When I asked this question to my Twitter followers…
has Jayson Werth helped or hurt his value as a free agent with his production thus far in 2010?
…these were some of the responses I received:

It’s not the production that’s hurting him. By all accounts, he’s a bad apple. It’s why the Phils are shopping him. (@Beerleaguer)

his production has been poor. I think the pressure of a contract year has gotten to him. Some team will still pay him $15M (@FlyersFanShawn)

Werth has been disgraceful. No it’s not the numbers. His attitude and his overall lack of trying. Not worth what he’ll get. (@GregVince)

Werth’s attitude reminds me of David Bell. He seemed he could have cared less what happened on that field. (@KieranCarobine)

I think you just have to watch how he acts on the field to know Werth is a jackass. (@ballsticksstuff)

I’d say hurt, especially if you were one who considered him a 4/5 yr $60/75 mil player. He’s be overvalued from the jump. And if he stays at or around this level, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Phils offered arb and he took it. (@philsvilleblog)

This whole team has been playing badly for 2 mos. Unfortunately this happens to be Werth’s FA yr. Perhaps b/c of a lack of imagination the writers began to focus on him as the begining and the end of all things bad on the Phillies. At first I didn’t pay much attention to it b/c I believed anyone with a rational thought in their head would remember all the hard work, good work, Werth has done for and with the team over the past several yrs. Also the rather reticent Werth has been vocal about his desire to stay in Phila, about how much he likes the team, the coaches, the city, the fans, and how he’s felt he belonged here. People would recognize this and not buy into the hooey. But the slump went on, the losses extended, and the gang mentality developed into an all out witch hunt. People needed a scapegoat and they unfairly focused on Werth. At this point they’ve done everything except tie him up, riding him through town for people to take swings at him.

The same people hating Werth now loved him & his beard in April. And if the team was in 1st place winning, it would be Howard, Rollins, & Utley’s glory. But the losses & ignominy is shoved at Werth. As a Phillies fan since childhood, I’m embarrassed. Maybe I’ll buy a Werth jersey in support. It may be the last chance I get to buy one.

You have to factor in, with offense, the player’s defense, his position (an .850 OPS from a first baseman is much less valuable than an .850 OPS from a second baseman), base running skills, his age, any glaring weaknesses (Howard vs. LHP), his contract length and amount, etc. When you factor all that in and compare Howard to the rest of Major League Baseball players, he comes up short.

I only report what the numbers tell me. I have nothing against the guy. I think he’s a good person and I hope he proves me wrong every year by putting up a .600 wOBA (even splits against RH and LH pitchers!) with a +100 UZR/150.

The fact remains that Howard is just barely a top-ten first baseman — let alone a top-ten player — according to FanGraphs, using WAR over the past three calendar years. The list:

Albert Pujols: 21.4
Kevin Youkilis: 15.2
Mark Teixeira: 14.6
Adrian Gonzalez: 14.2
Joey Votto: 12.7

Lance Berkman: 12.3
Prince Fielder: 12.3
Justin Morneau: 12.3
Miguel Cabrera: 12.1
Ryan Howard: 9.7

It’s not even a debate, as far as I can see. If you like Howard and think he’s the tops, we will never see eye-to-eye and we will never convince each other of our position.

Just for fun, my top 10 list off the top of my head: Pujols, Cabrera, A Gonz, Tex, Votto, Howard, Youks, Fielder, Morneau, and Dunn (underrated).

@Sean, I don’t need to watch every other outfielder to make an opinion on Werth’s defensive abilities. I never made a reference to UZR so I’m not sure how your point is relevant to mine. I was just stating my observation regarding his defensive skill set that I believe is slightly overrated. His D tools if you will.

I’d also like to clarify that I like Werth, hes a good player, and hope we resign him and get rid of Ibanez somehow. I don’t think it will happen but I hope so. I just get agitated watching him play D sometimes when a lot of people consider him a good defensive outfielder. He’s average in the field.

cabrera
gonzalez
morneau
votto
pujols
fielder
Youk
Tex
Dunn
Morales

are all better than howard.

Howard is 13th in 1b OPS not adjusted with Morales being out for the year.

howard is very inferior to the vottos, cabreras, morneaus of the mlb 1b of the world.

howard is not close to be a top 30 mlb player.