ormer Blue Jays first baseman Lyle Overbay turns 49 today.
Overbay was selected by the Diamondbacks in the 18th round of the 1999 draft. He had a couple of brief stints in the majors in 2001 and 2002 before
making the team out of spring training in 2003, having been ranked Baseball America’s 65th-best prospect. However, he struggled at the plate and was sent back to the minors after 86 games. In December 2003, Arizona traded him to the Brewers as part of a ten-player deal. The biggest name headed to the Diamondbacks was slugger Richie Sexson, who unfortunately played only 21 games for Arizona in an injury-plagued 2004 season.
Overbay went on to have two solid seasons with Milwaukee before being dealt to the Blue Jays, along with Ty Taubenheim, in exchange for Dave Bush, Gabe Gross, and Zach Jackson. Bush would go on to win 46 games (while losing 53) over five seasons with the Brewers, Gross posted a .251/.357/.440 line across parts of three seasons, and Jackson pitched 42 innings for Milwaukee. All things considered, that looks like a win for Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi.
The trade was the subject of the second-ever post on this site—Marc Normandin gave the deal his
He’s a great defensive first baseman, one of the best in the league. He hits well for a first baseman but lacks home run power. Though he makes up for it with doubles, his plate patience is good. Acquiring Overbay most likely means that Shea Hillenbrand or Eric Hinske is on their way out of Toronto. The good news? The Jays may get a helpful part in exchange for one of them, which would be a plus.
In 2006, he hit .312/.372/.508 with 22 home runs and 92 RBI in 157 games. He set his career highs for home runs, RBI, and batting average and finished fourth in the AL in doubles with 46.
After the season, JP signed Lyle to a 4-year, $24 million contract. Unfortunately, the contract didn’t help make him a favourite with Jays fans. mark w wasn’t sure about the signing at the time.
My views on this signing are somewhat mixed. At first glance, it is a thrifty signing, as the Blue Jays lock up a somewhat gifted hitter at a relatively low price. On the other hand, however, couldn’t the Blue Jays have waited another season, thus hedging their bets? I can’t imagine that Overbay’s value will skyrocket at this point in his career, especially considering he’s a likely candidate to “age quickly” — at least based on the career trends of statistically similar players from the past. Ultimately, I don’t think this contract will come back to bite them, if only because of its low cost to the organisation. And Overbay appears to be a safe bet for at least the next 2-3 years.
Of course, the trade did come back to bite the Blue Jays.
Lyle’s 2007 season was a tough one. He missed more than a month after breaking his hand on a pitch from John Danks on June 3. At the time of the injury, he was hitting .256/.332/.464, but finished the year at .240/.315/.391 with 10 home runs and 44 RBI. Hitting with a sore hand isn’t easy, but he still managed 30 doubles. That season, Lyle also had a pronounced reverse split, posting a .794 OPS against left-handers but only .676 against righties.
He bounced back in 2008, hitting .270/.358/.419 with 15 home runs, 32 doubles, and 69 RBI in 158 games. He even set a team record by reaching base 12 straight times at the end of May. However, he struggled badly against lefties, batting just .215/.285/.255—a concerning trend that would continue. Before 2008, he was decent against left-handers, but after that year, he just couldn’t hit them anymore.
Overbay put together another solid year in 2009, slashing .265/.372/.466 with 16 home runs (including his first walk-off homer, against the A’s in April), 35 doubles, and 64 RBI in 132 games. According to FanGraphs, he posted a 2.4 WAR—the best of his Jays tenure—and his fielding was rated much higher than in 2006. However, his struggles against lefties persisted (.190/.256/.278), and his platoon partner, Kevin Millar, didn’t fare any better against either side.
2010 was Lyle’s final season with the Jays, and it wasn’t his best. He hit .243/.329/.433 with 20 home runs (the second-highest total of his career), 37 doubles (his seventh consecutive season with at least 30), and 67 RBI in 154 games. Manager Cito Gaston was reluctant to platoon him, partly because Lyle was entering free agency and Cito was known for ‘doing right by his veteran players’—sometimes at the expense of winning games. Still, Lyle led AL first basemen in double plays (150) and assists (101), and collected his 1,000th career hit at the end of June.
After leaving Toronto, Overbay bounced around with the Pirates, Diamondbacks, Braves, Yankees, and Brewers before retiring after the 2014 season. He finished with a .266/.347/.429 career line, 151 home runs, and 675 RBI over 14 seasons—83 homers and 336 RBI came as a Blue Jay.
Happy Birthday, Lyle.
It is also Bob File’s birthday. He’s also 49.
Bob was a reliever with the Jays and had a very good rookie season in 2001, with a 3.27 ERA in 60 relief appearances and 74.1 innings, but some luck was involved. He only struck out 38 and walked 29. The .233 BABIP wasn’t repeatable. Over the next two seasons, he pitched 37 innings with a 6.08 ERA, which was the end of his major league career.
Happy birthday, Bob. I hope it is a good one.
