The Ray Lankford Saga

Lately there has been a lot said about Ray Lankford wearing out his welcome in St. Louis before being traded to San Diego for Woody Williams. Most of what's people are writing is that Ray Lankford is not as bad as the Cardinals suggest. Writers point out that Lankford has a respectable .837 OPS, which is good for fifth best in the Cards lineup. Its also said that Lankford has a good history for the Cardinals. Some have even made references to the possibility that LaRussa is a racist.

I don't have any logical argument for the ineffectiveness of Ray Lankford (other than a .235 BA which is slightly offset by a .343 OBP.) However, I live in an area which is saturated with Cardinals fans, and no one that I have talked to thought the Cards should have kept Lankford. Almost everyone that follows the team thinks that he is not a good player. So if his numbers are decent, which they are, and his history is good, then why do fans and Cardinals management appreciate the fact that he's gone?

Sometimes a player wears out his welcome through the day-to-day grind of a season, especially if he's making $7 million. Last season, Cleveland was overjoyed about dumping David Justice for a number of reasons, including sitting out a playoff game with a stiff neck in 1999. Atlanta felt somewhat the same way when they traded him to Cleveland. If you look at Justice's numbers, they showed that he was an effective player and went on to hit 40 homers in 2000, but the Tribe brass thought the team was better off without him.

The point is that some players are difficult to deal with, but they put up great numbers, so they are kept around. Other players are difficult to deal with, but put up slightly above average numbers, but they are not worth the trouble.

I don't know Ray Lankford personally, so I couldn't say if he's hard to deal with or not. But I would say that people who follow a team closely through an entire season, or several seasons, see things that others may not. Small things add up after a while.

Go To Page: 1

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic