If you don't have a sympathetic (or unsympathetic) Cubs fan to talk to every so often you might not realize just how poor a season Aramis Ramirez has been having. But at the Hardball Times he and Derrek Lee have made the 2010 Alvin Davis All-Star Team, named in honor of the Mariners' first baseman who didn't have an aging curve so much as an aging cliff.
↵↵↵From 2004-09, he was very consistent, posting an OPS+ of 126 to 138 every year, with a batting average somewhere around .300 (or higher) and displaying quality power.
↵This year . ... he's just sucked. His batting average is barely half of last year's mark, and his power is also far below his typical standards.
↵He's been on the DL for a while with a thumb injury, and for that reason arguably doesn't belong on this team. However, given how massively he's fallen this year, it's hard leaving him off. Is a hurt thumb really all it takes to have his OPS+ fall by almost 100 points from last year's mark? It's not like this is the first time he's been injured.
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It's worse than that—Ramirez's season is worse than Brendan Ryan's has been, and if he were qualified for the batting title it would be the worst season by OPS+ of any full-time player.
↵Lee's struggles seem more cyclical—he's coming off the second-best season of his career, and he's at least hitting like a bad first baseman, instead of a good pitcher.
↵This is what happens to a 33-44 team: bad luck, inexplicable aging, and two starting positions on the wrong all-star team.