Jeff Mathis avoids arbitration - $1.7 mil for the worst player in baseball

I know way too much about this guy thanks to SJ.

 

I don't think Scioscia loves Mathis as much as he hates Napoli (especially as a catcher).

The lineup cards and the oral history and the quotes over the years all bear this out in great detail. There were a couple weeks at the start of the season where Mathis was actually hitting well over .300 and I think Napoli started like three times in three weeks, or something truly absurd like that. Then Mathis got hurt, and Morales got hurt, etc. etc., and Napoli got his 26 homers in 400-something ABs.

Mathis, by the way, has 23 homers in just under 1,000 ABs. Oh, and he doesn't walk, and can't get on base as well as Mario Mendoza. Oh, and he's got a .985 fielding percentage as a catcher.

I have absolutely nothing personal against Mathis, but as excellent a manager as Scioscia is, the whole Mathis/Napoli thing has always struck me as a little bizarre.

 

I think Mike represented Mathis in the negotiations.

 

Only reason Mathis is the worst player in baseball is because Chris Duncan's gone.

 

Every time I've seen Napoli and his power I wonder why he's not playing every day.

 

He threw down to first base tonight... as a dodger was stealing second base.

Remember, he's the defensive whiz

 

But Shelly Duncan is alive and (not hitting) well. The worst player in the majors this year is clearly Austin Kearns.

 

He's your boy, Scioscia you genius

http://angels.ocregister.com/2011/06/24/jeff-mathis-throws-a-baseball/85619/

 

Where the hell is BYH, anyway?

 

And to think my parents taught me that education was the best way to become successful. I should have kept hitting that ball in the back yard.

 

Kind of like when Doug Rader traded Jim Sundberg straight up for Ned Yost "because Ned Yost is a better player. Period."

Sometimes, personalities just don't mesh.

 

It's a credit to the rookie Trumbo that he wasn't pegged in the side of the noggin by a throw no one other than Mathis would ever expect.