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BP Annual Player Comments

Year		Comment
2015		One of the best spoonerisms on the team, Fone Chiggins (or, if you're a phonetic absolutist, Fawn Shiggins) actually provided value for the Dodgers in 2014. After he basically did not try in Seattle, the Dodgers took a flyer on the former six-win player, and Figgins rewarded them with more than half a win in 38 games before being designated for assignment on August 6th. It was a low-risk, low-reward move for the Dodgers, and they definitely got their money's worth out of what was probably Figgins' final go-'round in the majors.
2013		Figgins spent yet another full season on the Mariners’ active roster, but set a new low for playing time and started only nine games after July 1, and one in September. Just two players have a worse OPS over the past two seasons (minimum 300 PA), and his negative WARP per plate appearance has gotten worse each year in Seattle. He played some center field for the first time since 2006, which is the sort of thing that would help him land a job elsewhere if he had even one other marketable skill. The Mariners finally released Figgins in November.
2012		"I'm going to be great again," Figgins said in September. "The best part is I'm not worried about it." In other words, the "best part" of hitting .188 with no power and almost shockingly deteriorated baserunning is that Chone Figgins ain't bumming. The rest of the Seattle organization, though, is. Should they pay Figgins $17 million to play the next two seasons or pay Figgins $17 million to sit at home and scroll through the Netflix Instant offerings? The best argument for the former is that Figgins has been bad before, for stretches of hundreds of at bats, and bounced back to play at near-MVP levels. The best argument for the latter is that, the above statement aside, he has reportedly been testy with one manager and the media, and he is a boo magnet for Seattle's paying customers. His age makes a bounceback less likely than ever, and his tools—speed, defense, and power—are crumbling.
2011		The Mariners went 1-for-2 on their pre-season positional switcheroo, as Jose Lopez picked up where Adrian Beltre left off at third, but Figgins struggled at the keystone. Seattle’s game of musical infield positions seemed curious from the start, given the overwhelming evidence that the glorified utilityman does his best defensive work at the hot corner. After slightly more than 2,200 innings at second and over twice that total at third, Figgins now sports a –46.4 Fielding Runs Above Average at the former position and a 43.7 mark at the latter, so it would appear that the M’s committed the cardinal sin of messing with a good thing when they tried to transplant their new acquisition. On the surface, the ex-Angel’s performance at the plate looked like the more unexpected aspect of his season, but after adjusting for park, it becomes clear that his output was hardly unprecedented—since 2004, the diminutive switch-hitter has alternated productive and similarly unproductive years at the plate, as fluctuations in his BABIP have dictated his offensive value. With Jose Lopez gone, Figgins should get to return to the hot corner.
2010		Talk about a walk year: in the final season of his contract, Figgins burnished his credentials as an elite leadoff hitter by leading the AL in bases on balls and ranking second in both times on base and runs scored, third in steals, and fourth in pitches per plate appearance. It was no fluke; his walk rate has improved in six straight years, his P/PA in three straight, but his 2007-2008 injuries concealed those advances. His defense, which was good in 2008, was off-the-charts outstanding across the major systems; he led all third basemen in FRAA and Plus/Minus runs saved (+30) while placing third in UZR (+16.7). The only ding on his performance was a league-leading caught-stealing total, but even with -3.35 EqSBR, you can see that his overall baserunning was a plus. In all, his season priced him out of the suddenly cost-conscious Angels' range—perhaps not the worst thing in the world as he heads into his mid-30s—but his four-year, $36 million deal from the Mariners was nonetheless a reasonable one.
2009		Figgins had a lot of value as a super-sub who could play anywhere on the field, draw same walks, run like the wind, and smack enough doubles and triples to get his slugging percentage up around .400, but as an everyday third baseman who stopped hitting balls into the gaps, he's become something less than an asset. The Angels might try to fill their hole in left with Figgins, which really wouldn't be any better than playing him at the hot corner; they'd be best served by returning him to the super-utility role again.
2008		The broken fingers Figgins suffered in spring training cost him the season's first month and may have affected him in its second. Figgins was batting just .133/.212/.211 on May 29 and was benched both that day and the next against the Mariners. When he returned, he went 3-for-4 and never looked back, batting .381/.438/.489 the rest of the way. Overall, Figgins' 2006 and 2007 seasons average to his career norms; the balls that didn't fall in two years ago did so last year, and then some. Figgins played just three positions last year, and was the when-healthy regular at one-third base-for the first time in his career. Although the Angels' need for power will probably force Figgins back into a utility role this year with Wood taking over at third, Figgins will still play 140 games in that role.
2007		Much as we might wish it, he`s not the kinder, gentler Tony Phillips for a new generation, he`s just Figgy, pretty useful ballplayer. The drop-off last season wasn`t an injury, he just got off to a slow start and didn`t turn it around--he still walked as often, and had as much power, but he lost that proverbial extra gork per week that makes all the difference. He also hasn`t done anything against lefties in the last couple of years, which eats into his utility as an everyday leadoff man. Unlike most speedsters, he`s not some slap-hitter who can easily be overpowered with men on base. With Gary Matthews Jr. signed for way too much for way too long and Juan Rivera recovering from a broken leg, he`ll be going back to roving, splitting time between third, left, center, second, and wherever else Scioscia decides to plug him in on a day-to-day basis.
2006		Figgins isn`t the MVP candidate that John Kruk claims he is, but with his skill on the bases and ability to man every position at the Big A from centerfield to ticket taker, he is quite valuable. Scioscia can slot him anywhere there is an injury and avoid putting a replacement-level player at that position. The Angels can depend on decent, but not great, defensive play, an above-average on-base percentage, and excellent speed. No other team in the division, maybe even the league, carries a player with that kind of versatility. Consider the Rangers, who played Mark DeRosa in right field at times, the Mariners, with their half-season of Bloomquisting themselves into the dirt, or the A`s, who had to give up Moneyball for Scutaro-ball. Figgins protects the Angels from having to use those kinds of players. That`s something, even if his bat lacks pop.
2005		The Gil McDougald of the Angels, and Scioscia's number one claim to managerial brilliance. For those not hip to Gil, McDougald played for the Yankees from 1951 to 1960. It was Casey Stengel's great insight that McDougald had the defensive chops to play second, short, or third and be a Gold Glove-quality defender at all three positions while still providing above-average pop for an infielder. Stengel could then realign his defense from year to year and day to day without sacrifice. Ironically, when he was traded to the Angels in the 1960, McDougald retired rather than go west. With Figgins, Anaheim finally gets to see what it missed, though Figgins' value is more in his batting average, speed, and versatility than in any defensive excellence. In addition to third and center, he also appeared in left, right, second and short. At the plate, he broke the franchise record for triples by a wide margin, which boosted his slugging percentage to .419—Figgins' power is his speed, and for now that's his whole game. Like most Angels, Figgins doesn't walk much. If he learns, he could be the new Tony Phillips, a player among Figgins' list of PECOTA comps and a hugely valuable player in his prime.
2004		Figgins's slugging average is a bit inflated, because he hits a lot of triples that have more to do with his speed than his power. It doesn't distort evaluations of his value, however; that same speed means that his OBP is more valuable than that of a player with average speed, because Figgins is more likely to take extra bases on other peoples' hits. The two factors more or less cancel out for players of this type. Figgins will get plenty of playing time for the 2004 Angels, with a shot at the everyday job in center. Defensively, he's an infielder though, and why the Angels would move a great center fielder like Erstad to first base so they can put a converted shortstop in center field ... the mind boggles.
2003		Figgins is an incredibly speedy second baseman who basically served as a ballistic missile for the Angels during the second half of the 2002 season. Tim Salmon clogging the bases as the tying run in the 8th? No problem. Send Chone in. Figgins does have some skills beyond blazing speed, though. His defense is coming together nicely, he’s shown a decent batting eye, and it’s eye-popping to watch him take off when he slashes a ball into the gap. There’s not really much of an opportunity for him in Anaheim right now, but under the right circumstances and with a little development, he could bring enough to the table to be a productive regular. That means 15 more hits and 10 more walks a year.
2001		Definitely a scouty sort of player, Chone Figgins might have a nifty name, but he’s a ham-handed infielder. How many guys move off of shortstop and do even worse at second base? Not many, though Wil Cordero and Shawon Dunston come to mind. Figgins doesn’t throw as hard as either of them and still committed 38 errors. Although he made progress as a hitter, he was repeating a level, so wait and see what he does at Double-A before getting excited.
2000		He’s here for one of two reasons: because the Rockies’ farm system is not as well-stocked as Chris Kahrl’s refrigerator, or because he’s got the coolest name in baseball since Razor Shines hung ’em up. You be the judge.

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