SB Nation - Guillermo Quiroz

A Guide To Some Relevant Minor League Free Agents

Sam Page — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:00:27 -0000

In 2009, the Mets were bereft of minor league depth. It was painfully obvious looking at Buffalo's performance and it became a major issue when injuries struck. Despite what some claim, however, developing prospects is not the only way to build good farm systems. Often those fringe players that never quite breakthrough to the show are the most integral parts of a successful minor league team. So going off this list, here's some MiFA of interest:

RHP Phil Humber: I actually think Humber is a pretty bad pitcher, but need to mention him before everyone gets nostalgic. Humber was, of course, the former Mets top prospect out of Rice that was supposed to join Mike Pelfrey at the top of the Mets rotation eventually--that was, before he had Tommy John Surgery. Somehow included in the Johan Santana deal, Humber pitched really poorly for the Twins in AAA. The only real reason to bring him back would be a show of goodwill and sympathy from the Mets. Don't hold out hope for that lost potential.

IF/OF Wilson Betemit: The top-prospect-turned-super-sub Betemit probably has his best days behind him, even at age 28. He comes from the Mark DeRosa mold in that he has experience at virtually every position, but is good at none of them. And while he hasn't hit very well of late, his interesting blend of power and plate discipline and major-league track record could make him worth a flier at AAA. Personally, I might opt for better infield defense behind the Mets young developing pitchers, but few others on that list can claim being an average major league hitter over their career.

RHP Bryan Bullington: One of many infamous first round busts in the Pirate's recent draft history, this first-overall pick has some upside as a reliever. In 38 relief innings for Las Vegas last season, Bullington had a 43:7 K:BB ratio in 38.1 innings pitched. He also can be as a serviceable AAA starter, but any chance of him making the bigs is as a part of the bullpen. A good guy to have around.

LHP Brian Burres: A long-time Baltimore farm hand, Burres has the stuff to be a mid-rotation AAA guy and a #7 or 8 on an organizational depth chart. Sub-par control and a horrible 2008 with the Orioles will likely prevent him from ever earning another extended stay in the majors.

RHP R.A. Dickey:

Pros:

Went to my high school
throws the knuckleball
the only article I ever wrote for my high school newspaper was about him

Cons:

not as good as Tim Wakefield

Dickey is the rare pitcher who is seemingly improving with age. He started using the knuckleball full-time in 2007, a season in which he was the Pacific Coast League MVP. Last year he had modest success as a reliever with the Twins. Knuckleball pitchers are great because they can pitch a million innings without getting tired and because they throw the knuckleball.

3B/OF Joe Dillon: At age 33, Joe's showing some signs of decline, but with the way he's been jerked around between the majors and minors recently, I wonder whether it's genuine slowing down or just not getting settled in one place. He is one of those AAAA sluggers that makes minor league baseball fun to watch--three times in his minor league career he's had a 1000+ OPS. He's a pretty decent fielding thirdbaseman to boot. This year he was the "last man" on the Rays bench, and he could easily reprise that role with the Mets, or be big boost to the Bisons.

RHP Geoff Geary: Geary is a control-specialist reliever who has had some major league PT recently with the Astros and Phillies. He's not someone I want in the Mets bullpen, but Buffalo could use him.

OF Mitch Jones: .354, .320. Those two numbers are Mitch Jones' Isolated Power in the past two seasons. Sure, he played in a friendly home ballpark in Albuquerque, but a .651 SLG% travels. You could make an argument that Jones is better suited for a starting job on the Mets than Daniel Murphy or Jeff Francoeur.

LHP Royce Ring: Ya'll know Royce. Lefty with the funky motion. I'd take him back on a minor league deal, considering the state of the Mets' bullpen.

LHP Jon Switzer: He pitched pretty well for Buffalo out of the bullpen this year (3.85 tRA). He would be a solid re-sign.

1B Chris Shelton: Like a right-handed Chris Carter, Chris Shelton is another AAAA slugger the Bison's stagnant offense could certainly use. Last year with Tacoma, he OPSed .905 at age 29. With Chris Carter already here, however, he may be "blocked." And as you've probably suspected, I'd gladly platoon him with Murphy, Carter, or Ike Davis, if given the chance.

LHP R.J. Swindle: Of all the pitchers I've talked about so far, Swindle is easily the most desirable. He'll be just 26 next season and has fantastic minor league peripherals 9.0 K/9, 1.8 BB/9. He's got forgettable stuff: a low 80s fastball and curveball that is basically an eephus, but he's always put up great numbers and killed lefties. Chad Bradford II?

RHP Joe Nelson: The Rays signed Joe for $1MM after a fantastic '08 with the Marlins. He proved a bad investment with horrible command, but might be served well by a return to the NL East. The Mets were reportedly interested in him as a Major League piece last year, and at the very least would be a great AAA option.

C Guillermo Quiroz: A former top-50 prospect, Quiroz has evolved into a minor league catcher with a sterling defensive reputation, good pop, and poor on-base skills. Basically, he's Omir Santos. I am not even sure Omir Santos is even better than him. In fact, Omir Santos was the Orioles' AAA catcher when Quiroz was their Major League backup. That says more about how poor and ill-equipped for a starting gig Santos is, than how good Quiroz is. But if you're going to entrust Omir Santos with a roster spot, might as well keep his clone as a backup in AAA.

Polar Mariners stand in the way of Rockies' season best streak

Poseidon's Fist — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:52:19 -0000

More photos » by Ann Heisenfelt - AP

Don Wakamatsu has managed the Mariners to a significant number of close wins in 2009.

Browse more photos »

Sorry, I'm not a lit or philosophy guy. I'm a different kind of geek. Regarding momentum:

A body in motion stays in motion, unless it is acted on by an external force.

After sweeping consecutive NL Central leaders on the road, the Rockies have to hope that the switch to Coors Field and interleague play is too weak of a force to slow their blinding momentum and league best eight game winning streak. Perhaps it will even be an extra boost to a team that has played more road games than any MLB club.

In the Rockies' first home interleague series, Colorado draws the Seattle Mariners. After acquiring Erik Bedard before last season, Seattle stumbled out to the second-worst MLB record in 2008, which enabled them to draft Dustin Ackley this week. They have bounced back this year and are currently tied for second place in the open AL West.

Don Wakamatsu's club raced out to a 7-2 record, then coasted to a 13-9 April record. May was on the flip side, thanks to a 1-9 stretch and an 11-18 record overall. Seattle has rebounded to a 6-3 record in June and is on a two game win streak.

Some interesting team stats: Seattle is a respectable 14-16 on the road. Those 14 road wins represent the second most of any team without a winning record. We are first, with 17 after winning eight in nine days. Also, the Mariners have been involved in 27 one-run games. No other MLB club has been in more than 21. They have used it to their advantage, winning 15 of the 27, meaning exactly half of their wins have come by just one run. Perhaps it isn't surprising, then to know that they have been outscored by 21 this year.

The Rockies are 10-13 against Seattle in interleague play history - 4-4 at home, 6-9 on the road. We have won only two series against the Mariners in club history, one in 1997, and one coming the last time the two teams faced: June 30-July 2, 2006. That series will always be remembered by Josh Fogg's career performance, as he threw a CG SO while facing only 27 men.

Also, this series offers an additional excuse to check out Lookout Landing, perhaps the best MLB SBNation team blog from a statistics point-of-view.

Seattle Mariners (30-30, W2, t-2nd)

Friday-Sunday : 3-game series at Coors Field

The Bats: F

Bringing in Ken Griffey Jr was a popular move, but his production is not replacing their last ancient LF, Raul Ibanez, who is only the most valuable OF in the entire NL right now. Twelve year veteran Russell Branyan is on a career pace (over 40 HR in fact) in his second season of being a full-time starter. Ichiro will always be dangerous, but the rest of that lineup is abysmal. And by abysmal, I mean putrid. And by putrid, I mean absolutely god-awful.

The Mariners check in with a .310 team wOBA (the Rockies have 11 hitters higher), which is better than only Oakland and San Francisco. Worse, they have scored the least amount of runs in MLB. They also sport the league's worst OBP and one of the worst BB/K rates. They don't even slug all that well - thir team SLG is worse than Dexter Fowler.

LINEUP	Avg	HR	RBI
Ichiro - RF	.360	5	17
Russell Branyan - 1B	.317	14	29
Adrian Beltre - 3B	.258	4	28
Ken Griffey Jr - LF	.215	6	16
Jose Lopez - 2B	.241	8	36
Yuniesky Betancourt - SS	.242	2	19
Franklin Gutierrez - CF	.261	3	19
Jamie Burke - C	.167	1	1

Wakamatsu's lineup could very much be in flux. Junior has been the DH all season, so putting him in the outfield robs starts for Wladimir Balentein and Endy Chavez. Given Jr's age and the spacious Coors OF, he figures to take a seat at least once in the series. IF's Mike Sweeney (former Royal) and Ronny Cedeno (former Cub) could see time as well. With Kenji Johjima on the DL and Jeff Clement in AAA, the Mariners feature two stop-gap catchers in Jamie Burke and Guillermo Quiroz. But we know that a stopgap catcher can still be dangerous.

The Arms: A-

It's hard to complain about a pitching staff that has a better ERA than any team sans the Dodgers. The starters are doing their job, as evidenced by the Mariners having the fifth least relief appearances. But none of the peripheral stats seem to support that low of an ERA - most barely crack the top ten. Not surprisingly, then, they have the third largest negative split in ERA/FIP, but a 4.10 FIP is still very good.

Brandan Morrow lost his closer job mid-May after two horrific blown saves against Texas. He has been replaced by Colorado native David Aardsma, who has 11 saves (8 as official closer) with one blown save and a sparkling 1.78 ERA. We will luckily miss Felix Hernandez in the series, but the three starters we do draw have ERAs at 3.07 or below.

The D: C

Only three teams have made more errors than the 46 Seattle has committed, but they are 10th in UZR/150.

Probable Pitchers:

Tonight, 7:10 pm MDT

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jarrod Washburn	3-4	3.07	1.19	50	18

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Ubaldo Jimenez	4-6	3.91	1.38	66	31

Saturday, June 13, 6:10 pm MDT

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Erik Bedard	5-2	2.47	1.16	65	22

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jason Marquis	8-4	3.98	1.34	39	28

Sunday, June 14, 1:10 MDT

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jason Vargas	2-1	2.35	1.20	23	10

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jason Hammel	3-3	4.33	1.54	36	15

For the third straight series, the Rockies draw a hot star. Ichiro (10-for-24 last 7 days) is on fire. Adrian Beltre (9-for-23) and Jose Lopez (8-for-24, 3 HR) are raking as well. Yesterday, the Mariners allowed three runs in a win. It was the first time they allowed more than two runs in any game in June.

Ken Griffey Jr (3-for-19) has continued to show age recently. Gutierrez, Cedeno, Betancourt, Chavez and Balentein are all below .154 hitting the last week as well.

Ryan Rowland-Smith (triceps), Carlos Silva (shoulder), Kenji Johima (toe), Ray Corcoran (neck) and Shawn Kelly are all on the 15-day DL. Franklin Gutierrez (knee) and Rob Johnson (foot) are listed as questionable.

Poll

Can this streak survive the Mariners?

Yes - this team cannot be stopped right now. They are beating good teams and aces. 11 game win streak!

63 votes

No - We have to drop one eventually, but I can't see us losing this series

108 votes

No - The last week was an aberration. Our pitching can't continue their streak at Coors Field. We'll get one, but that's all.

38 votes

No - Those starting pitchers are going to shut us DOWN. Notify the bandwagon fans to return to hibernation

35 votes

244 votes | Poll has closed

Guillermo Quiroz Recalled

Matthew — Tue, 26 May 2009 21:50:23 -0000

From Baker

The Mariners have opted to call up journeyman minor leaguer Guillermo Quiroz, a onetime top prospect with Toronto, from Class AA to fill the void left by Kenji Johjima's injury. Johjima goes to the 15-day DL and pitcher Cesar Jimenez is transferred to the 60-day DL.

Well, that was an odd one. I would have put it somewhere around the third or fourth most likely transaction to have happened to replace Johjima on the roster. It's been a long time since Quiroz has done anything positive at the plate, but one thing he does bring is a somewhat patient (compared to our other catchers) approach.

Quiroz's StatCorner Page

The Battle for 25th Man

SC — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:32:13 -0000

One of the first things I ever did on this site was give way too much of a crap about the Chris Gomez v. Enrique Wilson utility infielder battle of Spring Training 2005. Gomez won. All was right with the world. Gomez then hit .279/.359/.342 in 2005 and poked even more singles around in spot duty the next two seasons, and now he's back in camp, but he's really too old now and his numbers in '08 with the Pirates (.273/.322/.333) show his usefulness fading.

Still, Enrique Wilson got 22 ABs with the Cubs in 2005 and never played again.

This spring it's not really a battle. There's a super sub role open with the team, and though the O's traded for Ryan Freel who fills the role nicely, there's also Jolbert Cabrera -- who was once shot in the buttocks -- and I think he deserves a long look.

Numbers this spring:

Player	AB	AVG	OBP	SLG	BB/K	SB/CS
Ryan Freel	35	.257	.366	.314	2/11	6/0
Jolbert Cabrera	24	.417	.400	.542	0/3	1/0

Freel's going to play a lot if they can help it. He adds plenty to the team in theory. He's got plate discipline, which makes him a viable pinch-hitter even if his contact abilities have slipped and his power has become basically negligible. He runs really well. He can handle center if he has to, plus the corner OF spots and second base. He's probably a lesser shortstop than Cabrera, who's probably not as good a CF as Freel, although we also have Pie if Jones goes down or whatever, and Pie might be the best center fielder on the team. Freel is also injury-prone and has played in 77 and 48 games the last two years.

Cabrera isn't as good a base-stealer as Freel, but he's not a slow runner and can be used just for extra wheels in a tight situation, same as Freel likely will be at several times this year should he stay healthy.

I know Freel came over in trade for Fat Ramon Hernandez and Cabrera is just a spring training scrub for all intents and purposes. If Freel is healthy, he's the guy. But here's what I'm actually more intrigued by: Does Jolbert Cabrera have a place on this team sometime in 2009?

Assume the Birds go north with 13 pitchers and 12 position players. We know we'll have:

C: ZAUN + one, probably Robby Hammock, who can play other positions

1B: Huff

2B: Roberts

3B: Mora

SS: Izturis

OF: Markakis, Jones, Pie, Scott

1B/3B/2B/DH: Wigginton

That would leave one open spot. It'll be Freel. But should he come up lame, Cabrera seems like a guy that would fit in. He can play a lot of positions, including a better short than Freel, and Izturis is going to have days he has to sit, or he's going to have times where he'll need to be hit for late in a tight game.

I'd rather have Freel, with Wigginton also offering some level of positional flexibility (as well as Hammock) than see Cabrera over Freel right off, and with the way Gomez is hitting (.095/.269/.143) he's well out, too. Donnie Murphy isn't doing anything, either.

It's simply food for thought with little going on. The battle isn't much since Freel is all but guaranteed, but if (when?) Freel goes down, who comes up?

Know Thy Enemy: Baltimore Orioles, 2009 Preview

hugo — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 23:23:48 -0000

This is the first in a 4-part series examining the Jays' competition in the AL East.

The Baltimore Orioles had another tough season in 2008, losing 90 or more games for the 3rd consecutive season and failing to finish above .500 for the 11th year in a row. There were some bright spots, however, and the O's hope to improve in 2009 in an increasingly tough AL East. The O's weren't playing all that badly until the end of the season, when they went an almost unthinkably awful 5-20 in September to close out the season.

Projected Possible Lineup : (I'm not giving a lot of thought to batting order)

Vs. LHP
2B - Brian Roberts
CF - Adam Jones
RF - Nick Markakis
DH - Ty Wigginton
3B - Melvin Mora
1B - Aubrey Huff
LF - Luke Scott/Felix Pie
C - Gregg Zaun
SS - Cesar Izturis

Vs. RHP
2B - Brian Roberts
LF - Felix Pie
RF - Nick Markakis
1B - Aubrey Huff
DH - Luke Scott
3B - Melvin Mora
CF - Adam Jones
C - Gregg Zaun
SS- Cesar Izturis

4th OF - Ty Wigginton (also 1B/3B/DH)
Bench - Ryan Freel, IF/OF
Lou Montanez, OF
Guillermo Quiroz, C

Although Zaun is penciled in here as catcher, in truth it is likely that the young Matt Wieters will soon work his way into the everyday lineup and become an offensive force - the only question is when. Wieters is one of the best prospects in baseball and is expected to both hit a ton and do a great job behind the dish, so his development is one of the biggest stories of the season for Baltimore.

Baltimore's offense in 2008 was almost exactly league average (team OPS+ of 99), due to a few holes, most glaringly at SS. They patched that hole by bringing in former Jay Ceasar Izturis, who isn't much with the bat but will bring some stability to the position and plays fine defense. The O's also signed Gregg Zaun to play catcher - Z-Man will bring his Z-game and his love of "heavy metal" (which to him apparently means Guns N' Roses) to start the season as the everyday catcher and then move into a mentor role as Wieters hopefully comes into his own. Not satisfied, Baltimore brought in Ty Wigginton, who has a nice bat and is versatile and makes a nice match for lefthanded hitters Huff, Scott, and Pie.

Melvin Mora is interesting, he looked to be in steep decline over the past few seasons and then for the first half last year, but then went nuts in the second half, hitting .376/.417/.656 after the all-star break. He wasn't great on defense (-4.8 UZR), but finished with a quality 114 OPS+ to make him a 2.5 win player, his best season since 2005. Aubrey Huff also had a big rebound year -- his .387 wOBA was the best of his career and he hit 32 dingers. Luke Scott continued to hit righties fairly well (.838 OPS) but again showed why he is a platoon player (.702 OPS against lefties). Adam Jones struggled at the plate (.711 OPS), really struggling with his pitch recognition and plate discipline, but was absolutely fantastic in the field (10.3 UZR in center), making him a 2.2 win player. And Brian Roberts had another excellent year as one of the league's premier second basemen and leadoff men, getting on base at a .378 clip, hitting 51 doubles, and swiping 40 bags at a nice 80% success rate. The O's will be countin on all five of those gentlemen, as well as their new acquisitions and of course, Markakis (.306/.406/.491 last season) who has developed from a promising young player to a well-rounded star with no holes in his game at all.

The O's offense should be better, since they have added some nice depth and some young players are continuing to develop. Mora is old, but Huff and Wigginton can both play third, as can Freel, so there's some cover there.

Projected Rotation I'm including 6 starters, because history shows that most teams have a 6th starter who makes about as many starts as the 5th starter, due to injuries/ineffectiveness in the 5-man rotation. However, in the O's case, there are a number of potential 6th starters.

RHP - Jeremy Guthrie
RHP - Koji Uehara
LHP - Rich Hill
LHP - Mark Hendrickson
RHP - Radhames Liz
RHP/RHP/LHP - Hayden Penn/Matt Albers/Chris Waters

Baltimore got a quality season from Jeremy Guthrie last year (3.63 ERA) although, while he perhaps had more than the 10 wins he got coming to him based on how many runs were scored against him, his defense-independent numbers (4.53 FIP, 5.66 K/9, .267 BABIP against, 101 tRA+) suggest that he may have actually been quite fortunate in 2008. He is likely to give the Orioles another solid year.

After Guthrie, Baltimore's rotation was an absolute mess last season. They were the worst rotation in the AL (with a 5.51 team ERA), and also finished last in the league both in strikeouts and walks (actually pretty crazy since low strikeout pitchers typically at least limit walks), with a staggeringly bad team 1.30 K/BB ratio. Daniel Cabrera (30 starts, 86 ERA+,1.05 K/BB ratio), Garrett Olson (26 starts, 6.65 ERA), Radhames Liz (17 starts, 6.72 ERA), and current Jay spring training invitee Brian Burres (22 starts, 6.04 ERA, 1.13 K/BB ratio) were the most significant contributors to the damage, although the O's also got 10 very bad starts from Steve Trachsel (8.28 ERA). The good news for the O's is that none of these gentlemen, other than perhaps Liz, is likely to factor heavily in the Orioles 2009 rotation plans.

The Orioles signed 2-time Sawamura award (the award in the NPB going to the best starting pitcher in the Japanese league) winner Koji Uehara in what is looking like a pretty shrewd move. Uehara seems like a good bet even in the AL East and is set to begin 2009 as Baltimore's number 2 starter. Baltimore also made a nice move to acquire former Cubs lefty Rich Hill, who is an interesting case. Hill had a good half season as a 26-year old and an excellent (119 ERA+) season as a 27-year old for the Cubbies before completely falling apart in 2008, spending most of the season in the minor leagues and showing absolutely no control at all, walking almost a batter per inning. Hill also floundered in Winter ball this year, but if he can get his control back, he's a quality lefthanded starter with good K numbers. His flyball tendencies are going haunt him a bit, especially in the cozy confines of Camden Yards and the AL East, but a nice low-risk pickup for Baltimore, since it's not like he's blocking anyone.

Baltimore also picked up former Jay Mark Hendrickson who, while he has no means been an above-average pitcher over his career (89 ERA+ career), is better than what 4/5 of what the O's had out there last season and is at least capable of being a #5 starter (though not sure how well he will fare in the AL East).

The O's rotation should be better in 2009 than it was in 2008. That's not saying much, I know, but Uehara looks like a solid addition, while Guthrie isn't anything special but should continue to enjoy modest success, giving them at least 2 average or better starters. Hill has plenty of potential and Hendrickson will usually manage not to embarass himself on the mound. And Baltimore does have some young starters with potential.

Significant Bullpen Members

LHP George Sherrill (closer)
RHP Chris Ray (setup)
RHP Jim Johnson
RHP Dennis Sarfate
LHP Jamie Walker

The Orioles bullpen tried valiantly to pick up the slack left by an awful starting rotation (it was 3rd in the AL in innings), and helped to limit the damage, although a 4.59 team bullpen ERA is nothing to shout about. Closer George Sherrill isn't really what you want from a closer or bullpen ace, and he could lose his job to Chris Ray, who previously performed those duties before going down to arm surgery back in 2007. However, Ray is coming off a major surgery and is a question mark himself. On the other hand, Jim Johnson had a great season last year out of the pen, pitching in 54 games with a 2.23 ERA, and he will be hard-pressed to repeat that performance given his unimpressive strikeout and walk numbers (38/28 K/BB ratio over 68 2/3 innings, and shutting the league out from hitting a homer, like he did in 2008, is always tough to repeat). LOOGY Jamie Walker had an awful season out of the pen (1.68 WHIP, 6.87 ERA, almost 3 home runs per 9 innings) but will look to rebound. hard-thrower Danys Baez will also return from surgery, but I was never a big fan of his, and that was before he got hurt.

In Summary

Having attended Law School in Baltimore, a city with some hilarious nicknames: "Charm City," "the Land of Pleasant Living," and "the City that Reads" (though more often referred to by locals as "the City that Bleeds"), I have a soft spot for the Orioles, having enjoyed many home games at Camden Yards following a pint or two at Pickles Pub, including a bunch when I should've been in class. I like the Uehara pickup, and it looks like the O's are finally on the right track with an excellent farm system and some quality young players. I don't think 2009 will be the year, though. The problem will be pitching - Uehara will help, and Hill and Hendrickson really can't hurt, but B-more's young arms in the majors haven't proven anything despite several shots. What Baltimore is likely to do on the mound just isn't good enough in the AL, let alone the AL East. The Orioles have solid pitching prospects in Chris Tillman, Brian Matusz, and Jake Arrieta, but none are real close to pitching in the majors. Baltimore may hit more and pitch a little better, but I don't see them making up the gap between themselves and the rest of the AL East.

The Brewer Advent Calendar #14: Mike Rivera

KLSnow — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 18:00:14 -0000

Behind door #14 we find...Mike Rivera!

via www.milwaukeebrewersticket.net

EDIT: That's actually Damian Miller. My mistake. Pretend it's Mike Rivera.

At least we know we didn't pull him away from anything important.

On Jason Kendall's page, we briefly discussed how much Kendall plays. But there must be two sides to every coin, so it's only fair to point out how little Mike Rivera played. What's even more interesting is how well he hit in limited opportunities. Rivera hit .306/.377/.435 in 2008 despite ten different stretches where he went ten days or more without an AB. Only eight catchers in all of baseball posted an OPS higher than Rivera's .812. Here are the worst ten OPS seasons from 2008 by catchers who played more often than Rivera:

Player	Team	AB	OPS
Luke Carlin	San Diego	94	.472
J.R. Towles	Houston	146	.503
Rob Bowen	Oakland	91	.505
Guillermo Quiroz	Baltimore	134	.528
Josh Bard	San Diego	178	.549
Mike Rabelo	Florida	109	.550
Humberto Quintero	Houston	168	.568
Michael Barrett	San Diego	94	.572
Jose Molina	New York (AL)	268	.576
Ronny Paulino	Pittsburgh	118	.582