Phil Nevin the highest-paid San Diego Padre ever? Wow, Tony Gwynn was underpaid! (1 Viewer)

[KeithH]

I heard today that Phil Nevin signed a four-year, $34M contract, making him the highest-paid San Diego Padre ever. It's amazing to think that Tony Gwynn didn't make more than Nevin. Nothing against Nevin, but Gwynn was the man in San Diego.
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[Aaron Schmitt]

Tony was underpaid and under appreciated. All you seem to hear these days is Cal Ripken retired, Mark McGwire retired, what about Tony? 18 years of over .300? Hello? A classy guy, a great hitter, and totally under appreciated.
Aaron
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[Kirk Tsai]

Gwynn was indeed underappreciated, perhaps because he spent his entire career with a not-so-high-profile team. That being said, I think any true baseball fan recognizes his great career as well as accomplishments. I do not think, however, that Nevin is being overpaid in the current market value. He has easily been one of the best 3Bs in the last couple of years; in fact, besides Chipper Jones, I cannot think of one 3B who has been most consistently good.

 

[John Thomas]

Kirk, I agree with most of your points but are the Orioles a high-profile team? I suppose Ripken got the attention due to breaking Gehrig's record plus the fact that he was the prototypical shortstop back in the day.
Nevin is one of the best offensive third basemen around (I had him for awhile in fantasy baseball this year )
Here's his stats since joining the Padres:
YR____Gms___AB___R___H___2B__BB___HR___RBI___BA
99____128___383__52__103__27__51___24___ 85__.269
00____143___538__87__163__34__59___31___107__.303
01____149___546__97__167__31__71___41___126__.306
He's coming off his best year (what timing) and the Pads really don't have any prospects for that position. If I were a Pad fan however - I'd be raising heck wanting them to spend some of that on pitching. Oh well - I'll get my chance when the Cards sign Giambi.

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[Edited last by John Thomas on November 16, 2001 at 04:56 AM]

 

[KeithH]

Unfortunately, Gwynn wasn't only hurt by playing in San Diego, a small market. The fact that he wasn't a power hitter didn't help him either. Players that hit for very high average have a way of disappearing off the all-time great landscape. Look at Rod Carew. In the '70s and '80s, of course, he was known as an outstanding contact hitter, but who talks about him now? I don't think Wade Boggs will be talked about among all-time greats in the future either. However, people will always remember Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Barry Bonds, just as we remember Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron.
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[Edited last by KeithH on November 16, 2001 at 09:13 AM]

 

[Peter Kim]

I don't know much about Cal, outside of his playing streak. But I've always admired Tony for consistent excellence. I was a kid who followed both Tony and Don Mattingly, a Yankee who was in pinstripes at the wrong time.
That said...can anyone fill me in on why Cal gets a tremendous amount more exposure/attention/accolades than Tony. By his own team and by national media. For crying out loud...Cal got a national Coke going-away commercial. What the hell did Tony get? Goddammit, Ricky Henderson, the king of audacity, got more lovin' from San Diego this season than Tony. Ricky?!!! He's been in San Diego for how long?
Again, outside of being a gamer and showing up, what did Cal do in terms of actual skill(s)? BA, HR's, RBI, etc.,...significant, long-term, individual stats.
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[KeithH]

Peter, Cal Ripken put together nice numbers all-around besides the streak. His career batting average is lacking, but he had a good career. That said, Tony Gwynn was terribly underappreciated. As for Rickey Henderson getting more love from the Padres fans than Gwynn, let's remember that Henderson got his 3000th hit and broke the record for runs scored all-time at the end of the season. Although Henderson was hardly a fan-favorite over the span of his career, his recent accomplishments were worthy of praise. Gwynn, on the other hand, should have been heralded by fans for everything he accomplished over the years and how he conducted himself, no doubt about it.
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[Kirk Tsai]

I personally consider Gwynn to be a superior and greater player than Cal Ripken, but I can understand why he is much more of a celebrity outside pure baseball fans. I do think, however, that when people look back on his career, they will mention two things before anything: A)the streak, and B)the fact that he was a power hitting SS. When people look back on Gwynn, they'll simply see a tremendous hitter. In my book, that automatically makes Gwynn's achievements over Ripken's; he is not known for a record or content, he is known for his performance.
This is no knock on Ripken, as he was indeed a great player. But after his glorious days from the 80s to early 90s, he was in no way absolutely the best at his position afterwards (you could argue he never was after 91)--he still got elected to the All Star game every year, easily, too. In essence, I believe his personal persona and celebrity made his status in baseball, as well his well knownness (is that a word?) to the general public, more than what he actually was. Again, is he a great player? Hell yes, especially when he played shortstop. Was he ever a great 3B? No, not really.