9 Most Overrated MLB Players of the Decade

As the decade comes to a close, now is a good time to take a look back at the most dominant, awe-inspiring, legendary performers baseball has provided us with. It's an equally good time, however, to look at players that were always considered elite, or close to it, but don't have the statistical numbers to back it up.

9. Brewers CF Lorenzo Cain

Cain's value as a hitter is much overhyped / Stacy Revere/Getty Images

A former Royal who gets just a little bit too much publicity, Cain is a solid-hitting outfielder and above-average defender who is certainly a starting MLB center fielder, but shouldn't even be considered when it comes to the "elite" category some try to put him in. Cain hit .307 with 16 home runs and 72 RBI in 2015, which represents his best offensive season by a mile. Soon to be 34 and owed $51 million by Milwaukee over the next three years, some around the Brewers aren't top happy with Cain's contract.

8. Rangers 2B Rougned Odor

Sabermetrics hate Rougned Odor / Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Odor has 30 home runs in three of the last four seasons, and is always mentioned whenever the best offensive middle infielders in the game are discussed. However, Odor has hit under .210 in two of the last three years, and his horrid plate discipline led to him garnering an OPS+ of 79 last season, which is barely better than Yolmer Sanchez, along with a terrible -0.3 WAR. Power makes up for a lot of flaws with him.

7. Cubs LF Kyle Schwarber

Schwarber has power, but what else does he bring? / Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images

Furthering my earlier point, here's Kyle Schwarber. With 38 home runs last year and a World Series ring under his belt, Schwarber is beloved by the Wrigley faithful that willfully neglect his horrible defense. With just 4.9 WAR in his career and a -3.2 dWAR in that stretch, Schwarber is a liability in the outfield who has cost the Cubs games with his glove. But hey, at least he's a solid hitter! What's that? He's a .235 hitter in his career? Oh.

6. Cubs OF Jason Heyward

Heyward hasn't hit since he was a Cardinal / Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images

Heyward is a former No. 1 prospect who was promoted to the Atlanta Braves almost in unanimity, alongside first baseman Freddie Freeman. The Braves eventually had to choose one of them, and they chose right with Freeman. Heyward has put together exactly one good offensive season since Atlanta let him go, and hasn't posted an OPS+ over 100 since he signed his eight-year deal with the Cubs. Gold Gloves be damned, the Cubs are paying a clearly below-average hitter $21 million for the next four seasons.

5. Mets SP Rick Porcello

Porcello remains consistently inconsistent / Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Porcello might have a Cy Young to his name, but that magical season in which he was given hardware he frankly did not deserve was one of only three in his 11-year career with the Tigers and Red Sox in which he had an ERA under 4.00. In fact, Porcello has an ERA of 4.50 or higher in six of his 11 seasons, which shows that he has more below-average seasons on the mound than he does excellent ones. Hope the Mets and their fans like six innings of five-run ball week in and week out.

4. Mets SP Noah Syndergaard

He's got the nickname and gaudy fastball, but where are the dominant stats / Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

He's got the nickname, the personality, and the stuff to be an elite MLB pitcher. So why hasn't Noah Syndergaard taken the next step? Thor and his 100 MPH fastball were only good for a 4.28 ERA last year. While that was the worst season of his career, as his career ERA is 3.31, Syndergaard is on here because of how disappointing he has been in recent years. Hopefully he figures out how to hold a runner on and command his fastball, because his 2019 season was brutal by his standards.

3. Free Agent SP Bartolo Colon

He's fat and he's funny, but is he that good? / Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Yes, it's great to watch an obese 44-year-old that throws only one pitch, an 88 mile per hour fastball, somehow manage to get big league hitters out. However, the love affair for Colon has masked the true nature of his stats. After joining the Mets in 2014, Colon had just one season with an ERA under 4.00, and had a 6.13 ERA in 52 starts in 2017 and 2018 combined. Colon was amazing in his prime, but that ship left the port a LONG time ago.

2. Padres 1B Eric Hosmer

Hosmer has struggled at the plate of late / Denis Poroy/Getty Images

Hosmer was given an outrageous contract by the San Diego Padres when he was clearly on the downswing, and he repaid them put posting a WAR of -0.3 last year. Hosmer's counting numbers aren't awful (.259 average, 20 home runs, 84 RBI on average in two seasons with San Diego), but his declining defense and consistency have doomed him. Hosmer is just about running out of the good will he engendered when he helped lead the Kansas City Royals to a World Series title in 2015.

1. Cardinals C Yadier Molina

He is. Just accept it / Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Sorry, Cardinals fans. Time to face the music. Being a member, albeit an important one, of a great team here and there does not a Hall of Famer make. Molina might keep winning Gold Gloves based on his reputation as an elite defensive catcher, but his skills are waning ever so slightly in that area. Molina has had one season with a batting average of .300 or better since 2013, and his OPS+ for his career stands at 98, implying he is an average or below average hitter. Molina has had an amazing career, but not AS amazing as Cardinal diehards will try to convince you.