Who was the bigger bust?

[BooCocky]

I got this from espn, I am not gonna lie. They had a poll that was titled, "Whick Rookie of the year became the biggest bust."

The choices were.

1. Hideo Nomo
2. Kerry Wood
3. Dontrelle Willis

Firstly, Hideo Nomo came to the NL in 1995, he went 13-6 with a 2.54 era. He threw 191.1 innings, he stuckout 236 batters in those 191.1 innings, he also had 78 base on balls. After the outstanding rookie campaign, he followed it with a solid sophmore season. He wen 16-11 and had a 3.19 era. Which is still very good, especially during that era. After that, his career went downhill, and he struggled up until 2002. He then had a 16 win season and followed that with another 16 win season. But those four years don't really make up for the 8 years he struggled. In the end Nomo finished with 123 wins and 109 losses and a 4.24 era.


Kerry Wood won the rookie of the year in 1998 with a 13 win season and a 3.40 era. He also struckout 233 batters. But now through 12 seasons he only has 81 wins, which is bad for a guy who had so much potential. He does have two all star appearances. He also has a career 3.71 era.

Dontrelle Willis AKA D-Train won the Rookie of the year award in 2003. He went 14-6 and struckout 142 batters. Willis does have two All Star game appearances and a world series title. He also has a 20 win season. Actually he won 22 games that season. 8 seasons in Willis has 71 wins and 63 losses. Which isn't that good, but his wind-up caught up with him as he got older.

So, who is the bigger bust, or the bigger disappointment? I am going to say Kerry Woods. He was supposed to be the next big thing, but his career was plagued with injuries. He won 13 games his first season, and only has 81 wins in his career, which means he only won 68 games the next eleven seasons, which sucks. He might have a lower era than both Nomo and Willis. But Nomo has more wins and I believe Nomo has two no hitters. Also Willis' best two seasons are a lot better than Kerry's best. Also, after the Marlins won the world series, they got rid of all there good players, which hurt his numbers. So, I think Woods was the bigger bust.

 

[gd]

I'd say Willis. The Tigers fiasco was just terrible. What'd he win, 4 games in two years with them? He went from being the hottest thing in baseball to not at all a serviceable pitcher in just a few years. Big disappointment.

Nomo was successful for a decent amount of time and while Wood certainly didn't come close to fufulling his potential. He looked like he could be one of the best ever after the first few years. Still though, he has somewhat reinvented himself as a closer recently. He's still worth something.

Obviously, Mark Prior would be a bigger disappointment than all of them.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Remember guys, in the cases of Mark Prior and Kerry Wood, their lack of success was because of the fact that Dusty Baker being the manager of your team is a death sentence for any young pitcher's career. He derailed their careers, as well as Carlos Zambrano's, Edinson Volquez's, and Aaron Harang's. He is a killer for any young pitcher and Wood and Prior had that factor derail their careers.

As far as Hideo Nomo goes, yeah, he struggled, but his career resurgence which included a No Hitter saves him from being a true "bust".

Dontrelle Willis really only had two good seasons. I always thought he was really overrated, and the rest of the league ultimately caught up with him. He hasn't shown anything that will lead you to believe he'll ever recover, even getting lit up in Single A when the Tigers tried to get him settled down. I think he'll even wind up being out of the league by 2012 if not sooner. He has nothing left, and he's mentally a headcase. Pitchers probably have the most difficulty getting past mental disorders. Nomo had his career resurgence and went out on a good note. Wood will probably go back to the NL, find a place to close and be good again. Willis is done.

 

[Davi323]

Yeah, but I can't get around the fact that Dontrelle Willis DOES have a World Series ring. That alone should eliminate him from the discussion. He was an integral part of that title. His career has been disappointing, to be sure. But he has at least got something to show for it.

Kerry Wood meanwhile has absolutely nothing to show he ever really mattered. A bust is someone with high expectations who fails miserably. Willis at least succeeded once.

 

[CH David]

Remember guys, in the cases of Mark Prior and Kerry Wood, their lack of success was because of the fact that Dusty Baker being the manager of your team is a death sentence for any young pitcher's career. He derailed their careers, as well as Carlos Zambrano's, Edinson Volquez's, and Aaron Harang's. He is a killer for any young pitcher and Wood and Prior had that factor derail their careers.

I'm just quoting you based on Zambrano. Dusty did not derail his career at all, and actually had a great 2006, which was Baker's last season with the team. While the team sucked ass, Zambrano didn't. 16-7 with a 3.41 ERA. 2007 he had went 18-13 with a 3.95 ERA under Lou. He has sucked this year and last year. Not Baker's fault for Zambrano sucking lately. Other than that, yeah, he screwed up Wood and Prior for sure.

Having said that, of the three, I'll give the bigger bust edge to Kerry Wood. He came in with a huge upside, and even had a 20 strikeout game in his 5th career start. Then in '99 he had Tommy John surgery, and when he came back made continual progress to his rookie season form. He then became injury plagued from 2004-2006. He returned as a relief guy for 2007 and 2008, doing a pretty solid job. Now in Cleveland he is still the reliever, but is now on the DL due to a blister on his index finger, 14th such time on the DL.

He was great for about 2 or 3 years out of his career, and injured or on the mend for the rest of it. I don't think there can be any other decision for biggest bust. He just can't stay healthy.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

It's Kerry Wood by a mile.

The guy was billed as the 2nd goddam coming of Nolan Ryan. One of his debut performances was a 20-strikeout performance, which had only been done I think once before. He's had to become a closer because his arm - replete with all those surgeries - can't take the innings. And he's a so-so closer at best.

Think of it this way - if Steven Strasburg from the Nationals continues the pace he's on this year, and if he goes on to have a similar full season next year, and then suddenly has 3 surgeries and doesn't get through a full, uninjured season for the next 8 years, we will all cry about what a disaster he was.

That was Kerry Wood, but at a time when the hype machine wasn't as high.