cubs. $12 million. Sure, the injuries have been cruel. But Wood is only 12-15 with a 3.90 ERA in 47 games since Chicago’s playoff run three years ago. His career is in doubt.

Added up, these nine will haul in just over $94 million, or almost twice what the Marlins paid to win the 2003 World Series.

Underpaid gems

– Catcher: Joe Mauer, Twins. $400,000. Can a catcher really make a run at .400? Easily leading the majors at .378, Mauer just might. Close second is the Braves Brian McCann (.343, 6 HR, 29 RBI, .406 on-base pct.) at $333,500.

– First Base: Chris Shelton, Tigers. $365,000. His early power surge sparked Detroit and he’s stayed a contributor (.282, 16 HR, 42 RBI) throughout.

– Second Base: Dan Uggla, Marlins. $327,000. A surprise All-Star making the Major League-minimum after spending last year at Class AA, Uggla has soared (.307, 13 HR, 51 RBI) as the Marlins once again are rebuilding on the fly.

– Third Base: David Wright, Mets. $374,000. Only 23, Wright (.316, 20 HR, 74 RBI, 11 steals) looms as the N.L. MVP. Right there also is Pirates’ Freddy Sanchez, who leads the N.L. in hitting (.358) and makes just $342,000.

– Shortstop: Jose Reyes, Mets. $401,500. The engine that makes the Mets offense go, Reyes (leads the majors with 75 runs scored, 12 triples and 39 steals) has it all. Who knew a New York team could be cost efficient?

– Outfield: Alexis Rios, Blue Jays. $354,000. Toronto scouts strike it rich again with this budding star (.330, 15 HR, 53 RBI) that also has a Roberto Clemente-like arm.

– Outfield: Matt Holliday, Rockies. $500,000. Sure Coors Field helps, but the All-Star Holliday (.337, 16 HR, 57 RBI) also hits on the road (.315, 7 HR, 24 RBI in 41 road games).

– Outfield: Grady Sizemore, Indians. $500,000. You just can’t ask Sizemore (.291, leads AL with 71 runs scored, 15 HR, 43 RBI, 13 steals) to do much more for disappointing Cleveland.

– Pitcher: Francisco Liriano, Twins. $327,000. The last time a rookie lefty burst out this way was the Dodgers Fernando Valenzuela in 1981. Liriano (10-1, major-league leading 1.83 ERA, 102 strikeouts, 23 walks) has created Francisco-mania around the Twin Cities.

And these nine come in at a tidy $3.548 million – or just 23 percent of what perennially overpaid Padres pitcher Chan Ho-Park gets ($15.5 million) for going 6-4 with a 4.29 ERA.

Baseball is a funny game, indeed.

(E-mail John Lindsay at lindsayj(at)shns.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)

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