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BP Annual Player Comments

Year		Comment
2009		Kent’s least productive season since 1996 was marred by a torn medial meniscus in his knee that required surgery on September 2, costing him his starting spot in the playoffs despite a dogged rehab effort. He’s pondered retirement this winter, and if we’ve seen the last of him for now, the all-time home-run leader among second basemen should have his day at Cooperstown eventually. Kent's prickly personality and businesslike approach often made him an easy target, but his humorlessness should never have been confused with a lack of passion for playing.
2008		Even at 39, Kent remained a force to be reckoned with in 2007, finishing second among all second basemen in MLVr, and second among Dodger hitters in VORP. Unlike 2006 he avoided the DL, though a hamstring strain at the end of July cooled him off from an especially torrid streak (.447/.500/.737 that month). The only knock on his season was his exposure of the team's age-based clubhouse rift by criticizing the professionalism of some of the team's youngsters, which, in turn, raised the ugly memory of Kent's 2005 feud with Milton Bradley. No, he won't make your list of Historical Figures You'd Invite to Dinner, but his ticket to Cooperstown is increasingly validated with every passing season, and at $9 million he's a bargain if he can approach his 2007 production.
2007		The Milton Bradley incident aside, Kent was one of the few bright spots of the Dodgers` dismal 2005 season, but the injuries he avoided then found him last year. Beaned by Brad Hennessey on April 17, he sustained a concussion and struggled with blurred vision that sapped his productivity; he hit just .183/.310/.244 for the month. He was sidelined by a wrist strain in late May, and was dogged by a grade-two oblique strain that limited him to 25 at-bats in July. He returned to the lineup on August 7 and hit .327/.407/.515 the rest of the way. You can`t ask for much more than that from a 38-year-old second baseman, so it`s tough to begrudge Ned Colletti granting him an $11.5-million extension for 2007 with a $9-million club option for 2008 that vests with 550 plate appearances. Kent holds the all-time record for homers by a second baseman, and he`s now topped 100 WARP (103.9); by the end of this contract his Cooperstown credentials should be unassailable.
2006		On the field, the signing of Kent was one thing that went right for the Dodgers. He reversed the slight decline of his two Astros years, becoming the centerpiece of the offense and advancing his case for a spot in Cooperstown. His fielding, long underrated, fell off a bit, though it`s possible that had something to do with the turnover at the other infield positions. Off the field, Kent`s role in the Milton Bradley fiasco marred his otherwise stellar season, though it`s hard to know how seriously to take anything Bradley says. If, as ex-teammate Lance Berkman said, Kent `ignores Latinos, blacks and whites equally,` then the most he`s guilty of is self-absorption. Or perhaps he`s the embodiment of pure evil. The additions of Rafael Furcal and Nomar Garciaparra suggest that either Kent or Izturis is trade bait once the latter returns from injury.
2005		Kent can still hit any fastball, any time, anywhere, something Jason Isringhausen will not soon forget. His decline—mostly batting average and walk rate—has been masked a bit by the move from San Francisco to Houston, so his raw numbers could take a big hit as he moves to Chavez Ravine. He's long been better defensively than he gets credit for being. Is he a Hall of Famer? He can boast fantastic raw numbers thanks to his era, but his career value is on the low end for a Hall of Fame second baseman, and very low for a BBWAA pick. The next two years will be critical for him.
2004		Perhaps having learned from past mistakes, Gerry Hunsicker's largesse was limited to a two-year deal for Kent after the 2002 season. Good thing, as the former all-world second baseman started showing chinks in his armor last season. Kent missed several weeks with left wrist tendinitis, and his 130 games played was his lowest total since 1995. More troubling, Kent's home run total plunged, despite moving to a far more tater-friendly park. Most puzzling is the nosedive in his walks column, given that older players often walk more as they age. Kent's drop from 90 to 39 walks in three years is a troubling, perplexing trend. He'll make $8.5 million in '04, after which the Astros need to decline his option and either chuck him or bring him back at a reduced rate if they want to get value. Last year we gave Kent solid odds for making the Hall of Fame. If he leaves Minute Maid Park behind for a more neutral stadium after this season, the tail end of his career may start to look ugly quickly, and voters may hold that against him. Kent may want to consider Colorado as his next destination: we hear the schools are top-notch.
2003		BP’s Michael Wolverton wrote an article for ESPN.com in early September that stacked Kent’s 2002 against history’s great second base seasons, and found that Kent was on track to have one of the elite seasons ever at that position. Kent finished slow, so his season fell a little short of that lofty territory projected in the article, but it was a historically great season nevertheless. Using the metric used in that article, Kent’s 2002 was bettered by only nine second basemen in history (Hornsby many times; Morgan, Lajoie, and Gehringer twice each; and Biggio, Collins, Lazzeri, Robinson, and Kent himself once each). “Two of the top 20 second base seasons of all time” is a pretty good top bullet for a Hall of Fame resume. Gone to Houston, he’ll be teammates with a second baseman who has an even better Hall of Fame resume.
2002		His season looked like a disappointment because of the expectations set by his MVP campaign and a decline in his performance with men on base. Kent did poorly in at-bats preceded by intentional walks to Barry Bonds, aggravating the perception that he was having a bad year. In reality, he was the best second baseman in the league by a large margin. He’s never mentioned in Hall of Fame discussions, but he's had a better career than some HOF second basemen, and he's had Joe Gordon as his best age-based comp for four years now.
2001		Jeff Kent is a great ballplayer with no weaknesses to speak of in his game. He used to have subpar plate discipline, but that fault appears to have been addressed. Kent hits for average and power, plays defense, stays healthy, and gives the media what they want. He pushes a club towards a championship and is a deserving MVP.
2000		He is perhaps the best evidence in favor of Brian Sabean's competence. Kent is good for an injury per season, and his defense in 1999 was subpar due to his playing through foot and toe owies. But he's a second baseman who has put up consecutive .290 EqAs, and guys like that don't grow on trees. To most of the nation, he's underrated. In the Bay Area, they think he's better than Bonds. And they wonder why the rest of the country thinks they’re weird.
1999		I sat next to Kent's parents at a game a few years ago when he was a Met having a great start. Fans brought signs to the park reading "Jeff Kent Is God." I asked his parents what it was like having a son that people referred to as God. Mr. Kent just beamed proudly, but Mrs. Kent replied, "Well, when he comes home, he's just Jeff." Just Jeff was plenty good enough last year; Brian Sabean gets to gloat about this one. Even so, Just Jeff wasn't the team MVP.
1998		Kent played pretty well and set a club record for homers by a second baseman, but this led to an overestimation of his value. His average glove and poor OBP countered the power, leaving him as a better than average second baseman overall. He had a fine year, even if most people misunderstood it. Kent needs to be used properly, but is a quality player that can help almost any team.
1997		A fine little player who was misused by both the Indians and the Mets last year. He never has had the arm strength or instincts to handle third, but the Mets wanted to make their offense weaker by signing Jose Vizcaino to a ludicrous contract, so Kent had to be moved. It’s fairly straightforward: as a second baseman, Kent is one of the better ones in his league, despite his defensive shortcomings. As a corner infielder, he’s a light hitter and a defensive liability. If the Giants aren’t any stupider than they have to be to have made the Matt Williams trade in the first place, they’ll leave Kent at second. If Kent’s hitting higher than sixth, it’s another sign of an extremely weak lineup. Kent’s platoon splits have gone every direction imaginable over the last few years. He started his career with epic problems against left-handed pitchers, then crushed them and is now back to going homerless against them.
1996		Every year you hear about what a poor second baseman Kent is; how he can't turn the double play, has little range and makes too many errors. But after all these years he's still a second baseman. There's a good reason for that. Kent is one of the best hitters at his position in all of baseball, and there's no reason to think that will change anytime soon. His defensive liabilities are overrated; he's an average defensive player, and his bat is potent enough that he ranks behind only the big four (Alomar, Baerga, Biggio, and Knoblauch) among the second basemen in the game today.

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