My New Slant on Juan

It's not even close.

As some stats below show (e.g. 2-out RISP) most people DO NOT have this many CRUCIAL singles (or homers) at opportune times. Remember - this is in just over 2 months of work. It's really remarkable.

Anyway, on to the real point:

.271 BA, 21 HR, 54 RBI, .340 OBP
.249 BA, 11 HR, 49 RBI, .304 OBP
.278 BA, 19 HR, 79 RBI, .317 OBP
.289 BA, 15 HR, 52 RBI, .384 OBP
.263 BA, 29 HR, 89 RBI, .385 OBP
.257 BA, 19 HR, 70 RBI, .350 OBP

The first is Reggie in his last season as a Cardinal.  He made $4M that year.  

The second is Reggie in his first year with Kansas City, where he made $5M.

The third is Juan's line from last year.  He made $3.5M, less than either of Reggie's salaries.

The 4th is Walker during his last season.  Moderately better average and on-base, but lower HR and RBI, for the bargain price of $12.6M a year(granted, I think some of this was paid by Colorado)

The last two are Jimmy during 2005 and 2006(the year before Juan and the first year with Juan).  Overall better numbers in 2005, but we paid him 10.3M.  His 2006 numbers are pretty comparable overall to Juan's usual line, and he made $12.1M

Now, for career Range Factors(this comparison should be decent, since they're all outfielders, although Jimmy might benefit from being in CF)

Jimmy - 2.66
Juan - 1.99
Larry - 2.21
Reggie - 1.99

So, as we probably would have guessed, Jimmy's got the best range(or possibly he benefits from being in CF, but I think we'll all agree he's probably still got the best range), Larry is 2nd, but Juan vs. Reggie are dead even.

If, as HL said, Juan was brought in to replace one of the departed players, then he's pretty adequately doing that for Reggie.

But we all liked Reggie, because he was always smiling and it seemed like he was putting forth full effort.  And most of us would be happy to see Juan's salary dumped(some of us more than others).

As many people on here are pointing out, most of this is us seeing what we WANT to see out of Juan, not seeing what he actually is.

I understand the desire to see players who are going balls to the wall on every play.  Maximum effort is what we want to teach our kids in all aspects of life, and its one of the easiest lessons to teach through sports.  Furthermore, when you have players like David Eckstein who nearly sprint to first on walks, or when you have players like Albert Pujols who puts his full physical and mental abilities into making himself the best player offensively and defensively he can be, it's easy.  Or even talking about Ankiel, someone who faced adversity and overcame it through hard work and an incredible amount of determination.

That's why it's easy to look at Juan, who looks complacent and lackadaisical most of the time, and not be a fan of his.

Question his effort all you want, and I won't fight you, but if you say he's a complete bum and he's a poor replacement for Reggie Sanders(production-wise), then the numbers, at least on some level, show that on many levels, you're wrong.