Yuniesky Betancourt Gets Paid Handsomely to Suck at his Job

I've decided if I ever come across a player the Braves are playing who makes decent coin and are terrible players, I should write about it. Player number one on the docket this year is Brewers shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt, who allows the Brewers to pay him 3.3 million for his disservices. Betancourt is a Cuban defector who came up in the Mariners organization in 2005, and he's been doing replacement level work in the big leagues since 2008.

While with the Mariners, Betancourt posted 2.9 WAR combined over 06-07, not a horrible number but still placing him below average among major league starters. However, he's taken his game to new heights since 2008 began, contributing -.7 WAR over those last 3 years. Why would you want to pay 3.3 million for this? I figure the Brewers probably had to take him back in order to get Zach Greinke, but that must have been one tough pill to swallow.

Why is Betancourt so bad? Well, lets start with his batting eye. Betancourt's BB rate for his career stands at 3.4%(Jeff Francouer just blushed), which is a truly pitiful ratio. That kind of plate discipline is something only the best of hitters could overcome, and Betancourt is not that. He puts the ball in play at a high rate, but the fact that he swings at so many bad pitches means he doesn't put the ball in play with much authority, which can be seen with his .280 career BABIP. His career triple slash coming into play today stood at .271/.295/.392, good enough for a putrid .296 wOBA. Pretty ugly.

However, you could live with a shortstop who makes outs on over 70% of his plate appearances if he could pick it in the field. Unfortunately for the pitching staff, Betancourt can't do that either. He came up with a reputation as a good fielder, but that has been widely overblown by the fact that he can make a spectacular play here and there. What that hides is a guy with sub par range who has to make spectacular plays on balls that good defensive shortstops like Troy Tulowitzki can make without breaking a sweat. Fangraphs has estimated he has given back 42 runs in the field over the last 4 years compared to the average shortstop. A guy who can't hit or field? I'll pass, and I'm suprised the Brewers aren't passing either.

There is a bit of dead weight at the bottom of the Brewers lineup, and Betancourt is a main part of the problem. He is being paid 3.3 million for production they could probably get from promoting their AAA shortstop, who would also make close to 3 million less than Yuniesky. The Brewers have talent, but featuring dead weight like Yuniesky Betancourt could come back to haunt them in a tight pennant race this year.