Notice that I avoided making a lame pun about diets. That should count for something. Anywho, this is a terrible signing for Baltimore. It would be a terrible signing for anyone:
[Atkins'] defense at third base is closer to horrible than average at this point and his OPS has gone from .965 to .853 to .780 to .650 since a career-year in 2006. He’ll bounce back from last season’s putrid .226/.308/.342 mark, but Atkins was also a below-average hitter in 2008 and has batted just .252/.324/.411 away from Coors Field during his entire seven-year career. Toss in the league switch and I’d certainly take the “under” on an .800 OPS.
The downward spiral of Atkins’ career is apparent in the numbers. A .735 road OPS for your career gets you $4.5 million guaranteed? Wow.
Baltimore is actually one of the teams that’s willing to spend some serious money now and again, but they hardly ever compete because of stupid signings like this one. I really don’t understand the point of signing a guy who has pretty much gotten worse every single year (and in an inferior league), but there are a lot of things about baseball I don’t understand. Like how Placido Polanco’s head stays upright on his neck. I’ll never solve that one.
Not much else to say about this awful signing, but now may be a good time to point out that Garrett Atkins had just one fewer home run than David Wright. That fact always makes me smile a little.
