Of Counsell

Not every player on even a championship team can be an All-Star. Winning teams need average players and role players who rarely attract attention but seem to accumulate rings.

One of those players is Craig Counsell, an unimposing, weak-hitting infielder who has changed uniforms six times in his career. You probably haven't thought about Counsell for years and weren't even sure he was still collecting a Major League paycheck.

He's not just collecting it -- for the Milwaukee Brewers these days -- he's earning it, despite a lifetime slugging percentage of .351. That's nearly Harrisonian, as in Bud. (Okay, no it's not. Buddy posted a lifetime SLG of .288., which is roughly what Chase Utley slugs with one arm. The point is that Counsell's 40 lifetime home runs in 15 seasons means he'd better have something else in his repertoire to impress the chicks.)

In 1440 lifetime games at second, short and third  -- he didn't really begin getting regular playing time until his seventh season in the bigs -- Counsell has hit a pedestrian .258/.345/.351 without flashing the blazing speed those kinds of numbers tend to require for usefulness. On the other hand, Counsell is an asset around the defensive horn, works the count and takes his walks, brings professionalism to the job everyday, rarely makes bonehead plays, accepts his role and offers his skipper multiple options every game. As a left-handed bat, Counsell even adds the platoon dimension to the manager's hand.

Moreover, while a .696 OPS won't get a left-fielder a major league job, it's actually about average for a middle-infielder. On top of that, Counsell is a few ticks above the middle with the glove, according to the various defensive metrics out there. Baseball Prospectus estimates that given the extra two wins he contributes to his team compared to a replacement-level player, Craig Counsell is worth a cool $8.5 million this year.

The thing to understand about average players who fill roles is that they are a huge improvement over the alternative. A team with an average hitter batting seventh, or backing up a star, is an awesome offensive force. Last year, in just 459 late appearances, Counsell added roughly 46 runs to the Brewers' performance compared to whoever would have been available to replace him.

Guys like Craig Counsell can't carry teams. You can live with him as your starting second baseman or shortstop for a full season if you must, but he's really an asset as part of a rotation, a back-up, a spot starter, an injury fill-in. He's not the reason the Marlins won the championship in '97 or the Diamonbacks in '01, but those teams couldn't have won if, instead of the Craig Counsells of the world, they'd have signed someone off the scrap heap. Keep that in mind next time your favorite team signs some middling player to share duty or provide relief. Those players can be mighty valuable.

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