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A.J. Pierzynski
Chicago White Sox [ Team Audit page ]
Catcher
Bats L
Age 29
6' 3"
240 lbs.

Player Profile

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Sections
Historical Stats | 2006 Forecast | Diagnostics | Five-Year Forecast | Valuation | Most Comparable Players | Player Comments

Historical Stats

-- Equivalents --
Year Tm Lg PA R 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS SPD AVG OBP SLG MLVr AVG OBP SLG EqA VORP Defense WARP
2003 MIN MLB 531 63 35 3 11 74 24 55 3 1 4.9 .312 .360 .464 .130 .311 .360 .468 .284 35.1 129-C 10 6.2
2004 SFN MLB 508 45 28 2 11 77 19 27 0 1 3.2 .272 .319 .410 -.042 .268 .313 .404 .247 9.1 114-C -1 3.5
2005 CHA MLB 496 61 21 0 18 56 23 68 0 2 3.7 .257 .308 .420 -.055 .258 .317 .436 .256 12.1 123-C 3 4.0


EQA Distribution

Five-Year WARP

2006 Forecast

-- Equivalents --
Percentile PA R 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS SPD AVG OBP SLG MLVr AVG OBP SLG EqA VORP Defense WARP
90o 497 66 28 2 20 76 23 56 0 1 5.0 .300 .343 .495 .136 .298 .348 .490 .285 31.3 117-C 2 5.0
75o 476 56 25 1 16 67 21 55 0 1 4.6 .286 .327 .459 .052 .284 .332 .454 .270 20.4 113-C 1 4.0
60o 464 51 23 1 14 62 20 54 0 1 4.4 .277 .318 .437 .002 .276 .323 .433 .260 14.3 110-C 0 3.4
50o 458 48 22 1 13 59 19 53 0 1 4.3 .273 .313 .426 -.024 .271 .318 .422 .255 11.3 108-C 0 3.1
40o 449 45 21 1 12 56 18 53 0 1 4.1 .267 .307 .410 -.060 .265 .311 .406 .248 7.3 107-C -1 2.7
25o 436 40 20 1 10 51 17 52 0 1 3.8 .258 .297 .386 -.114 .256 .301 .383 .237 1.4 104-C -1 2.2
10o 416 32 17 1 7 44 15 51 0 1 3.5 .243 .280 .348 -.203 .241 .284 .344 .217 -7.6 99-C -2 1.3
Weighted Mean 482 53 24 1 14 62 20 56 0 1 4.2 .274 .315 .429 -.016 .273 .319 .425 .257 12.3 114-C 0 3.2

Diagnostics

Breakout Rate Improve Rate Collapse Rate Attrition Rate

15%

41%

26%

8%

Five-Year Forecast

-- Equivalents --
Year PA R 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS SPD AVG OBP SLG MLVr AVG OBP SLG EqA VORP Defense WARP
2006 (age 29) 482 53 24 1 14 62 20 56 0 1 4.2 .274 .315 .429 -.016 .273 .319 .425 .257 12.3 114-C 0 3.2
2007 (age 30) 437 45 21 1 12 54 19 50 0 1 3.8 .275 .316 .421 -.025 .273 .321 .417 .255 9.8 104-C 0 2.8
2008 (age 31) 466 49 22 1 14 57 20 55 0 1 3.9 .270 .310 .420 -.040 .268 .315 .416 .252 7.2 110-C -1 2.2
2009 (age 32) 369 34 17 1 11 46 16 42 0 1 3.8 .265 .307 .415 -.054 .264 .312 .411 .250 4.7 88-C 1 1.8
2010 (age 33) 345 32 16 1 10 42 16 41 0 1 3.6 .272 .313 .419 -.035 .270 .317 .415 .253 4.5 83-C 0 1.4

Valuation

Year OWARP DWARP Tot WARP MORP Mean VORP Upside
2006 0.7 2.5 3.2 $4,175,000 12.3 15.3
2007 0.6 2.2 2.8 $3,475,000 9.8 9.5
2008 0.4 1.8 2.2 $2,675,000 7.2 8.2
2009 0.3 1.5 1.8 $2,200,000 4.7 7.1
2010 0.3 1.1 1.4 $1,675,000 4.5 5.8
Peak 11.3 $11,550,000 38.5 45.9


Stars & Scrubs Chart

Career Path Analysis


Five-Year Performance
Year 75% 50% 25% Weighted Mean
2006 .270 .255 .237 .257
2007 .275 .257 .229 .255
2008 .270 .246 .216 .252
2009 .263 .235 .211 .250
2010 .273 .242 .226 .253


Five-Year Attrition
Year Attrition Rate Drop Rate Breakout
2006 8% 0% 15%
2007 21% 4% 13%
2008 34% 15% 11%
2009 49% 26% 11%
2010 63% 42% 8%

Most Comparable Players

Similarity Index

37

Rank Hitter Year Score Trend Rank Hitter Year Score Trend
1 Terry Kennedy 1985 41 11 Greg Myers 1995 22
2 Sandy Alomar 1995 38 12 Toby Hall 2005 22
3 Russ Nixon 1964 36 13 Joe Azcue 1969 22
4 Rich Gedman 1989 30 14 Brian Johnson 1997 21
5 Ed Herrmann 1976 28 15 Sean Casey 2004 21
6 Ben Molina 2004 28 16 B.J. Surhoff 1994 21
7 Mackey Sasser 1992 28 17 Pat Borders 1992 21
8 Ramon Hernandez 2005 28 18 Joe Oliver 1995 20
9 Ed Ott 1981 24 19 Dan Wilson 1998 20
10 Dick Sisler 1950 24 20 Terry Steinbach 1991 20

Player Comments

Click on the year to report a comment problem (misspelling, premature cutoff, weird characters or rendering, etc.)

2005

Two unfair but true rules of baseball: 1) What you do in April gets scrutinized a lot more than what you do in June or July; 2) hard-nosed players who produced are called gamers—hard-nose players who don't are thrown under the bus. After a brutal April in which he hit .246/.267/.250, one teammate said: "He's the cancer in here. The pitchers aren't happy with him. If they can trade him, that would be fine with me." Pierzynski played at his career norms the rest of the season, but when an arbitration decision came due at season's end, the Giants decided they didn't need his personality anymore. You could forgive the Giants for not wanting to pay the $5 million or so it would have cost to retain him. Pierzynski's a better player than half the starting catchers in baseball, and he's a great short-term fix for the White Sox's continual catching problems. Meanwhile the Giants will pay $10.5 million over three years to a more genial and helpless Mike Matheny.

2003

One of the game’s great carmine kiesters, A. J. Pierzynski is never going to win a popularity contest around the league, but he doesn’t need to. Nobody liked Clint Courtney either, but 50 years later, everybody still talks about him. Pierzynski is a good catcher—his percentages throwing out runners aren’t amazing, but the Twins control the running game as well as anybody—and as a guy who can make contact and drive the ball, he’s a pest at the bottom of the order. As the man who holds the job until/if/when Joe Mauer is ready, he’s the best placeholder in the game.

2002

He was presented with an opportunity, and he seized it. Pierzynski is essentially the same ballplayer as Shea Hillenbrand in Boston. He will hit for a reasonable average, show some line-drive power, but draw only three walks a month, so he will have to hit .300 or close to it to help the team and keep his job. Depending on the skew of the new management regime, even that might not be enough. Pierzynski had a nice 2001 season, though, and it moved him into the column of MLB-approved catchers. Ask the next guy how much money that's worth.

2001

A.J. Pierzynski has the Greg Myers skill set: he’s a left-handed-hitting line-drive machine with a strong arm. He’d make a nice caddy for LeCroy if LeCroy wins the job and a nice platoon mate for Ardoin if LeCroy doesn’t. If the Twins keep Moeller, Pierzyski could get 400 plate appearances. The Twins are divided into a group of left-handed hitters who get on base, left-handed hitters who hit for good averages, and Ron Coomer. Pierzynski just adds another body to group two.

2000

He’s a young catcher with a reputation for good glove work. Pierzynski would make an ideal caddy for LeCroy if the Twins trade Javier Valentin. He will end up catching somewhere in the major leagues someday.

1999

Big guy, but he hits like Joel Skinner. Pierzynski could be the Twins' starting catcher on Opening Day, but he's just keeping the seat warm for Matt LeCroy. If it was me, I'd push Chad Moeller to the majors, get a veteran caddy for him, keep Pierzynski at Triple-A to back up LeCroy, and plan for LeCroy to be my catcher in 2000.

1998

Pierzynski continues to show improvement. The consensus is that Javier Valentin is the Twins’ catcher of the future, but Pierzynski is a year younger and ready to step up if Valentin falters.

1997

A good catching prospect with the misfortune of being in an organization with a better one (Jose Valentin). He’s a good prospect in his own right, having shown good power at an early age.


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