PHI signs Geoff Jenkins (2yr/13M) -- Latest Includes Yost Audio

[jlau20]

I'm guessing that was the case too...Petco definitely wouldn't have been the best place for Geoff to attempt to put up a good offensive year to make more in '09. 2 yrs/13mil is definitely a decent deal for him too, plus you never know, he could get close to 30 HR's again the next couple of years depending on if he's playing every day or 'platooning' again.

[Fatter than Joey]

My guess is that SD was offering only a one-year deal and PHI was the only team offering a two-year deal.

 

I suspect that is the case -- Plain and simple.

 

I think he can put up some good SLG numbers in Philly.

[endaround]

Philly also gave a vesting option for a 3rd year.

[hauser42]

Philly also gave a vesting option for a 3rd year.

 

This and a solid chance at making the playoffs had to be the reason for him going to the Phils.

[pretendastronaut]

Despite Jenk's weaknesses at the plate, he was a Brewer through and through. There's no doubt we did the right thing by the team, but I'll be excited to be there and give him an ovation when he returns. I really don't think I'll be alone in that either. I think the ovation will be bigger than the boos.

[TooLiveBrew]

Without a doubt, pa. I'll never forget how misty-eyed I got when Jenks was 'sent-off' the field at MP in 2007.

[brettac1]

I just think it's awesome that he was able to get a nice deal and get to play in a good hitter's park. I'm hoping he can get to 300 HR, but I'm doubting he will be able to reach it.

 

I'm happy for him that it worked out so well, and it was pretty much time for him to move on (and not for any reason other than financial ones). Couldn't have worked out any better in my eyes.

[hauser42]

Without a doubt, pa. I'll never forget how misty-eyed I got when Jenks was 'sent-off' the field at MP in 2007.

 

Guess we are on opposite ends because I could not wait for him to leave. Respect your dedication to the player though, just not the right player for me.

[ILuvDaBush]

I've always been a big fan of the "Trojan Power", so I am saying this with bias, but Jenkins is more "Brewer" to me than Big Ben. He's been here through all the problems, ie. Big Bad Bud, and still went out everyday and performed. He signed a below-to-market contract with us. He switched positions to help the team. Now I'm not saying he was BETTER than Sheets by any strectch of the imagination. But Jenkins was more Team Brewer (a true ICON) than any current Brewer, sans Hardy and Prince.

[xisxisxis]

Jenkins was paid more than $41.5M by the Brewers over 10 years of pretty average to below average production for a corner OF. He was well paid (one could argue overpaid) and while most of the time he was a Brewer he was a team player, his complaints about playing time prior to 2007 will always leave a bad taste in my mouth. I wish him well in Philly and given a good platoon I don't doubt he'll put up average numbers again.

[Kurt]

if you were a started for the same team for close to ten years and suddenly you are not starting, you would not complain a little? I really don't blame him in that regard.

[endaround]

Jenkins was paid more than $41.5M by the Brewers over 10 years of pretty average to below average production for a corner OF. He was well paid (one could argue overpaid) and while most of the time he was a Brewer he was a team player, his complaints about playing time prior to 2007 will always leave a bad taste in my mouth. I wish him well in Philly and given a good platoon I don't doubt he'll put up average numbers again.

Jenkins OPS by year:

1998 .673

1999 .935

2000 .948

2001 .808

2002 .764 (67 games)

2003 .913

2004 .798

 

2005 .888

2006 .791

2007 .790

Now he isn't the player he looked to be when as a 24 year old he put up a 935 OPS. Due to injury or what have you it happened. But to pretend that Jenkins was just average to below average is just wrong.

 

[Thurston Fluff]

For a corner outfielder putting up an OPS less than .800 for 5 of 10 seasons I'd have to agree it was average at best. Granted some of those seasons where very good but the fact remains half the seasons he played here were less than desirable. I liked him and wish nothing but the best for him but he his inconsistancy really wore on me. Honestly at this point I'd put Sheets in that category as well. I know injuries are involved in both cases but bottom line shows they haven't accomplished what we thought they would at this time.

[hauser42]

Jenkins was paid more than $41.5M by the Brewers over 10 years of pretty average to below average production for a corner OF. He was well paid (one could argue overpaid) and while most of the time he was a Brewer he was a team player, his complaints about playing time prior to 2007 will always leave a bad taste in my mouth. I wish him well in Philly and given a good platoon I don't doubt he'll put up average numbers again.

Jenkins OPS by year:

1998 .673

1999 .935

2000 .948

2001 .808

2002 .764 (67 games)

2003 .913

2004 .798

 

2005 .888

2006 .791

2007 .790

Now he isn't the player he looked to be when as a 24 year old he put up a 935 OPS. Due to injury or what have you it happened. But to pretend that Jenkins was just average to below average is just wrong.

 

 

2007 is horrible when you think about it. He played mostly against right handers and that was suppose to be his strength. It was more than past his time.

[Fatter than Joey]

For a corner outfielder putting up an OPS less than .800 for 5 of 10 seasons I'd have to agree it was average at best.

 

Especially when you consider (especially in the later years) he really didn't have to face LHP.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Well, the league OPS was rarely .800 or better, so those years where he's in the .790's, that's still above average. A career OPS of 116 in 10 years is pretty nice, and you have to add in the fact that he's always been an above average defender. It's fair to say he fell short of expectations, especially after the 2 brilliant years he had, but I think it's also fair to say that generally speaking, he's at worst an average to slightly above corner guy.

[Thurston Fluff]

Well, the league OPS was rarely .800 or better, so those years where he's in the .790's, that's still above average. A career OPS of 116 in 10 years is pretty nice, and you have to add in the fact that he's always been an above average defender. It's fair to say he fell short of expectations, especially after the 2 brilliant years he had, but I think it's also fair to say that generally speaking, he's at worst an average to slightly above corner guy.

 

The league OPS isn't a good way to measure his aorth though. Defensive postions like short and catcher bring that average down. I have no idea what the average is for a corner outfielder but I think it's higher than .800. As far as his defensive abilities goes yes he was a very good corner outfielder but it can't be overlooked that he wasn't good enough to man center which is the one spot that needs good defense.

[pogokat]

I think geoff jenkins is a perfect example of how you can't just look at a player at age 23 and say that he is guaranteed to get better...

 

to me, Jeff Francouer is a very similar player to jenkins...lots of raw ability, but something is lacking that stops him from being that perenial .300 hitter or that 30 hr guy...

 

jenkins definitely had the ability to do it year in and year out, but becaus ehe was prone to slumps, and never developed a consistant ability to get on base, he never rose to star status...

 

after a few years, his holes were magnafied, and opposing teams were able to approach him differently...he never became a star because he had clear weaknesses which never went away...

 

he was a very good player for us for a long time...even in his bad years, he wa snever horrible...it's amazing really, but there aren't many guys that have never put in a genuinely awful year, and jenkins is one of them...

 

he was consistantly pretty good...and his career arc goes a long way to show that some guys do not grow from their early years (hank blalock is another crystal clear example of this)

[xisxisxis]

But to pretend that Jenkins was just average to below average is just wrong.

 

Well a lot depends on who you are comparing him to. If you compare him to any warm body that served as a corner OF (including late inning replacements, September callups, and bench replacements, etc.) then he is slightly above average. If you talk about starting corner OF he is average to below average. If you look at the numbers, his best year in comparison to an average corner OF was 2000 and his 2nd best wasn't 1999, it was 2005 because the average corner OF dropped off the last 3 years. I'm not saying Jenkins was crappy in any way, but he's hardly been a very good corner OF ("average" isn't equivalent to "very good" in my book). He was one of the better players on very poor Brewer teams and he was clearly well compensated for his performance.

[monty57]

Corner outfielders with .800+ OPS

 

2007 24

2006 22

2005 23

2004 18

2003 24

2002 20

2001 24

2000 28

 

On average, there is less than one corner outfielder per team to hit an .800 OPS or better. In all of baseball last year, there were 82 players with an OPS of .800 or better. When you take out the 11 that play on the luxury tax teams (Boston & the Yankees), that only leaves 71 .800+ OPS guys for the rest of the league, or about 2.5 per team. I think too many people take for granted how hard it is to hit .800 OPS.

 

Jenkins had a good career with Milwaukee. He wasn't a superstar, but he was an above average offensive and defensive player who seemingly liked playing in Milwaukee... even while players like Gagne were publicly disparaging the Brewers. That said, he's declining and the Brewers absolutely did the right thing in letting him go rather than paying him $9MM this season. If they could have had him for the $6.5MM the Phillies get him for, they probably would have picked up the option.

[TooLiveBrew]

What's your AB filter there monty? I find it hard to believe that there were 24 OFs in 2007 with more than 350 ABs or so.

[monty57]

I just used ESPN's stats page and didn't add a filter. They must use 425 AB, as Jenkins' 420 ABs missed the cut. If you use 400 ABs. his .790 OPS registers him as the 18th ranked LF, so he was about average using OPS. The main gripe I have with OPS (and other avg stats) is there isn't any qualifier stating that Jenks gets an advantage in that he faced mainly righties as part of a platoon.

 

There are 12 LF: Holliday (1.012), Dunn (.940), Burrell (.902), Soriano (.897), C. Lee (.882), Manny Ramirez (.881), H. Matsui (.855), R. Ibanez (.831), Willingham (.827), Crawford (.820), Byrnes (.813) and Church (.813). The minimum ABs there is Church w/ 470.

 

There are also 12 RF: Ordonez (1.029), Vlad (.950), Hawpe (.926), Corey Hart (.892), Griffey (.869), Rios (.852), Markakis (.848), Swisher (.836), Abreau (.814), Guillen (.813), Dye (.804), Ethier (.802). Minimum ABs there is Ethier with 447.

 

For the record, there were also seven CFs over .800: Granderson (.913), BJ Upton (.894), Rowand (.889), Beltran (.878), Sizemore (.852), Hunter (.839) and Ichiro (.827)

 

It'll be hard for the Brewers to find a replacement, as Jenkins is also a good defender. However, the $9MM saved allowed for Melvin to restock the bullpen and hopefully will allow us to hold onto other players. Most of the players better than Jenkins are either not available or cost too much. That's why I've been so high on the Ethier bandwagon.

 

FYI, there are 12 .800+ OPS 3Bs: ARod, Chipper, Braun, Cabrera, Wright, A. Ramirez, Lowell, Atkins, Mark Reynolds, Glaus, Figgins & Beltre, so it's not going to be easy to beat Jenkins' production by finding a 3B either.