JERRY HAIRSTON

In a relative sense, Jerry Hairston was one of the Orioles' best position players in 2002.  No, I haven't lost my mind.  Yes, I'm referring to that Jerry Hairston.

First things first.  Hairston did improve substantially from 2001 to 2002.  That's not necessarily saying much, however, because Hairston was really lousy in 2001:  OPS of .686; OWP of .361; 3.47 runs created per 27 outs.  In 2002, however, all of those poor numbers got significantly better (.705, .471, 4.51 respectively).

Now, you're probably saying that those 2002 stats don't look all that wonderful...and you're right.  But the American League pool of second basemen was notoriously weak this past season.  Hairston's OWP ranked him sixth among AL second baseman with at least 400 plate appearances last year.  That's right; Jerry Hairston was in the top half of the league at his position, offensively.

Hairston's season started out looking an awful lot like 2001 (that is to say, bad).  May was solid, but April and June were awful and the Orioles recalled Brian Roberts, in a move that looked suspiciously like 2001.  But Roberts bombed, in a major way, and it was back to Hairston who responded immediately, and had a generally strong second half of the season, though he faded somewhat in September.  Still, after a wretched .234/.292/.309 first half, Jerry was a solid, if unspectacular, .291/.355/.422 after the break.  That .777 second half OPS...had Hairston managed to manage that mark over an entire season, would have ranked fifth in the AL among second basemen.

Defensively, of big league second basemen with at least 100 games at the position in 2002, Hairston ranked right in the middle (10th of 20) in fielding position and second in range factor.  Both stats are of somewhat dubious and unquestionably limited value, but in terms of traditional defensive measures, Hairston was in the upper half of starting big league second sackers.  Sabermetrically speaking, sorta, Hairston recorded a zone rating of .844, fourth among the 20 qualifying major league second baseman.  Hairston may have made the occasional poor throw, but by most measures he was well in the upper half of big league second basemen, defensively.

Jerry Hairston isn't going to make anyone forget Bobby Grich, but--given the level of play at the position these days and given his stepped up performance in 2002--Hairston may have established himself as a legitimate starting caliber position player.  If he is able to reprise (or--gulp--exceed) last year's level of play, offensively and defensively, he will in fact have solidified that status.

Hairston may not be a "plus" player at his position, but at this point he's arguably not a hole either, and on the Orioles, that's really saying something.

TO SUCCESSFULLY CONTRIBUTE NEXT SEASON HE MUST:

1) prove that last year's play wasn't a fluke; if he can actually step it up another notch, he'll actually be an asset to the team, something which the Orioles sorely lack

2) leave the occasional Sax/Knoblauch like throws in the rearview mirror

3) get on base more; he could solve two problems (second base is one) at the same time if he could actually reach base enough to justify hitting him anywhere near the top of the order, something that definitely has not been established to date

Notes: was actually more effective vs. RHP than LHP--not in terms of batting average, but in terms of OBP (.290 vs. .343) and SLG (.347/.386)...hit .302/.360/.397 in #9 spot in batting order; .216/.279/.296 when leading off.

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