In Jayson Stark's Rumblings and Grumblings column today, we see that Carlos Lee's contract is bad.
Want just a few of the ugly facts? Until his walk-off bomb Wednesday finally ejected him from the Zero Hero Club, he was homerless through his first 99 at-bats of this season. He also had a lower OPS (.495) than 13 pitchers with 10 or more at-bats. And over on the other side of the ball, FanGraphs ranks him last in the entire sport in UZR (ultimate zone rating) in left field. Other than that, though, he's having a sensational year.
He also has a full no-trade through the end of this season -- and no interest in waiving it. So the Astros couldn't unload him even if somebody wanted him. But that's irrelevant at this point. He'd be untradable even if he were tradable. Or something like that.
"He's in the wrong league," one NL executive said. "His body's breaking down. And he's making $18 million. So I think it's safe to say he's trending the wrong way."
Dude, Stark. Shut up, we're hoping to trade him to the Yankees.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
