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BP Annual Player Comments

Year		Comment
2004		As you read this, Mo Vaughn is bicycling up a hill in the Adirondacks, the steel bike frame bending his bulk, looking for a reclusive hermit doctor he's heard rumors of who, if the good doctor's still jacked on quality hooch from the night before, might be willing to clear Vaughn to play again. Or he's working a dogsled team of valiant malamutes to the limits of their endurance across the frozen tundra of Alaska, on the hunt for an Eskimo woman who may be able to help his knee through the administration of a cream made from walrus ... parts. Mo doesn't want to have surgery on his knee, instead wishing to do some rehab work and play next year hobbled. The Mets would prefer he do anything that allows them to collect insurance money. At press time, the two were heading for a Dykstra-like collision, where Vaughn goes into spring training insisting he can play and the team, for performance and collecting-the-insurance purposes, insisting that he can't.
2003		Presumably after shaking off the cobwebs of a lost year, Vaughn did hit .270/.360/.520 after the All-Star break, with 16 home runs. You might interpret that as a reason to think Vaughn’s going to be a big asset in 2003, but the future is rarely kind to gravity’s larger targets. George Scott, Boog Powell, and Cecil Fielder were all big boppers, and they all flamed out by the time they turned 35, and they all shared a famous capacity to indulge various appetites. Captain Obvious alert: It has apparently just come to the attention of the right honorable Fred Wilpon that Mo Vaughn is undertall, and he’s not happy about it. Where was the interdepartmental memo on this?
2002		A ruptured left biceps led to Vaughn missing all of 2001. Taking his age, weight, and general conditioning into account, the safe bet is to expect nothing more than the mediocre play he's given the Angels so far. Compared to the bodies they were dragging out there in 2001, of course, he'll be a tremendous help.
2001		He's entering the third year of his six-year, $80-million contract, good money for a 268-pound, below-average first baseman who won't reach a .300 EqA again. Mo Vaughn's walks came back and his strikeouts kept increasing. The decline will continue; if his health goes, it will accelerate rapidly. He's already grumbling about how he wants to be traded back to the East Coast, where all his favorite strip clubs and lenient jurors are. The Angels can't replace him, so he won't be leaving.
2000		The ankle he sprained in April made it difficult for him to generate power or play the field. He wasn’t really healthy until the Angels’ season was long over, finishing the year on a hot streak. The power will be back; of greater concern is his walk rate, which slipped precipitously in 1998 and didn’t recover in 1999. Vaughn is being paid as one of the best hitters in baseball, a .320 EqA guy, which is a level I don’t expect him to reach again.
1999		The short list of the best hitters the Red Sox have had since Ted Williams retired: Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Rice, Wade Boggs, and Mo Vaughn. No sign of a decline here -- his 1995 campaign was actually his lowest EqA of the past four years. He’s leaving when he's clearly still at the top of his game. Contrast this with Clemens, who at least appeared to be in the early stages of decline in 1995-96 before roaring back. I don't envy Dan Duquette in the upcoming year...
1998		Public criticism of him started to mount this season, as Vaughn lost time to a knee injury possibly caused by his excess bulk. What no one noticed is that he had a slightly better season than he had in ’96, given the overall drop in offensive levels. Of course, he still can’t field, his weight is a cause for concern and he is certainly not worth the three-year, $30 million-plus deal he wants. He’s a free agent after ’98, so the Sox will trade him before then if they can’t sign him.
1997		Mo can hit a little, and is now almost as good against lefties as righties. His defense has improved as well. None of this makes him an MVP, or even a candidate, but he’s a good first baseman and will be one for a while.
1996		The man who won the league MVP award, but one could make a good case that two of his teammates (Valentin and Wakefield) were even more valuable. He's been consistent, turning in nearly-identical seasons for the last three years with a slight upward trend. There's no reason to believe he won't do just as well next season, or indeed for several more.

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