David Pinto seems to think so, given his terrible numbers this year. The Yankees, in particular, are a focus of debate about signing him.
Sexson’s 33, so while he may be done, it’s just a little early to write him off without one last look. As I often do for players in his position, former stars who just seem to have hit the wall awful quickly, I looked at his splits. Here is Sexson this year vs RHP and LHP:
vs RHP: .178/.281/.304
vs LHP: .344/.423/.623
Last year is less dramatic…Sexson has only 61 at bats this year vs. lefties, and his 2007 splits are less dramatic, but I’d guess that even if he’s done as a regular, he could well be a useful platoon partner (Carlos Delgado comes to mind here) and may still have something to contribute against lefthanded pitchers.
Then there’s the home/road:
Safeco: .178/.267/.256
Everywhere else: .260/.363/.512
Again: Sexson’s got a huge swing and tons of power when he connects – a big pitcher-friendly ballpark is death to him at this point. (That probably rules out Shea, even if it’s been friendlier to power hitters this year). But put him in the right place, and he can still mash (caveat being that his 2007 splits, again, are not as dramatic).
Bottom line: Sexson still has some value as a bench/platoon player, used judiciously. I agree that he’s probably finished as a regular. But that should not stop the right organization from squeezing the remaining value out of him.
5 thoughts on “Is Richie Sexson Done?”
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Once he clears waivers, he is a cheap pick up for a team hoping for some platoon lightening in a bottle. He really isn’t much different from what he always was – a power hitter who strikes out a lot. The problem is the park magnified his negatives and negated his positives. Get him in a different park and he will put up numbers closer to what he always did. Also, his defense has always been very good.
The more-than-a-bit similar Tony Clark has resurrected himself several times after looking as done as Sexson, so I would think Sexson would have a chance to rebound in the right situation.
I am very hopeful Sexson ends up in the NL because I am 100% positive if he goes to the Yankees or Rays he is going to go .320/.375/.600 the rest of they way. He stinks of a 60 game wonder right now. Come on Arizona, get that guy!
At The Hardball Times, they calculate a Projected OPS (PrOPS) based on the batted ball types hit by the batter. The idea is that when your real OPS diverges from your PrOPS, there’s a significant luck component.
Sexson has a PrOPS of 820 last year, and is at 816 this year. There’s a good chance that a large portion of his bad performance is just extended bad luck.
Link to THT PrOPS Page: https://tinyurl.com/66a8yj
This is the old way of doing things for the Yankees. Cashman is not going to bring in an aging first basemen/DH. We already have a full collection of them, we don’t need him to complete the set. Some idiot sportswriter had the Yankees talking to Barry Bonds. I think it is more likely that we will sign the decapitated head of Ted Williams. He at least would walk a lot.