Top 5 Overrated Baseball Players

This list was an idea I stole from a Pittsburgh Pirates message board. (Yes, my sports-fan masochism has extended to the point of joining a Pirates message board.) The list is fairly self-explanatory, but I'm limiting it to recent performances and opinions, primarily so that I can include my #4.

Dan's Top 5:

1. Derek Jeter - I firmly believe that there are probably tons of Yankees fans that believe Jeter is still the best player on the Yankees, despite that his OPS is below the league average and worse than five other Yankees. (I can only assume this, as I have never met a Yankees fan.) Mostly, this one is derived from personal animosity more than anything, as I'm sure that Alex Rodriguez is still not getting his deserved admiration from Yankee fans (I've been an A-Rod fan since his Ranger days), and I'm sure half of the women in New York would risk sacrificing their groin muscles in opening their legs quickly enough to let Jeter infect them with his demon seed. And have you seen his defense? Sheesh.

2. Jason Varitek - This stems almost entirely from the fact that he got on the All-Star team this year, which is a point we've already beaten to death (See this post about the All Star Game). But even though it's been beaten to death, there's no point forgetting past atrocities. Like December 7, 1941, when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor. But before I shoot myself for referencing Animal House, I'm reminded of the recent influx of Japanese talent in the majors...

3. Kosuke Fukudome - In addition to being a Pirates fan, I'm also a Cubs fan. (I'll figure out my NL Central loyalties if and when the two teams can compete with each other.) I remember watching the first game of the season, and Fukudome got a perfect batting average for the game, even driving in a 3-RBI homer. It seems like the rest of the season, which has led him to .269/.369/.399 (.768 OPS, which is the league average and a just a hair better than Ryan Theriot), is lost on the Chicago Cubs fans, most of whom still idolize the new Japanese player.

4. Ken Griffey, Jr. - The only reason that Griffey is on this list is because he was just traded to the White Sox. And Mr. Ken Tremendous over at FireJoeMorgan did such an excellent job writing about coverage of that trade that I'll just redirect you to it. Obviously, I think he's a great player in terms of his career - I mean, who else has his name on two different Super Nintendo baseball games? But clearly he can't be playing for too much longer. He had his name on Super Nintendo baseball games, for crying out loud.

5. Eric Gagne - Remember when I was in high school and I was playing my first season of fantasy baseball? Of course you do. That year, I had both Eric Gagne and "Everyday" Eddie Guardado. That's 97 saves, people. So ten saves and a 6.98 ERA this year? You may be saying, "Dan, how can you say he's overrated when everyone knows he's washed up?" Well, he's still being paid to play baseball, so I think he's overrated.

Honorable mention: Can someone hand me the rosters for the Yankees and the Red Sox?