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BP Annual Player Comments

Year		Comment
2010		Loretta saw more playing time than any Dodger reserve this side of Juan Pierre, drawing starts at first and third mainly against lefties and serving as the team's most frequent pinch-hitter. In the latter role, he followed a 7-for-10 start with a 7-for-50 finish, but Torre kept calling his number. It all added up to less playing time than he was used to, and he set a career low in EqA by packing about as much punch as a Monty Burns uppercut. This may be the end of the line.
2009		Over the last four seasons, Loretta has been spectacularly consistent. Though the context changes the value of the numbers, in each season he's hit between .280 and .287, had an OBP between .345 and .360, and slugged between .347 and .363. The guy is really in a rut. Envisioned as the Astros' primary infield reserve, he wound up being limited to backing up Kaz Matsui's various injuries, as Cecil Cooper rode an idiosyncratic preference for Geoff Blum. A free agent, he signed a one-year deal to work around the infield for the Dodgers. Watch out for the inevitable moment when Joe Torre decides he's a more reliable first baseman than James Loney.
2008		Loretta will warrant a bench job as long as he raps out good contact rates and .280 batting averages. However, the steep decline in his range and loss of the power he had at his peak make him a substandard starting second baseman, and it's likely that he'll end up as an at least part-time starter for the Astros this year, because it's unlikely that Kaz Matsui will both stay healthy and play well all season long.
2007		Loretta unfortunately showed that his 2005 falloff wasn`t solely attributable to his thumb injury. Acquired in the Mirabelli deal, his move from pitcher-friendly PETCO to hitter-friendly Fenway should have pumped some air into his rate stats, but his OBP fell by 15 points, and his slight up-tick in SLG was all park, not performance (.308/.376/.411 at home, .261/.313/.309 on the road). He`s 35 and below average with both the glove and the bat, but versatile enough to go back to the utility role from whence he came.
2006		Loretta started slowly prior to tearing a ligament in his left thumb, and never got untracked upon his return. His decidedly nonstandard career arc should keep you from counting him out completely, but he`s an aged middle infielder; as a breed, they`re notorious for hitting the wall rather decisively. Traded to Boston for Doug Mirabelli, where he`ll start for the Red Sox and likely hit another wall, a big green one, and often.
2005		Toward the end of the season, Jonah Keri wrote an article for the BP website looking at Loretta's breakout in 2003 at age 32, followed by his borderline MVP-caliber season in '04 at age 33. What made his emergence doubly sweet for the Padres was the way they acquired him: The team wanted to sign a middle infielder after the 2002 season to play alongside Ramon Vazquez. The finalists were Loretta and Royce Clayton. Being a shortstop, and with Vazquez better suited for playing second, Clayton was the first choice. The Pads got lucky, and they now have the best second baseman in the league signed cheaply through 2006. Still, there's a lesson to be learned: Loretta's worst OBP in any season with over 350 plate appearances was .346. Clayton's best was .348—and that in hitter-happy Arlington. When in doubt, take the guy who gets on base.
2004		His season was a little bit better than ones he'd put up in the past, but in this one he was the best player on a bad team. For that, he got a two-year contract extension worth $5.25 million. Loretta is a good utility infielder and a mediocre regular, and he will be hard-pressed to stay above league average as a second baseman for the duration of this deal.
2003		Signed in late August to back up the backups over the final 30 games, Loretta hurt himself again and couldn’t finish the season. He would make a dandy utility infielder and emergency starter off the Houston bench, but with Jose Vizcaino under contract and laughably considered Loretta’s equal by the Astros’ brass, it’s not getting serious consideration. A free agent, Loretta signed a one-year deal with San Diego, where he’ll be their utility infielder.
2002		Loretta got hurt again, starting off with an injured thumb that cost him the first couple of months, and finishing with a broken leg that has people concerned going into 2002. With Houston and Hernandez coming off of good seasons, Loretta will be shoehorned into a roving infielder role, starting at second base, third base, and shortstop as needed. That’s not an ideal role for him; at third base, he’s too ready to let the ball play him, while giving you less offense than you’d want from the position. After he shows he’s healthy, he’ll be very valuable to a contender looking for a starter at second or short.
2001		Mark Loretta is one of the best pure contact hitters in the majors, so it was shocking to see him occasionally break character and turn on inside pitches last year. Look for him to post career highs in doubles and/or home runs this season.
2000		Shortstop and first base? Who does he think he is, Ernie Banks? Roy Smalley Jr.? Loretta's range is limited for everyday play at shortstop, but he's a good offensive player for a middle infielder. While this winter's rumor is that it's Jose Valentin who will be traded, thus finally settling the organization's choice between them, Loretta would fetch more because of his versatility. The organization should be scrabbling for whatever prospects they can get who play center field, shortstop or catcher.
1999		Northwestern’s best major leaguer, Loretta should be the Brewers’ everyday shortstop right now. That puts the Brewers in a difficult situation with Jose Valentin, but neither player is that young. The Brewers problem is similar to what it was in the mid-80s: a group of infielders who can outhit their outfield. It isn’t because their infielders are the Joe Morgan and Honus Wagner and Mike Schmidt, so we’ll call this the Curse of Charlie Moore. It isn’t a hard problem to fix, but the Brewers run the risk of blowing the best years of their core players because they need to make some choices, instead of farting around with everybody all at once.
1998		The ex-shortstop out of Northwestern has turned into a fine utilityman, starting ten or more games at all four infield positions. Given the limited number of options the Brewers had to fill the leadoff slot, you might have thought Loretta would have been a good answer, but he failed to impress Garner in his limited duty in the role.
1997		Not a bad utility guy to have. If he can hang on and be perceived as a major leaguer, perhaps find the occasional spotlight, he might be Mike Gallego or Dick Schofield with a bit more of a bat. Not a long-term solution in the infield, but certainly no worse a player than the Joey Coras of the world.
1996		A Northwestern graduate (leading to inevitable talk about being a "heady" player), Loretta has handled second, short, and third, and has shown the ability to hang in the box in important situations. Loretta was second in the American Association in RBI. He'll get first crack at the starting job at second base in spring training.

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