Ranking the 8 Worst Overall Players in Baseball

During the 2012 season, fans saw a lot of players at their worst.

Josh Hamilton disappeared during the last month of the season. Alex Rodriguez and the rest of the Yankees couldn’t hit the ball against the Detroit Tigers in the playoffs.

However, those were instances in a short period of time. What about when a player doesn’t show up for their team all season?

Carlos Pena and Jake Arrieta were some of the players who had a horrible 2012 season. Pena has struck out over 140 times in six years. Arrieta's ERA rose from 4.66 in 2010 to 6.20 in 2012 as he was sent down to Triple-A in July.

There are superstars like Miguel Cabrera and Jered Weaver that every team would pay big money for. Then, there are struggling players like Chone Figgins and Carlos Lee that teams are paying for past success and haven't produced recently.

These players listed were some of the worst players in 2012 and could continue that trend into 2013.

Jeff Francoeur

Francoeur spent four-and-a-half seasons with the Braves before bouncing around to the New York Mets and Texas Rangers. He signed a one-year deal with the Kansas City Royals in 2010 and then signed a two-year extension in August of 2011.

Francoeur had his best year in 2006, as he hit 29 home runs and 103 RBI with a .293 batting average.

Despite his power numbers, Francoeur has bad plate discipline. He has five seasons with over 100 strikeouts. In each of those five seasons, he had less than 43 walks.

Francoeur has also slipped in his fielding. He had four errors in 2012, tied for third in the league among right fielders. He was second in 2011 with five. His nine errors in two years are tied with Nelson Cruz for worst in the league, according to Fan Graphs.

Francoeur was brought in as a veteran player to help a very young team. Now, he’s a struggling player on a young team and will continue to hurt the Royals.

John Buck

During his first four years with the Kansas City Royals, Buck had at least 10 home runs and 30 RBI, though his batting average never rose above .250.

In the 2010 season with the Toronto Blue Jays, Buck had his best year. He hit .281 with 20 home runs and 66 RBI, all career highs. He was elected to his first All-Star Game as well.

Since his All-Star season, Buck’s stats have gone downhill. He had 172 hits, 28 home runs and an average of .210 in his two years with the Marlins.

Buck is also one of the worst defensive catchers in the league. Buck’s thrown out an average of only 22 percent of base runners in the last two seasons.

Buck signed a three-year, $18 million deal at the end of the 2010 season. He did not live up to his value, as he was traded in mid-November. Maybe Buck can turn it around during his return to Toronto, but don't hold your breath.

Jake Arrieta

Arrieta is one of two pitchers on the list, but with good reason.

In 2011, the Baltimore Orioles' home-opening pitcher went 10-8 with a 5.05 ERA in 119.1 innings. That was his best year.

Arrieta’s first year was average. He went 6-6 with a 4.66 ERA. In 100.1 innings pitched, he had 106 hits and only 52 strikeouts.

Last season, his ERA rose to 6.20 in 18 starts. Although he threw a career-high 109 strikeouts, he went 3-9 and was demoted to Triple-A on July 6.

The Baltimore Orioles surprised a lot of teams by competing with the New York Yankees throughout the whole season. However, Arrieta was not with the team to see its success.

Manager Buck Showalter was not going to wait for Arrieta to develop, as they wanted to show they meant business in the AL East.

Chone Figgins

The Seattle Mariners and Chone Figgins agreed to a four-year, $36 million deal. The Mariners hoped they signed the successful player that he was with the Angels, but that wasn’t the case.

In his three years with the Mariners, Figgins has only hit a total of four home runs. His RBI and average have also dropped while with Seattle. From 2010-2012, Figgins hit 35, 15 and 11 RBI and had an average of .259, .188 and .181, respectively.

In the first month of the 2012 season, Figgins went 17-for-86 with only nine RBI. Figgins also had trouble in the field. He racked up 19 errors in 2010 and 11 in 2011.

As a result, manager Eric Wedge decided to remove Figgins from his starting position.

“Chone Figgins is still a Mariner, but he's not longer an everyday player,” Wedge said according to CBS Sports.

He was then designated for assignment on November 20.

It’s unlikely that Figgins will put the numbers he did while with the Angels. Teams who want him need to pay him the value that he has now, not what his value was.

Daisuke Matsuzaka

The Red Sox signed Matsuzaka to a six-year, $52 million contract, and Boston’s front office looked to have had something special.

He went 34-15 with a 3.72 ERA in his first two seasons. Then, it went downhill for the Japanese star.

From 2009-2012, Dice-K posted a record of 17-22 and a 5.53 ERA. He’s battled multiple injuries as well, including two stints on the DL in 2009 and Tommy John surgery in 2011.

This past season was his last season with the Red Sox, and they should be thankful for that. He is a very, very big risk for any team regardless of how desperate they are for pitching.

There are some Japanese pitchers who grow accustomed to the American way baseball is played, like Hiroki Kuroda and Yu Darvish. Then, there are some that do not, like Matsuzaka.

Carlos Lee

After signing a huge six-year, $100 million deal with the Houston Astros at the end of the 2006 season, Carlos Lee had a great year, as he hit for a .303 average with 32 home runs and 119 RBI.

His home run total has dropped every year since 2007. His totals were 28, 26, 24, 18 and nine from 2008 to 2012.

Going deeper, Lee’s wins above replacement have dropped significantly over the past year. In 2011, his WAR was 3.7. With the Astros in the first half of 2012, his WAR was 0.1, while his WAR with the Marlins was a -0.5.

Along with his declining offensive numbers, Lee has been struggling in the field. He had six errors in 2012, which was tied for sixth in the league among first basemen.

Lee is 36 years old, and his better days are behind him. He can’t hit for power anymore, and teams are much better off without him.

Yuniesky Betancourt

I feel bad for picking on the Royals. It’s not the organization’s fault for the players' underperforming.

Betancourt returned to Kansas City in 2012, when he signed a one-year deal. He was with the team from 2009 to 2010 before being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers.

In 2010 and 2011, he had 284 hits, 29 home runs and 146 RBI.

However, his 2012 season was anything but good. In 57 games, he had only seven home runs and 36 RBI. His plate discipline is to be criticized as well.

He had only nine walks while grounding into 10 double plays. Betancourt’s career-high walks was 23 in 2010, while he hit into a career-high 23 double plays in 2008.

Betancourt has seven years of hitting into double-digit double plays, totaling 99 from 2006 to 2012.

Among active shortstops, Betancourt had the 53rd-worst WAR in 2012 with a 2.0.

The Royals released him on August 14. If a team is looking for a shortstop in the offseason, teams should look at Jhonny Peralta and Stephen Drew before looking at Betancourt.

Carlos Pena

Pena has decent power numbers for a 34-year-old first baseman. He’s hit at least 19 home runs in six straight seasons.

In 2008, his last season with the Tampa Bay Rays, Pena hit 28 home runs and 84 RBI. However, he also struck out 158 times and had an average of .196, the lowest of his career.

After a mediocre season with the Chicago Cubs, Pena returned to Tampa Bay for the 2012 season.

Pena continued his downward trend, as he struck out a career-high 182 times and posted a .197 batting average, his second-lowest.

Since his 2008 Gold Glove season, Pena has 21 errors, which was the fourth-highest in the league among first basemen.

Pena has six straight years with over 140 strikeouts, and his batting average hasn’t been above .230 since 2008.

His hits, home runs and RBI are declining, while his strikeouts are on the rise. Carlos Pena is a player that teams would be better off without.