ESPN.com: MLB - MLB's 10 most underrated players

Ever go to the supermarket and have the opportunity to buy Tastee-O's in a bag for less money than your usual Cheerios in a box? So is it with these 10 players, the "generic brands" of baseball, the Tastee-O's to baseball's Cheerios, your Ken Griffey Jr.'s, your Johnny Damons, the players who have commanded big money on the open market.

Your local market will swear the no-frills brand is just as good, and you know what? They are just as good. Still, it seems they will forever remain underrated, under-appreciated. Meet baseball's version of Tastee-O's , the 10 best no-frills guys in the business.

1. Brian Giles, Pittsburgh Pirates
Maybe Giles didn't get the press he deserved in 2001 because he had such an off year. Indeed, his OPS slipped under 1.000 for the first time in the last three years. Sure, his .994 OPS was 14th-best in baseball, better than that of Jeff Bagwell, Mike Piazza, Bret Boone, Vladimir Guerrero, but still ...

Face it, this guy is so underrated it's painful. Check out his on-base percentage and slugging percentage the last three years as compared to Ken Griffey Jr.:

             OBP                SLG
Giles:   .418/.432/.404   .614/.594/.590
Griffey: .384/.387/.365   .576/.556/.533

Who would you rather have on your team? And it's not just because Junior's been ailing; understand that in the first of those years, in which Giles outclassed Griffey, Junior hit 48 home runs for the Mariners. He also hit 40 in the second year. Giles deserves much more respect than he gets.

2. Trot Nixon, Boston Red Sox
After two seasons in which he flashed potential, some people thought Nixon might be capable of big things. In 2001, he delivered big things (.280-27-88, great defense) yet somehow Nixon never got the national press. His .376 OBP shows him to have a patient eye, and his mix of surprising power and speed is reminiscent of a universally revered outfielder who plays for a northeast team:

                  SLG      OBP     OPS   
Trot Nixon       .505     .376    .881    
Bernie Williams  .522     .395    .917

Keep in mind that Williams didn't start to approach these numbers until his sixth season in the league. Nixon accomplished this in his fifth year.

3. John Olerud, Seattle Mariners
There's something to be said for players who know how to win. Is it entirely about Olerud that he's been on winning teams in 10 of his 13 seasons in the majors? No, but notice that in his first season with each team he's played on, that team has had a noticeable improvement from the previous year:

               W-L w/o   W-L with
1988-89 TOR    87-75       89-73
1996-97 NYM    71-91       88-74
1999-00 SEA    79-83       91-71

No, it's not all him, but each time a team has added Olerud to their lineup, they've improved. Coincidence? We think not. He's one of 24 active players with a .300 career BA; his .404 career OBP is ninth highest among active players. He's a gamer.

4. Ryan Klesko, San Diego Padres
When Klesko was in Atlanta, he may have made the overrated list, but since moving to the Padres, he's been a forgotten man, just as his production has increased. Klesko's been around; he's played 10 years, but only twice has he had 500 at-bats, which probably has made people think of his as a platoon player. The two times he's had at least 500 AB, though, he's produced. Last year, he hit 30 homers and drove in 113 RBI while batting .286. In '96, he hit .282 with 30 homers and 93 RBI. The basic lesson: Give this guy a chance to play every day, and he's among the better sluggers in the league. His career slugging percentage is .526, 19th best among active players; his .895 OPS is 22nd.

5. Jose Cruz Jr., Toronto Blue Jays
There have been just four 30-30 players in the last two seasons. Three are from the NL (Vladimir Guerrero and Bobby Abreu in '01, Preston Wilson in '00) and only one AL player ... that's right, the son of Jose Cruz. Often thought of as a young player who hasn't learned to hit for average, Cruz hit a respectable .274 with increased power, slammed more than 30 homers for the second straight year, and got little press for his improvements. Strikes out too much (138 times) but so do Sammy Sosa, Manny Ramirez, and Jeff Bagwell, to name a few. He's also an outstanding fielder. If he were in New York, he'd be All World.

6. Jon Lieber, Chicago Cubs
What does this guy have to do to be moved to the list of elite major-league pitchers? Apparently, winning 20 games isn't enough, because his name is not synonymous with the Tom Glavines of the world. Perhaps it should be. In his career, Lieber has walked fewer than two batters per nine innings, one of just six active players with at least 1000 IP who can say that. In short, Lieber is Andy Pettitte, just not on a World Series Champion team:

            W/GS   ERA    K/9   BB/9     H/9
Pettitte   0.52    3.99   6.2    3.1     9.5
Lieber     0.39    4.23   6.8    2.0     9.5

If Lieber had the support of a winning team behind him rather than five years with the Pirates and three with the Cubs, he probably surpasses Pettitte in production based on these numbers.

7. Matt Lawton, Cleveland Indians
When Lawton was included in the (admittedly bad) trade for Roberto Alomar, few mentioned what the Indians got in the speedy outfielder. In contrast, when Johnny Damon went on the free-agent market this year, it was near hysteria as suitors lineup up to get a glimpse of him. Here's the secret, folks: Matt Lawton is Johnny Damon. Both are coming off poor seasons, and otherwise both have done very similar things in their careers. Had Damon not had that one incredible half season in 2000, no one would be able to tell these two apart:

Career stats    BA    OBP     SLG     OPS     AB/HR   AB/SB
Lawton          .275  .378    .424    .802     38.0      26.9 
Damon           .286  .346    .425    .771     50.0      20.2

Given the above numbers, actually Lawton looks like the slightly better player -- better OBP, slightly better power. The one thing Damon may have in his favor is his fielding. He's been outstanding in center field, while Lawton has been merely great in right.

8. Frank Catalanotto, Texas Rangers
When was the last time a player hit .330 and nobody knew who he was? Anyone who isn't a big baseball fan, (and some who are) might not even be able to tell you where Catalanotto played last year, yet he made a serious run at the AL batting title. The interesting thing is that he didn't actually come out of nowhere. In four seasons, three in Detroit and one in Texas, the young outfielder had shown he could hit for average (never lower than .275) as well as power (27 homers in under 800 AB), but it was still a shocker when he stepped in for Rusty Greer and tore things up in the second half.

9. Orlando Cabrera, Montreal Expos
Name the four top run-producing shortstops in baseball last year: A-Rod, of course, Miguel Tejada, yes, a career year for Rich Aurilia saw him drive in 97 runs, and ... you guessed it, not Derek Jeter or Nomar. Gold Glove-winning shortstop Orlando Cabrera of the Expos drove in a mind-boggling 96 runs in 2001. We say mind-boggling because unless you're a real roto geek or live in Montreal, chances are you think Cabrera is another good-field, no-hit shortstop. Yes to the first part, not at all to the second. Cabrera found himself in the cleanup spot for the Expos at times at the end of the year, and provided more-than-adequate protection for Vladimir Guerrero. He was also one of just seven players to play in every game last year.

10. Garret Anderson, Anaheim Angels
Nobody talks about Anderson, and it's a mystery as to why. He may be the most consistent performer in all of baseball, and no one seems to care. Who has more hits than Anderson since the start of 1997? Derek Jeter, and that's it. To wit: In the last six years, Anderson has had at least 600 at-bats, 70 RBI, and a .280 average each year. Who else has done this? Nobody. So what, you say? It's not that impressive to drive in 70 runs each year. But the fact is, consistency and going out and playing each day does count. Contrarians might say his OPS (.792 -- 83rd in the majors in 2001) show him as a player who doesn't produce at the elite level. In reality, all that tells us is that he doesn't take a lot of pitches. Still, we'd venture a guess that most teams would like to have him in their lineup.

Bill Konigsberg is an assistant editor at ESPN.com.

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