Fact:  Tony Batista's not a particularly good offensive player and what's more, he never has been.  That may seem hard to believe given that he hit 41 home runs just a couple of seasons ago with the Blue Jays.  (Can you say hitter's park?  Can you say crazy offensive era?  I thought you could.)

Batista's career Offensive Winning Percentage is .454.  The composite average of players at Batista's position over the years--shortstop where appropriate, third base where appropriate--is .462.  Remember that year with the 41 home runs?  Batista's OWP that season was .465.  His best OWP single season mark was .531 in 1999.  

I think we can dispense with the pretext that Tony Batista is, ever has been, or ever will be, an especially good offensive player.  He's more or less an average offensive player for his position (he was slightly above the AL average for third baseman in 2002).  But it's pretty difficult to get excited about a player who can't surpass the OWP .500 mark.

Batista's offensive downfall is a function of his inability to get on base consistently.  His above average power makes up for some of this problem but there's simply no getting around an OBP only slightly above .300.  (Batista's career mark is .308.)  

In 2002, Batista really had two seasons.  The first half, before the All-Star break, showed Tony checking in at an above average .269/.340/.522.  But in the second half of the year, he fell apart completely:  .217/.276/.388.  

Defensively, Batista's either very good or pathetic, depending on which generally inadequate sabermetric measure you believe.  He appears pretty unorthodox in the field mainly because of a goofy looking sidearmish throwing motion.  Batista's fielding percentage (.962) was roughly at the league average for starting third basemen in 2002, for what that's worth.

It's pretty clear that Tony Batista isn't the kind of player one builds a team around.  While his profile is one of a player who will, at some point, probably plummet suddenly off the radar screen, as long as he retains his power and doesn't collapse completely as he did in the second half of last season, he's probably good enough to fill a spot on a team with plus offensive performers elsewhere on the field.  In any event, the Orioles currently have no one pushing Batista for playing time at third, and given that he can actually do something positive with the bat on a roster filled with players virtually devoid of any offensive skill at all, he will likely not only remain in the starting lineup, but will appear somewhere in the middle of the batting order. 

1. Play a whole season at or near the level displayed in last season's first half.
2. Cut down on the streakiness; at times last season he was virtually an automatic out for games at at time.
3. Become something other than virtually worthless after falling behind the count.

NOTES: Had a significant reverse power platoon in 2002; vs. LHP:  .234/.295/.354 in 145 ABs; vs. RHP: .247/.314/.492...that's a function of three home runs versus lefties and 28 against right-handers...in the final 14 games of the season went 5-for-53 with one extra base hit...the first pitch meant everything to Batista, a notorious first ball/fastball hitter:  on first pitches put into play he hit .378 and slugged .778 (4 HRs) in 45 ABs; after getting ahead in the count 1-0 was a more than solid .279/.353/.550 in 262 ABs; but after falling behind 0-1?  Try .195/.242/.331 in 308 ABs on for size.

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