Expos Prospect: Jason Bay

2002 Bowman

It almost feels wrong talking about someone who’s a New York Met now, but there you go. What can you do? As a comfort, we’ll only be talking about Bay as an Expo prospect. Interesting to me, at least, is that he never played a game as an Expo (aside from Spring Training). It’s kind of hard to find images of Bay in an Expo uniform outside of his old cards, for some reason. I haven’t been able to find any, actually.

But make no mistake: Bay was a good, but not great, prospect. In his first year with Low-A Vermont in 2000, he had a .304/.358/.385 slash. On the surface, the BA looks attractive enough, but couple that with a low OBP and a very low SLG and he didn’t look that great. He started to look better in 2001, though, which meant by the time this was issued, he was a legit prospect. He hit .315/.409/.488, which when put through the minor league equivalency (MLE) converter comes out to .214/.270/.309. Uhm, yikes. So again, he looked good on paper, but when you converted those numbers, it was questionable if he would ever be a ML regular.

In 2002, the Expos traded him to the Mets with Jimmy Serrano for Lou Collier. Yes, Lou Collier. As far as I can tell, he never had a baseball card with the Expos, and only played 13 games for the Expos. Now THAT was a trade worth making. It just sums up that era of the Expos a little too well.

The rest of Bay’s career is history. He was dealt to the Padres for fluff, and then dealt to the Pirates as part of the Ollie Perez deal. Rookie of the Year from there on out, and ended up with the Mets again. The end.

Darrin Fletcher

Clearing out my backfill of Darrin Fletcher cards…

1994 Bowman

1994 Leaf

1991 Leaf

1994 Pacific Crown Collection

1994 Pinnacle

1997 Pinnacle

Michael Barrett: The Early Years

I realized last night that I have a considerable collection of cards from Michael Barrett’s early career.

1999 Team Best Autographs

1998 Arizona Fall League Prospects Gold

1998 Bowman

1998 Bowman Chrome

Expos Auto: Michael Barrett

Michael Barrett
1999 Team Best Autographs #3

Category: Former Expo
Position: C
Bio/Summary:  In my estimation, Michael Barret has never really been an exceptional catcher, certainly not the kind of guy I’d draft to build my catching corps around, but I can also see him being a boon if you don’t have any other option for the team. I mean, he has gone over 100 OPS+ several times. And he went after A.J. Pierzynski, so that counts for something.

How Did I Get It?:  Bought it at checkoutmycards.net.

Did You Know?:  Barrett once caught a base runner (Morgan Ensberg) stealing second without throwing the ball. Ensberg had broken for second on a pitch-out and then froze. Barrett began running towards Ensberg, who tried to return to first but could not beat the catcher there, resulting in one of the oddest caught stealing plays in history.

Rating: 6/10 – The shot’s kind of average, and I’m not a big fan of the background, but the autograph is nice.

2002 Topps Chrome Traded #2

Jose Macias
2002 Topps Chrome Traded #T66

Category: Former Expo
Position: UT
Bio/Summary: I’m shocked to see how long Jose Macias hung around. Seven seasons for a guy with a 75 career OPS+? I’m guessing his utility fielding played a part in it. Either way, Macias really only stopped over in Montreal, spending around 200 games there before heading off to the Cubs.

Rating: 3/10 – Oops, the top got cut off. Oh, well. It’s not as if this is a gripping baseball card. No action, simple spring training shot.

Eric Miller
2002 Topps Chrome Traded #T150
Category: Failed Prospect
Position: IF
Bio/Summary: Man I wish I knew this guy’s story. Only showed up in 2000 at age 22 and was out of baseball by 24. He could hit, but had an absymal OBP. Was the problem that he couldn’t field? I don’t know – but it seems odd that a guy in a Traded set like this had so little experience and never even sniffed the majors. Maybe they were desperate that year.
Rating: 5/10 - Pretty average spring training prospect shot.

Frank Robinson

2002 Topps Chrome Traded #T109

Position: Manager
Bio/Summary: You know him, you love him. Frank was beginning a four-year run in Montreal/Washington here, and I remember being happy that he had gotten a job somewhere. My opinion of his managing skills would change over the years, but never my respect for him as a player. What a great guy.
Rating: 3/10 – Way to blow it on the card. You can’t even see the guy’s face. Sigh.

Ryan Church

2002 Topps Chrome Traded #T243

Category: When They Were Young
Position: OF
Bio/Summary: I wanted to start throwing in some folks like this for the fascination factor. Church never actually played for the Indians, instead coming to the Expos in the blockbuster Scott Stewart deal (heh). Church was a standout minor leaguer for the Indians, though, OPSing over 800 for 4 years.
Rating: 8/10 -  FINALLY an action shot, and a good one! You can see Church’s awful young face, and him in a Cleveland uniform, that still seems so odd to me. Nice, fun pickup.

Joel Hanrahan
2002 Topps Chrome Traded #T249
Category: When They Were Young
Position: P
Bio/Summary: Hanrahan was a top prospect for the Dodgers at this point, with great stuff and absolutely no control. In 2002, he pitched 28 games between A and AA. The jump to AA really seemed to confound him, though, and he was out of the Dodgers organization by 2006, when the Nationals scooped him up in the great Free Agent Pitcher experiement of 2007, along with the next fellow, Jason Simontacchi. The rest is history.
Rating: 4/10 – Another boring spring training shot.

Jason Simontacchi

2002 Topps Chrome Traded #T157
Category: When They Were Young
Position: P
Bio/Summary: Simontacchi was very much a failed prospect for the Cardinals, despite going 11-5 with a 4.04 ERA in 2002, his rookie year. He slipped down after that, his WHIP ballooning, and his ERA+ dropping. He was finally picked up by the Nationals in the Free Agent Pitcher experiment, and gave them a 66 ERA+ before the Nats dumped him.
Rating: 7/10 – Love the pose on this one – nice action shot.

2002 Topps Traded Chrome #1/2

Ron Calloway
2002 Topps Chrome Traded #T192
Category: Failed Prospect
Position: OF
Bio/Summary:  I wrote about Calloway recently, with his 2003 Upper Deck Vintage card. 2002 was a breakout year for Ron, as he stole 44 bases for AAA Ottawa, and would earn the call to the big club the next season. Too bad he had no staying power.
Rating: 7/10 – I like the design of the 2002 Topps Prospect cards, and this is a pretty good shot.

Bartolo Colon
2002 Topps Chrome Traded #T14
Category: Former Expo
Position: P
Bio/Summary: Sigh. Covered this. Lost a lot of good players, like Grady Sizemore. Too disappointing.
Rating: 6/10 – I’ve always loved this angle for a shot. Good stuff.

Andres Galarraga
2002 Topps Chrome Traded #T39

Category: Expos Star
Position: 1B
Bio/Summary:  Galarraga was nearing the end of his career at this point, having survived a bout of cancer. He didn’t put up very big numbers in 02, managing a 92 OPS+, but he would rebound nicely with San Franscico the next year.
Rating: 3/10 – Very generic shot, not dynamic or interesting.

Dicky Gonzalez
2002 Topps Chrome Traded #T65
Category: Failed Prospect
Position: P
Bio/Summary: Dicky Gonzalez was a perennial prospect who put up high win totals and impressive BB/K ratios, but didn’t quite have the stuff to make it at the major league level. He had pitched with the Mets in 2001, then gave it another shot in 2005 before hanging it up.
Rating: 2/10 -  Ugh, awful picture. 

Rich Lane

2002 Topps Chrome Traded #T125

Category: Failed Prospect
Position: OF
Bio/Summary: I had to search hard for Rich Lane’s stats, but tracked him down. Surprisingly, he never even made the majors despite being in the Traded set; seems like Bowman territory, right? In 2002, he was playing for Brevard county and had a .688 OPS. I’m not sure where he came from as a prospect.
Rating: 4/10 – Generic shot, unknown player.

2000 Bowman Draft

Milton Bradley
2000 Bowman Draft #15
Category: Expos Star
Position: OF
Bio/Summary: I honestly don’t know what to say about Milton at this point. I’ve covered a few cards from his 2000 year, and he didn’t stick around in Montreal for very long before they gave up on him, anyway. I did find myself surprised surfing his minor league numbers and finding that he once stole 30 bases. It seems so crazy, given how his wheels are these days.
Rating: 5/10 – I like Bradley, and I like the 2000 design, but this thing is just dirt-simple, generic “Baseball Card”.

 Tomas De La Rosa
2000 Bowman Draft #74
Category: Failed Prospect
Position: IF
Bio/Summary: This is not the first time I’ve seen De La Rosa and Bradley together. I guess the only real connection is that they were coming up through the system at the same time. Their numbers were as different as could be: Bradley was a burgeoning power-hitting outfielder with decent speed and a good OBP, while De La Rosa was the model slap-hitting SS. I guess it’s not surprising that one of them didn’t last. De La Rosa left baseball in 2007.
Rating: 4/10 – Bleh. Another dirt-common Spring Training shot. 

 Giovanni (Yovanny) Lara
2000 Bowman Draft #47
Category: Failed Prospect
Position: P
Bio/Summary: So weird that they call him Giovanni here. I could find no record of a Giovanni Lara, only a Yovanny. Obviously this was the name he went by; so why go with something else? I don’t know. Yovanny only pitched in the majors in 2000, putting up a 76 ERA+ in 6 games. He seems to have disappeared from baseball after that. Odd.
Rating: 4/10 – Snore. Spring Training.

 Thomas Mitchell
2000 Bowman Draft #110
Category: Failed Prospect
Position: P
Bio/Summary: Another player who was hard to find. Why do people have issues with Bowman and their prospects again? Heh. Not only did he never make the majors, he failed to make an impact at pretty much every level he played at (I’m serious too – check out his stats – they’re horrific). He’s only in this blog as a historical oddity, like many of the failed prospects.
Rating: 3/10 – Who? Blah.

Grady Sizemore 

2000 Bowman Draft #109
Category: Former Expo
Position: OF
Bio/Summary: Damn you Omar Minaya. Damn you. I’m guessing we all know what happened here, so I’m more interested in seeing Grady’s production as an Expos farmhand. Yup, it makes you cry. As a 17-year-old in the Gulf Coast Rookie League, he put up a .293/.380/.376 line. Okay, sure, the slugging was down a bit, but he was SEVENTEEN. That’s as much promise as you can get from a rookie leaguer. At 19, he was .258/.351/.348, right before he was dealt. The next season he broke out, and it was all over from there. Sigh.
Rating: 6/10 – Historical context is not the only reason this gets the highest rating. Even with Grady’s goofy expression, the photograph is a little better, showing a little more of the field. Still not going to destroy the world or anything.

1990 Topps Debut ’89

Steve Frey

1990 Topps Debut ’89 #40
Category: Former Expo
Position: RP
Bio/Summary: Steve Frey is a lasting testimony to the power of being lefthanded. I figured he was some no-name who flamed out after a couple of seasons, but was shocked to see he lasted until 1996, and wasn’t too horrible at times. Other than that, I suppose I don’t have too much to say about him.
Rating: 4/10 – Even though this is the horrible 1990 Topps design, the borders don’t match too badly with the colors on his jersey.

Mark Gardner
1989 Topps Debut #23
Category: Former Expo 
Position:  SP
Bio/Summary: Gardner is another player that exceeded my expectations for him. A 27-year old rookie with a 13-season career? Nice. Gardner’s rookie season didn’t lead anyone to expect he’d last that long – in 1990 he went 7-9 with a 107 ERA+…decent, but at his age, you wouldn’t think it would keep him around until he was 39, but his career appears to be a triumph of WINS over everything else.
Rating: 6/10 – Not a bad shot, all in all. I think that’s Spike Owen over his shoulder, but I’m not 100% certain.

Marquis Grissom
1990 Topps Debut ’89 #41
Category: Expos Star
Position: OF
Bio/Summary: I’ve spoken about Grissom quite a bit here…one of the guys who I appreciated before I learned more about stats. One of the most interesting facts about him is that he’s a coach with the Nats now, trying to help Lastings Milledge live up to his potential.
Rating: 6/10 – Nice shot at Wrigley Field! I’ve always been fond of this picture.

 Gene Harris
1990 Topps Debut ’89 #52
Category: Former Expo
Position: P
Bio/Summary: Gene Harris played a grand total of 11 games as an Expo, and barely had any cards during his stint. I remember being surprised when I saw this one. In those 11 games, he went 1-1 with a 4.95 ERA before being dealt to Seattle with Randy Johnson in the Mark Langston trade. Sigh.
Rating: 4/10 – Just your average sweaty 1990 Topps pic. Looks like it could go in 1990 Bowman, for that matter.

 

Larry Walker

Larry Walker

1990 Topps Debut ’89 #133
Category: Expos Star
Position: OF
Bio/Summary: Ah, the legendary Larry Walker! This guy was awesome, as I’m sure you know. Walker played 20 games in 1989, hitting only .170 with a .264 OBP in 20 games. Benefit of the doubt and all, though, for the small sample size. He had done well in the minors after missing an entire year in 1988, and we all know what he went on to do.
Rating: 6/10 – Man, that’s a lot of red, but I have to give props for how well it’s all tied together. It’s a good pic of him, on top of that.

1982 Fleer #5

David Palmer

1982 Fleer #199
Category: Former Expo
Position: P
Bio/Summary: I remember David Palmer from all the 1989 sets, when he was with the Phillies and near the end of his career. Here he is in his prime, though he missed all of 1981. He returned in 1982, going 6-4 with a 3.18 ERA in 13 games, good for a 115 ERA+. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t sniff an above-average ERA+ again until 1986. Looking at his ability prior to 1982, it looks like that injury might have taken it out of him. He was never the same after.
Rating: 6/10 – I swear that’s Gary Carter in the background. The flash photography is awful here, but my imagination is somewhat inspired by this shot.

Larry Parrish

1982 Fleer #200
Category: Expos Lynchpin
Position: 3B
Bio/Summary: I remember Larry Parrish from later in his career, much like David Palmer, when he was finishing up with Texas and Boston in 1988. In 1981, however, the future was still his to grasp. Coming off a 104 ERA+ performance in 1980, he slumped to a 92 OPS+, hitting .244/.297/.384 in 97 games and getting traded to the Rangers in March of 82. Rough for a guy who was just a few years off an All-Star appearance and fourth place finish in the MVP race.
Rating: 1/10 – Ick. Terrible, blurry photo with a flash that washes out his face. Seriously one of the worst pictures I’ve ever seen on a baseball card.

Mike Phillips

1982 Fleer #201
Category: Expos Also-Ran
Position: SS/2B
Bio/Summary: Phillips was a light-hitting middle infielder who must have had a reputation with his glove, because that bat was not going to be enough, let me tell you. Not even at SS in that era. And 1982 was the beginning of the end – he had a -34 OPS+. Yikes. So I’m not surprised I’d never heard of him.
Rating: 5/10 – At least this picture is in focus and not washed out. Too bad it’s boring.

Tim Raines

1982 Fleer #202
Category: Expos Star
Position: OF
Bio/Summary: I’m not sure Raines needs any introduction…he’s another of the legit stars in this set to go with Carter and Dawson. You know, it’s kind of a shame that Expos pitching was so abysmal back then because they had the core of something really special with those three. And 1982 was at the beginning of a nice run for Rock. He had a 101 OPS+, but the big stat for that year was 78 steals in 94 attempts! That’s absolutely unheard of! Man the guy was good.
Rating: 8/10 – This card gets major props for showing a young Raines, and hey, it’s in focus and well-lit. How about that?

1982 Fleer #3

 

Grant Jackson

1982 Fleer #191
Category: Expos Also-Ran
Position: P
Bio/Summary: Grant Jackson was an All-Star lefty who spent most of his career in Philadelphia, bouncing between less-than-mediocre numbers and pretty damn decent numbers. Inconsistent is the keyword we’re looking for here. He only spent one year, a twilight year, in Montreal, 1981, pitching in relief in 35 games, ending up with a horrid 7.59 ERA and a 2.156 WHIP. Likely not very well remembered in Montreal.
Rating: 6/10 – This was the kind of photo Fleer got known for: a relaxing throw on the sidelines, a smile on his face. Doesn’t make it a great card, but it does get some kudos.

 

Wallace Johnson

1982 Fleer #192
Category: Expos Also-Ran
Position: OF
Bio/Summary: I remember Wallace Johnson’s 1990 Donruss issue very well; I had barely heard of the guy before that, but he had been hanging around in Montreal for well on a decade at that point, but he was a bit player and had pretty much always been a bit player. He had been a rookie in 81, but 82 was his “full” rookie season (if you can call 36 games a season). He managed an anemic .198/.258/.263 line that year, with only TWO extra-base hits in 62 PAs. He never did much better than that, either. How did he ever stick around?
Rating: 4/10 – Blurry photograph, generic pose. The only things that interest me here are the weird expression on his face and the guy in the background. I can’t quite tell who that is, but I like to imagine it’s Bill Gullickson. The body would fit.

 

Charlie Lea

1982 Fleer #193
Category: Expos Star 
Position: P
Bio/Summary: I vaguely remember Charlie Lea from the 88 Topps set, but here he is in his glory as an Expos player. I was surprised to see Lea was not always a bit player. I suspect arm trouble ended his career, because his ERA+ numbers jump out at me: 96, 76, 112, 115, 199, 12, 84. The 112 there is 1982, when he went 12-10 with a 3.24 ERA and 1.131 WHIP. Pretty good.

 

Upon further research, I find I am right about the arm trouble. According to BBRef’s Bullpen:

 

“…his record was 15-10 when he was shut down in early September with what was originally diagnosed as a muscle strain in his back. When he arrived in spring training in 1985, the team’s brass realized that the injury was in fact much more serious than originally thought. He would miss the entire 1985 and 1986 seasons because of this shoulder problem.”

 

What a sad case.
Rating: 7/10 – A portrait of the star pitcher as a young man, before the tragedy that would bring his career to a smashing halt. There’s a sort of poetry here, if a sad one.

 

Bill Lee

1982 Fleer #194
Category: Former Expo
Position: P
Bio/Summary: I was giddy to find this card in the team set. The Spaceman! How awesome! I mean, he was no Hall of Famer or anything, but he’s definitely a notable. 1982 was his final season, and he went 0-0 with a 4.38 ERA (83 ERA+) in 7 games that season. Crappy, but given that he was a 119 ERA+ pitcher the year before, I’m still going to give him credit for pitching well until the end of his career and knowing when to hang it up. Go Spaceman!
Rating: 3/10 – This is a pretty ugly card. The hair, the washed out background, all of it. It’s a bummer that this card didn’t come out better.