White Sox Sign Erstad
January 30, 2007 by Geoff Young
Filed under Hot Stove
The Chicago White Sox have signed outfielder/first baseman Darin Erstad to a 1-year, $1 million deal with a club option for 2008. Erstad has spent his entire career with the Angels, for whom he played in just 40 games last season due to injury.
It’s hard to imagine labeling a guy with 1500+ career hits a disappointment, but Erstad fits the bill. He was the first pick overall in the 1995 draft. A year later he was the starting center fielder in Anaheim. After two solid seasons, Erstad slumped in 1999, but he was only 25 years old. The following year, he posted a monstrous .355/.409/.541 line and received some American League MVP consideration.
From there, however, it’s been all downhill for Erstad. Instead of building on his success at a time when he should have been entering his physical prime, he has spent the past six years battling ineffectiveness and injuries, hitting just .272/.324/.373 in nearly 3000 plate appearances.
Erstad is this generation’s Gregg Jefferies. It’s hard to be optimistic, but here’s hoping he can salvage his career in Chicago.
In talking to my friend who used to go to Lake Elsinore when it was still affiliated with the Angels, I could get plenty of stories of how good he was going to be in the big league.
The last 4+ years, I don’t even ask. He was so disappointed in how quickly Erstad turned bad in such a young age. He blames it on Erstad’s football style of playing baseball.