Angel Berroa
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| Kansas City Royals — No. 4 | |
| Shortstop | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
|---|---|
| September 18, 2001 for the Kansas City Royals | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through 2006) |
|
| Batting average | .264 |
| Home runs | 45 |
| Stolen bases | 50 |
| Teams | |
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Ángel Berroa (born January 27, 1978) is a Dominican baseball player for the Kansas City Royals.
Handed the Kansas City Royals' starting shortstop job in 2003 after the departure of Neifi Pérez in spite of hitting a disappointing .194 in the previous season's Dominican Winter League, Berroa started the season hitting ninth in the batting order and committing 19 errors in his first 63 games. However, he finished the season with a .287 batting average with 17 home runs, 73 runs batted in, 21 stolen bases, and committed only five more errors the rest of the season.
Late in the season, manager Tony Peña moved Berroa to the top of the batting order, and Berroa's performance sparked a media debate whether he or New York Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui, a former star in the Japanese Central League, should win the Rookie of the Year Award.
In a controversial decision, Berroa beat out Matsui in the closest vote since 1980, prompting criticism from Yankee owner George Steinbrenner. While some players and sports writers believe veteran Japanese players who come to play baseball in the United States should not be considered rookies, Major League Baseball rules allow them to win the award. Debate over the definition of a rookie aside, Berroa's backers pointed to their identical batting averages and Berroa's greater home run total while hitting in a weaker Kansas City lineup and playing a more demanding position. Matsui's backers pointed to his higher RBI total while playing in the media spotlight of New York City.
Berroa became the fourth member of the Royals to win the award, following Lou Piniella (1969), Bob Hamelin (1994) and Carlos Beltran (1999).
Berroa was acquired in 2001 from the Oakland Athletics in a three-way trade also involving the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Kansas City acquired Berroa, relief pitcher Roberto Hernández, and backup catcher A.J. Hinch in exchange for fan favorite Johnny Damon and infielder Mark Ellis.
See also
[edit] External links
- Ángel Berroa's career statistics at Baseball-Reference.com
Angel Berroa Declines
Following his rookie year, Angel Berroa's performance went down annually in on-base percentage, runs, slugging percentage and stolen bases. His fielding statistics included 77 errors in 2003-2005 (24,28,25) that were the most among starting American League shortstops in that time span.
Berroa has also produced declining walk totals in the years after his ROY award. Berroa walked once very 21 plate appearances in 2003, but had fallen to a 36-to-1 PA/BB ratio in 2005. Through May 15 2006, Berroa had only one walk in his first 130 plate appearances.
The disappointment in Berroa's development may be related to being caught up in "Age-gate" fiasco in early 2002 when many Latin American players, subjected to greater scrutiny by the United States government, turned out to be older than they claimed. Berroa was two years older than thought when he was drafted by Oakland and traded to Kansas City. This remarkably altered the projections of his future.
Berroa signed a guaranteed contract extension on May 7, 2004, paying him a guaranteed $11 million through 2008 (annual salaries of $500,000; $2 million; $3.25 million; and $4.75 million, with a $5.5 million team option or $500,000 buyout for 2009).
- John Sickels, a minor league baseball analyst and Baseball Prospectus author, offered this downbeat analysis of Berroa in May 2006: "In retrospect, Berroa was never as good as his 2001 or 2003 seasons led many (including me) to believe."
| Preceded by: Eric Hinske |
American League Rookie of the Year 2003 |
Succeeded by: Bobby Crosby |
