Carlos Lee

From BR Bullpen

Carlos Lee Noriel (El Caballo)

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 6' 2", Weight 235 lb.

Debut May 7, 1999
Born June 20, 1976 in Aguadulce, Panama

[edit] Biographical Information

A steady player, Carlos Lee is a major star whose home run total never dropped from 1999-2006. As a rookie he hit 16, then he hit 24 for a couple seasons, then 26, then 31 a couple times, then 32, and in 2006 he hit 37 home runs. In 2007 he played for his fourth team, the Houston Astros, and while his home run count went down slightly to 32, he had more doubles and RBI than ever before. He dropped again to 28 in 2008, but since he appeared in only 115 games his slugging was the highest in his career.

He was born in 1976 in Panama and signed with the Chicago White Sox in 1994. He arrived in the majors in 1999 at the age of 23, hitting .293 in 127 games. He was seventh in the Rookie of the Year Award voting behind Carlos Beltran who also hit .293.

Lee has been a workhorse who has always played a lot of games. After his first season, he always played at least 140 games in a season (until 2008 when he missed some games), accumulating nearly 4,000 at-bats in his first seven seasons.

In his second season, the White Sox won the division, and Lee contributed with a .301 average and 24 home runs. At the time, the White Sox drew much attention because of their substantial number of young players who all seemed promising: Lee, Paul Konerko, Magglio Ordonez, Mark L. Johnson, Chris Singleton, Jon Garland, Jim Parque, Keith Foulke - all regulars and all 27 years-old or younger. However, that was the last division championship for most of those players, as they were largely traded off before the White Sox won again in 2005.

Lee hit .091 in the post-season in 2000.

Lee continued his power production in 2001 and 2002, hitting over 20 home runs, but his batting average dipped to the .260's. In 2003 and 2004, Lee brought the average up again to around .300, and he hit over 30 home runs each year.

After the 2004 season, he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in return for Scott Podsednik, who became a key part of the White Sox World Series team. Lee, for his part, played well for Milwaukee, becoming a "franchise player" for the first time, and hitting 32 home runs with 41 doubles for the team. He also played in the All-Star Game for the first time that season.

In late July, 2006, Lee was traded to the Texas Rangers, as it became clear to the Brewers that Lee was not likely to sign a new contract with them. For Lee, it was a chance to be on a division winner, since the Rangers were close to the division lead, while the Brewers were not. However, the Rangers faded down the stretch in spite of Lee's .320 average in 59 games for his new team. Overall, he set carrer highs with 37 home runs and 116 RBIs between the two teams.

Despite his large numbers, Lee has never been a league leader in any major category, and never finished higher than seventeenth in the MVP voting. The large numbers were partly due to playing every day, although high slugging percentages in 2006-08 have now (as of 2008) put his career slugging percentage over .500.

He was named to the All-Star team in 2005 for the first time. He also won the Silver Slugger Award for his hitting prowess.

In terms of similarity scores, the most similar player is George Bell, although his former teammates Magglio Ordonez and Paul Konerko are also on his list of ten most similar players.

Lee was only 1 for 7 for Panama in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, despite being counted on to lead the offense. His lone hit was a single off Tony Pena.