The Phillies Nation Top 100: #11 Bobby Abreu
The Phillies Nation Top 100 continues today with #11. Our mission is to assess the Top 100 Phillies players of all time using impact to the Phillies, individual achievement, team achievement, traditional stats, and analytics as our criteria. The list was compiled by Ian Riccaboni and Pat Gallen with input from the rest of the Phillies Nation staff.
From this point forward, each weekday, we will reveal two Phillies from the PN Top 100 in separate posts. To view the players listed thus far, please click here. To view the 2008 iteration of the list of Greatest Phillies of All Time as compiled by Tim Malcolm, please click here.
Please check back tomorrow morning for #10.
Years: 1998-2006, Present
.303/.416/.513, 195 HR, 254 SB in 5885 PA
Previous Rank: 10 (-1)
fWAR Phillies Rank: 6th among position players, 9th among Phillies
Signature Moment: Hit 41 total home runs, including 24 first-round homers, to win the 2005 Home Run Derby
Back-to-Back All-Star Selections (2004-2005), Won Silver Slugger (2004), Won Gold Glove (2005)
For someone who ranks fourth in team history in doubles, 11th in home runs, ninth in runs scored, tenth in RBI, seventh in steals, third in BB%, 24th in batting average, ranks 9th in SLG, leads all Phillies with 1500 or more PA in OBP after 1910, and ranks second in OPS under the same criteria, Bobby Abreu gets very little respect from Phillie fans.
Acquired from the Devil Rays for Kevin Stocker in one of the greatest trades in Phillies history, Abreu won the starting right field job out of camp in 1998 and never looked back, hitting .312/.409/.497 in his first full season in the Majors. Arguably, Abreu’s best season with the Phillies came in 2004 when he hit 30 HR and stole 40 bags while hitting .301/.428/.544. Abreu led the league in doubles in 2002 and triples in 1999 and was top 10 in OBP in every year he was with the Phillies aside from 2001.
Abreu was traded with pitcher Cory Lidle on July 30, 2006 for what amounted to reliever Matt Smith and some prospects that did not pan out. Abreu’s time in Philly ended with no World Series rings, or even playoff runs, to show for it but he certainly made an impact on the Phillies all-time leader boards. Abreu’s stats hold up comparatively well as well for his time: from 1998 through 2006, Abreu led all Major League right fielders in fWAR , plate appearances, runs, steals, BB%, and ranked 11th in homers, sixth in RBI, 11th in BA, third in OBP, 11th in SLG, and eighth in OPS. Abreu’s consistent well-above-average play also puts him fifth among all Major Leaguers in WAR from 1998 through 2006.
Abreu has returned to the Phillies organization on a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training in 2014 one year removed from last playing in the Majors. Abreu’s Hall of Fame case is an interesting one, a man who did so many things right but never was a true standout in any one category. He resides 114th all-time in bWAR, 77th all-time in OBP, 80th in runs scored, 22nd in walks, 74th in steals, 51st in total times on base, and is 13th overall in Major League history in Baseball Reference’s Power/Speed numbers. Hopefully, Abreu has some of that power and/or speed left in the tank for 2014.
