Atkins to Pittsburgh

Brad Hawpe wasn’t the only former Colorado Rockies’ slugger to find a new team over the holiday weekend. For the second consecutive winter, Garrett Atkins will attempt to re-establish himself with a perennial cellar-dweller. The Baltimore phase of his mission went stunningly poor, so his new (minor league) deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates couldn’t possibly go any worse, could it? Oftentimes, baseball can be appropriately described as weird. Atkins’ case is no different. The (now) 31-year-old averaged a home run every 27 plate appearances from the beginning of the 2006 season until the final pitch of the 2008 season. Atkins has averaged one homer per 55 plate appearances in the baseball played since. An overall decline in production (from .305/.369/.498 to .223/.299/.326) accompanies the declining appearances of Atkins’ home run swing. Teams used to pay Atkins to hit homers and reach base, now they pay to see if what malfunctioned. The Orioles bailed after a little more than 150 ...