As expected, first baseman Lyle Overbay was DFA'ed today when Derrek Lee arrived in town. The news was first reported by Dejan Kovacevic of the Tribune Review and later confirmed by the team. He signed a one-year contract for $5M in the off season; the Pirates are still on the hook for $1.65M.
Overbay, 34, had a .227/.300/.349 line in 391 plate appearances this year with eight homers and 37 RBI. His defensive skills also began to diminish. However, he did have enough left in the tank to homer in his last at-bat as a Pirate yesterday against the Phils.
After being drafted out of high school in 1999, Overbay began his MLB career with Arizona in 2001, moved on to Milwaukee and then Toronto before signing with Pittsburgh. In 11 seasons, his batting line was .270/130/561.
The Pirates have ten days to trade, waive or release Overbay. One more player has to be removed from the 25-man roster to clear space for OF'er Ryan Ludwick.
Showing posts with label lyle overbay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lyle overbay. Show all posts
Monday, August 1, 2011
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Lyle Overbay
Well, so far the shiniest Christmas gift Santa has stuck in the Buccos' stocking is first baseman Lyle Overbay.
He's a Centralia, Washington native, a month away from turning 34. Overbay started his pro career when he was drafted from the University of Nevada at Reno by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 18th round of the 1999 draft.
The minors didn't prove to be much of a challenge; Overbay was playing AA ball by 2000 and was a full-time big leaguer by 2004. His minor league career line was .341/.411/.531 with 161 doubles, 63 dingers and 427 RBI in 2,000 farm at-bats.
Overbay was the D-Back's minor league player of the year and got a cup of coffee with Arizona in 2001-02. Overbay's first long sip was an 86 game audition in 2003 (he made the team, was sent down in June and recalled in September) when he hit .276/4/28.
In December, he was traded with Chris Capuano, Craig Counsell, Chad Moeller, Jorge de la Rosa and Junior Spivey to the Milwaukee Brewers for Richie Sexson, Shane Nance and Noochie Varner.
The big lefty did pretty well with the Brew Crew, too. In two seasons, he hit .289/35/159 with 87 doubles. He did well enough to catch the eye of the Blue Jays, looking for a first sacker. They got him and Ty Taubenheim from the Brewers in exchange for David Bush, Gabe Gross and Zach Jackson.
In 2006, he had a career season with a line of .312/22/92. Overbay was named AL Player of the Week after hitting .423 and hitting 4 HR from June 26th to July 2nd. His reward was a new four-year contract worth $24M, buying out his final two arb years and his first two years of free agency.
The glow didn't last long. He was whacked with a pitch in June, breaking three bones his hand and landing Overbay on the DL. He didn't return until after the All-Star break, and hit just .240/10/44 in 122 games.
Overbay rallied some in 2008, hitting .270/15/69 in 158 games. He also set a team record by reaching base in his 12th consecutive plate appearance by walking on a full count. Overbay is also became one of only 14 players to hit into an unassisted triple play that year.
He had a very similar season in 2009, with a line of .265/16/64, and earned another Player of the Week award in June. His .243/20/67 stats in 2010 came at the end of his Toronto contract, and also ended his Blue Jay career. He was mentioned in trade speculation from the off-season forward, and ironically one of the strongest rumors was a purported Overbay-for-Chris Snyder deal.
Becoming a free agent for the first time wasn't exactly discovering a pot of gold for Overbay, as the Bucs signed him to a one-year, $5M deal. He made nearly $7M in 2010, but this contract it gives him a year to either rebuild his value or show his age.
Similar batters to Overbay, according to Baseball Reference, are Kevin Young, Donn Clendennon, and Adam LaRoche, a pack of steady but not difference-making first basemen with dependable bats and gloves. His average 162-game line is .274/17/75, which the Pirates would be thrilled to get from him.
His acquisition upgrades the defense significantly without impacting the offense. Overbay is a better first baseman than Jones, and Jones is a better outfielder than Ryan Doumit. Overbay wasn't brought in to replace Garrett Jones but to complement him; in reality, he's Doumit's replacement.
He's an OK bat, with more gap power than long ball muscle, although the FO is hoping that the short fence at PNC adds to his HR total in 2011. The biggest knock on him is that he's a DP candidate, but he averages 15 GIDP per season compared to Dewey's 16, so that's a wash.
In fact, his 162-game average line of .274/17/75 with 554 at-bats is a twin to Doumit's line of .268/18/72 in 531 at-bats. They've even hit lefties at the same rate during their careers, with Overbay holding a slight .259 to .256 BA advantage over Dewey.
And it's not just a matter of same bat, better glove. One key may be that the most games that Doumit has played in a season is 124, and he's topped 400 AB just twice, while in the past seven years, the fewest games that Overbay has played has been 122 (he's topped 150 five times) and batted 500 times+ for five of those seasons, never getting fewer than 423 at-bats.
The Pirates are getting an upgrade defensively and some added durability. Overbay is also somewhat of a fan fav, with "O" signs greeting his Brewer and Blue Jay at-bats. Heck, Milwaukee even had a bobblehead night for him. His signing isn't a season-changing dynamic, but it does get them one step closer to respectability.
He's a Centralia, Washington native, a month away from turning 34. Overbay started his pro career when he was drafted from the University of Nevada at Reno by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 18th round of the 1999 draft.
The minors didn't prove to be much of a challenge; Overbay was playing AA ball by 2000 and was a full-time big leaguer by 2004. His minor league career line was .341/.411/.531 with 161 doubles, 63 dingers and 427 RBI in 2,000 farm at-bats.
Overbay was the D-Back's minor league player of the year and got a cup of coffee with Arizona in 2001-02. Overbay's first long sip was an 86 game audition in 2003 (he made the team, was sent down in June and recalled in September) when he hit .276/4/28.
In December, he was traded with Chris Capuano, Craig Counsell, Chad Moeller, Jorge de la Rosa and Junior Spivey to the Milwaukee Brewers for Richie Sexson, Shane Nance and Noochie Varner.
The big lefty did pretty well with the Brew Crew, too. In two seasons, he hit .289/35/159 with 87 doubles. He did well enough to catch the eye of the Blue Jays, looking for a first sacker. They got him and Ty Taubenheim from the Brewers in exchange for David Bush, Gabe Gross and Zach Jackson.
In 2006, he had a career season with a line of .312/22/92. Overbay was named AL Player of the Week after hitting .423 and hitting 4 HR from June 26th to July 2nd. His reward was a new four-year contract worth $24M, buying out his final two arb years and his first two years of free agency.
The glow didn't last long. He was whacked with a pitch in June, breaking three bones his hand and landing Overbay on the DL. He didn't return until after the All-Star break, and hit just .240/10/44 in 122 games.
Overbay rallied some in 2008, hitting .270/15/69 in 158 games. He also set a team record by reaching base in his 12th consecutive plate appearance by walking on a full count. Overbay is also became one of only 14 players to hit into an unassisted triple play that year.
He had a very similar season in 2009, with a line of .265/16/64, and earned another Player of the Week award in June. His .243/20/67 stats in 2010 came at the end of his Toronto contract, and also ended his Blue Jay career. He was mentioned in trade speculation from the off-season forward, and ironically one of the strongest rumors was a purported Overbay-for-Chris Snyder deal.
Becoming a free agent for the first time wasn't exactly discovering a pot of gold for Overbay, as the Bucs signed him to a one-year, $5M deal. He made nearly $7M in 2010, but this contract it gives him a year to either rebuild his value or show his age.
Similar batters to Overbay, according to Baseball Reference, are Kevin Young, Donn Clendennon, and Adam LaRoche, a pack of steady but not difference-making first basemen with dependable bats and gloves. His average 162-game line is .274/17/75, which the Pirates would be thrilled to get from him.
His acquisition upgrades the defense significantly without impacting the offense. Overbay is a better first baseman than Jones, and Jones is a better outfielder than Ryan Doumit. Overbay wasn't brought in to replace Garrett Jones but to complement him; in reality, he's Doumit's replacement.
He's an OK bat, with more gap power than long ball muscle, although the FO is hoping that the short fence at PNC adds to his HR total in 2011. The biggest knock on him is that he's a DP candidate, but he averages 15 GIDP per season compared to Dewey's 16, so that's a wash.
In fact, his 162-game average line of .274/17/75 with 554 at-bats is a twin to Doumit's line of .268/18/72 in 531 at-bats. They've even hit lefties at the same rate during their careers, with Overbay holding a slight .259 to .256 BA advantage over Dewey.
And it's not just a matter of same bat, better glove. One key may be that the most games that Doumit has played in a season is 124, and he's topped 400 AB just twice, while in the past seven years, the fewest games that Overbay has played has been 122 (he's topped 150 five times) and batted 500 times+ for five of those seasons, never getting fewer than 423 at-bats.
The Pirates are getting an upgrade defensively and some added durability. Overbay is also somewhat of a fan fav, with "O" signs greeting his Brewer and Blue Jay at-bats. Heck, Milwaukee even had a bobblehead night for him. His signing isn't a season-changing dynamic, but it does get them one step closer to respectability.
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