The Most Frustrating Player on Each MLB Roster

Every MLB team has that one player who leaves fans wanting to pull out their hair for one reason or another.

Whether it is a player failing to live up to a big contract, not making the most of their skill set, struggling to stay healthy or failing to repeat the results of an impressive past, players frustrate their fans in a bevy of different ways.

So here is a look at the one player on each MLB team who infuriates their fan base, bringing about great frustration for one reason or another.

Arizona Diamondbacks: CF Chris Young

Acquired in the trade that sent Javier Vazquez to the White Sox, Young is has been a dynamic player since he first became a full-time player in 2007, when he hit 32 home runs and swiped 27 bases.

However, he has always struck out a ton, and that has not improved much in his five full seasons. His walk rate has increased each season, but his batting average has not and he slumped big time down the stretch last season, when he hit just .193 in the second half and .231 with runners in scoring position.

He is a very productive player, and a valuable commodity in the Diamondbacks lineup, but his free-swinging ways are as frustrating as they are exciting.

Atlanta Braves: RF Jason Heyward

One of the most hyped prospects in recent memory, drawing comparisons to Ken Griffey Jr. among others from the get go, he did not disappoint as he went deep off Carlos Zambrano in his first big league at-bat.

He went on to hit .277 BA, 18 HR, 72 RBI over his rookie season, although injuries kept it from being an even better season.

Those rookie numbers sent expectations even higher, but he fell flat in his sophomore season, when he hit just .227 and saw his on-base percentage drop from .393 to .319.

That has led to at least a few disappointed fans in Atlanta, and if he does not come out strong in 2012, expect even more restlessness amongst the Braves fanbase.

Baltimore Orioles: SP Brian Matusz

Taken with the fourth overall pick in the 2008 MLB Draft, Matusz was fast-tracked to the majors and made nine starts at the end of the 2009 draft.

The following season, he was a full-time part of the Orioles rotation and with 10 wins and a 4.30 ERA, he earned a fifth-place finish in AL Rookie of the Year voting and he looked on his way to being the staff's ace for years to come.

However, he flopped hard last season, going 1-9 with a 10.69 ERA in 12 starts, starting off the season injured and the earning a demotion in late June following a 3.1-inning, eight-run start.

After 11 starts in the minors, he returned to the majors, but never quite figured it out and now his future as an ace looks in doubt to say the least.

Boston Red Sox: LF Carl Crawford

The prize hitter of last offseason's free agent class, Crawford signed a mega-deal with the Red Sox inking a seven-year, $142 million contract.

However, in his first season in Boston, he hit just .155 in the season's first month and never quite rallied in finishing with a career-low .255 batting average. He dropped from a 6.1 WAR in 2010 to a 0.0 WAR in 2011.

Throw in the catch he should have made but didn't in the season's final game, and Crawford's first season with the Red Sox was a big ball of disappointment and frustration for the fans and for Crawford himself.

Chicago Cubs: SP Carlos Zambrano

When the dust settled on the massive flops that were Kerry Wood and Mark Prior, the Cubs still had an impressive young ace in Zambrano, and following an 18-win season in 2007, Chicago locked him up with a five-year, $91.5 million deal.

Since that time, his tenure with the team has been a roller coaster ride as Big Z has proven unable to control his emotions time and again.

From fighting with Derrek Lee in the dugout, to being suspended and sent to anger management and capped with his "retirement" after a particularly bad start last season and subsequent suspension, he has been more of a hindrance to the team than a staff ace, and his days in Chicago could be limited.

Chicago White Sox: CF Alex Rios

When Rios posted a .302 BA, 17 HR, 82 RBI, 15 SB season at the age of 25 while making his first All-Star team in 2006, he looked to be the game's next impact outfielder.

After another good season in 2007, he signed a back-loaded seven-year, $69.84 million contract. After a good 2008 season, he was claimed off of waivers by the White Sox in September 2009 and that looked to be a great decision when he hit .284 BA, 21 HR, 88 RBI, 34 SB in 2010.

However, his average plummeted to .227 last season and now the Sox are on the hook for $37 million over the next three seasons. Adam Dunn is a close second on this list, but because Rios is owed more money and was a more complete player, he gets the nod here.

Cincinnati Reds: SP Edinson Volquez

Following the 2007 season, the Reds made what looked to be one of the more even 1-for-1 trades in recent memory as they dealt Josh Hamilton to the Rangers for Volquez.

Volquez went 17-6 with a 3.21 ERA, while Hamilton hit .304 BA, 32 HR, 130 RBI and both teams were better off for making the move.

However, fast forward to 2011 and Hamilton has an MVP under his belt and has been one of the offensive leaders on a Rangers team that has won back-to-back AL pennants.

Volquez, on the other hand, struggled through injury-plagued 2009 and 2010 seasons, then struggled to a 5.71 ERA last season and spent time in the minors midseason. He will be 28 this coming season, so there is still time for him to return to form, but for now he is one disappointment after another.

Cleveland Indians: CF Grady Sizemore

The Indians declined their $9 million option on Sizemore this offseason, but re-signed him to a $5 million base salary, with $4 million in incentives based on plate appearances.

A budding superstar back in 2008 when he had a 33 HR-38 SB season, Sizemore has struggled to stay on the field long enough to use his five-tool ability since that season, hitting a combined .234 BA, 28 HR, 109 RBI, 17 SB over 210 games.

He will still be just 29 years old in 2012, and he showed he still has the tools when he hit .378 BA, 4 HR, 9 RBI in the season's first month last year. Until he can stay healthy, Sizemore will continue to drive the Indians fanbase crazy.

Colorado Rockies: 3B Ian Stewart

With a 162-game average of 25 HR and 80 RBI from 2008-2010, Stewart looked to be the Rockies answer at third base and looked set to receive his first full slate of at-bats in 2011.

Instead, he struggled to a .064 batting average before being demoted in mid-May. He was called back up in July and he hit .213 the rest of the way to finish the season with a .156 average in 122 at bats.

Now, with Ty Wigginton departed in free agency and top prospect Nolan Arenado still at least a year away, the job looks to be Stewart's once again, and Rockies fans may have to endure another rough season at the plate from the now 27-year-old.

Detroit Tigers: SP Max Scherzer

The 11th overall pick in the 2006 draft, Scherzer moved quickly through the Diamondbacks system and was a full-time member of their rotation by the 2009 season.

He was then moved to the Tigers as part of the multi-player deal that moved Curtis Granderson to the Yankees. He was impressive in his first season in Detroit, going 12-11 with a 3.50 ERA and he looked ready to step into the No. 2 spot in the Tigers' rotation.

While he showed flashes of brilliance at times last season, he also allowed five runs or more in nine starts and finished with a 4.43 ERA despite a 15-9 record. There is little question that Scherzer is a major contributor for the Tigers, but his swings from very good to very bad are frustrating.

Houston Astros: 1B Carlos Lee

When the Astros inked Lee to a six-year, $100 million deal back in 2007, he was 31 years old and among the top sluggers in the game.

Over his first three years of the contract, he continued to produce, averaging a line of .305 BA, 29 HR, 107 RBI as he remained a dangerous presence in the middle of the Astros' lineup.

However, in the past two seasons, those numbers have dropped to .261 BA, 21 HR, 92 RBI and he is now enough of a defensive liability in left field that he has been pushed to first base.

His $18.5 million contract is a drain on a team trying to rebuild, and playing first base is keeping Brett Wallace from getting at bats.

To put it bluntly, the simple fact that he is still a member of the team is frustrating at this point, and the Astros and their fans will no doubt rejoice once his contract is up.

Kansas City Royals: SP Luke Hochevar

The Royals are on the rebuilding path, but they are still without a legitimate staff ace. They hoped that man would be Hochevar when they selected him with the first overall pick in the 2006 MLB Draft.

After struggling to a 19-32 record and 5.60 ERA over his first four seasons, he posted the best season of his career last season when he went 11-11 with a 4.68 ERA over 31 starts.

Those numbers make him a useful back-of-the-rotation starter, but far from the ace the team thought he would become.

He will be 28 years old this coming season, so unless something clicks soon, it looks as though he will be a serviceable big-league pitcher and little else.

Los Angeles Angels: LF Vernon Wells

The Angels made a questionable decision to say the least when they acquired the under-performing, over-paid bat of Vernon Wells last offseason. He is still due $63 million over the next three seasons, and at 33, he is clearly on the down slope of his career.

Making the trade worse though was the fact that the team gave up Mike Napoli in the trade, the same Mike Napoli who went on to hit .320 BA, 30 HR, 75 RBI and then drove in 10 runs in the World Series.

Now the Angels will be saddled with Wells, who hit all of .218 last season, for the next three years, and the deal to acquire him will no doubt go down as one of the worst decisions in team history.

Los Angeles Dodgers: 1B James Loney

After coming up at the same time as teammates Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp, Loney had a fantastic rookie season in 2007 when he hit .331 BA, 15 HR, 67 RBI in just 344 at-bats.

Those numbers heaped the same expectations on Loney as there were for his future-star teammates. In the four years since that season, he has averaged a line of .281 BA, 12 HR, 83 RBI which for all intents and purposes are solid numbers.

However, because Ethier and Kemp have elevated their play to superstar status, Loney has been considered a disappointment of sorts and has continuously left Dodgers fans wanting more.

He could be a non-tender candidate this winter, but if he is back in Los Angeles, they should lower their expectations.

Miami Marlins: SP Josh Johnson

With a 48-23 career record and a sterling 2.98 ERA over 113 career starts, there is no doubt Josh Johnson is among the most talented pitchers in all of baseball.

He looked ready to step into the top tier of starting pitchers when he went 15-5 with a 3.23 ERA in 2009, then won the ERA title in 2010 with an impressive 2.30 mark.

However, he missed his final five starts in 2010 due to injury and was limited to just nine starts last season, starts in which he posted a 1.64 ERA over 60.1 innings of work.

At this point, fans of the Marlins and baseball in general would love to see what sort of season Johnson could put together over 33 starts and if he is injured again, it will be a huge disappointment.

Milwaukee Brewers: CF Carlos Gomez

A phenomenal defensive player with speed to burn, Gomez has hit enough to stay in the Brewers lineup as he lost at-bats to Nyjer Morgan last season.

Last season, he posted a 1.4 dWAR and swiped 16 bases, but hit just .225 and only earned 231 at-bats over the course of the season, and at 25 years old, he has shown little to no development since first breaking into the league.

Throw in the fact that the Brewers traded J.J. Hardy to the Twins to acquire him, and are now without a shortstop, and it is easy to be frustrated at Gomez for his lack of production.

Minnesota Twins: C Joe Mauer

Heading into the 2011 season, the Twins locked up Mauer with a monster eight-year, $184 million contract, as he already had an AL MVP and three batting titles under his belt.

Even with that, there was skepticism over signing a catcher to that sort of contract, as there was no guarantee he would not break down long before the contract was up.

He then did little to quiet those skeptics when he managed just 82 games last season while hitting a less-than-stellar .287 BA, 3 HR, 30 RBI.

Fans will be looking for a bounce-back year in 2012, and if they don't get it, the length of his contract will only become more of a talking point.

New York Mets: LF Jason Bay

Charged with the tough task of replacing Manny Ramirez in Boston following a three-team trade, Bay hit .267 BA, 36 HR, 119 RBI in his lone season with the Red Sox and earned himself a four-year, $66 million deal from the Mets.

In the two seasons since that deal, he has hit .251 BA, 18 HR, 104 RBI over 218 games and despite the fact that he is still just 33 years old, his days of being a middle-of-the-order threat look to be behind him.

Bay was overpaid at the time of the deal, even coming off of the season he had, but since then he has not only underperformed but been an average player at best who's making $16 million per year.

New York Yankees: SP Phil Hughes

The Yankees' first round pick in 2004, Hughes struggled in his first two seasons in the big leagues, but found tremendous success in the bullpen in 2009, when he appeared in 51 games with a 3.03 ERA and 10.0 K/9 mark.

He joined the rotation the following season, and was stellar, posting an 18-8 record with a 4.19 ERA and making the All-Star team, as he looked to have turned a corner.

The 2011 season was an entirely different story, though, as he fought through injuries and ineffectiveness to go 5-5 with a 5.79 ERA. Now he is just another question mark in a Yankees rotation that already features the disappointing A.J. Burnett and is sorely lacking in depth.

Oakland Athletics: 1B Daric Barton

Acquired from the Cardinals in the trade that sent Mark Mulder out of Oakland, Barton was groomed as the team's first baseman of the future from the time he joined the organization.

He was handed the starting first base job in 2008 at the age of 22, but he hit just .226 and spent much of the 2009 season in the minors.

He took over the first base job again in 2010, and finally looked to have turned a corner as he hit .273 but posted an impressive .393 on-base percentage while leading the AL with 110 walks.

It was another down year in 2011, though, as his average plummeted to .212 and he spent just 67 games in the majors.

At this point he is now 26 years old, and he may be running out of chances, as the team may instead turn to Chris Carter or Brandon Allen.

Philadelphia Phillies: 2B Chase Utley

Two years ago, there was little question who was the top offensive second baseman in all of baseball, as Utley had averaged a line of .301 BA, 29 HR, 101 RBI over the past five seasons.

Since then, however, he has been plagued by injuries, missing a total of 106 games over the past two seasons and hitting just .267 over that span when he was on the field.

If he can stay healthy, he still has the ability to post a .300 BA, 30 HR, 100 RBI season, but at 33 years old, the injuries are likely to continue and his bat will again be sorely missed when it is out of the lineup.

Pittsburgh Pirates: 3B Pedro Alvarez

Taken second overall in the 2008 MLB Draft, Alvarez tore through the minor leagues and made his debut in 2010 by hitting .256 BA, 16 HR, 64 RBI over just 347 at-bats.

After that performance, he was expected to be the team's top run producer and middle-of-the-order threat, but he got off to a horrendous start to the season by hitting just .208 before he was injured and then demoted.

He was even worse after returning to the majors, and he finished the season with a .191 BA, 4 HR, 19 RBI over 235 at-bats.

The Pirates lineup would be substantially improved if he could step back into the cleanup spot, and the 2012 season will be a crucial one for him.

San Diego Padres: SS Jason Bartlett

After a phenomenal .320 BA, 14 HR, 66 RBI, 30 SB season with the Rays in 2009, Bartlett looked to be the Tampa Bay shortstop of the present and the future.

However, his stats fell off in 2010 and the team dealt him to the Padres for a package of prospects including Adam Russell, Cesar Ramos and Brandon Gomes, who each played a major role in the Rays bullpen this past season, appearing in 135 games combined and posting a 3.34 ERA over 113.1 innings.

Meanwhile, Bartlett showed no improvement over his 2010 stats and instead of shoring up the Padres middle infield, he and second baseman Orlando Hudson left it as one of the weakest spots on the team.

San Francisco Giants: SP Barry Zito

When the Giants inked Zito to a seven-year, $126 million contract, he had a career line of 102-63 with a 3.55 ERA and at 29 years old, he was among the top pitchers in all of baseball.

Since crossing the bay, though, he has posted a line of 43-61 with a 4.55 ERA and he is coming off of the worst season of his career, when he went 3-4 with a 5.87 ERA in nine starts before being injured.

With $39 million left on his contract over the next two years, Zito is not going anywhere, and he will continue to be the highest-paid fifth starter in all of baseball.

At this point, the Giants are almost better off with him hurt or in the bullpen than they are starting him.

Seattle Mariners: 3B Chone Figgins

One of the top lead-off hitters in the league and a very versatile player defensively, Figgins had the best season of his career in 2009 when he led the AL in walks with 110 and posted a .395 on-base percentage while posting a 6.6 WAR.

That earned him a four-year, $36 million contract from the Mariners and he has struggled mightily to produce anything useful for the Mariners in two seasons with the team thus far.

In 2011, he hit just .188 and had a -0.5 WAR while earning $9.5 million, and now the Mariners are likely to do whatever they can to move Figgins and the $17 million he is owed over the next two seasons.

St. Louis Cardinals: 3B David Freese

The Cardinals have struggled to find any sort of stability at the third base position since the days of Scott Rolen, but that problem looked to be solved in 2010 when rookie David Freese had a line of .296 BA, 4 HR, 36 RBI through 70 games.

However, his season was cut short by injury, and it was more of the same in 2011 as he was limited to just 97 games but managed to hit .297 BA, 10 HR, 55 RBI.

He went on to win NLCS MVP and World Series MVP, and he has left Cardinals fans wondering what sort of numbers he could post over a full healthy season.

He will need to shake the injury-prone label or he will continue to frustrate the Cardinals faithful.

Tampa Bay Rays: CF B.J. Upton

The second overall pick in the 2002 MLB Draft, Upton looked to be a future star when he hit .300 BA, 24 HR, 82 RBI, 22 SB in his first full season at the age of 22.

However, since then he has hit just .248 over four seasons, as he has failed to progress any further in his development.

More than that, though, he has clashed with teammates and been ridiculed for his lack of focus on baseball at times.

His name has made the rounds on the trade block more than once, and he could be out of Tampa before the 2012 season is over.

Texas Rangers: LF Josh Hamilton

Hamilton has been a fantastic story since making his triumphant return to baseball, as he has made the All-Star team in each of the past four seasons while winning an MVP, a batting title and an RBI title.

However, aside from the first season in Texas when he appeared in 156 games, he has struggled to stay healthy and missed 128 games over the past three seasons.

There is no knocking his production, and he is a fan favorite in Texas and league wide, but his inability to stay on the field is disappointing.

Toronto Blue Jays: LF Travis Snider

A top-100 prospect three straight seasons, and ranked as high as sixth overall heading into the 2009 season, Snider looked to have a bright future as he moved quickly through the minor league system and made his big-league debut at the age of 20.

Since then, however, he has struggled to progress further and has been unable to stick at the big league level, appearing in a total of 232 games over four seasons and hitting .248.

Snider is still just 24 years old, and there is certainly still time for him to latch onto a full-time job, but at this point, he looks to be a major flop.

Washington Nationals: SP Stephen Strasburg

There was perhaps no more hyped debut than that of Nationals top prospect Stephen Strasburg when he burst onto the scene in 2010 and went 5-3 with a 2.91 ERA over 12 starts while posting a 12.2 K/9 mark.

However, the party was cut short when he was shelved with Tommy John surgery, and while he was expected to miss all of the 2011 season, he made an extremely quick recovery and managed to make five starts at the end of this past year.

He was dominant upon his return, posting a 1.50 ERA in those five starts and while there is no reason to believe he won't pitch a full season in 2012, at this point the fact that fans have yet to see a full season of what he is capable of is frustrating.