Not all Post Hype Prospects flame out and don’t reach the majors. Many Post Hype Prospects become useful major league players, even All-Stars, but fail to achieve prognosticated the level of success. One of the many players who fall into this category is Jay Payton.
Jason Lee (“Jay”) Payton grew up as a multi-sport standout at Zanesville High School in Zanesville, Ohio. Being named the Connie Mack World Series tournament MVP after his senior year in high school, Payton attended Georgia Institute of Technology (more commonly known as Georgia Tech) , where his teammates included Nomar Garciaparra and Jason Varitek. In the 1994 College World Series, Georgia Tech lost in the championship game to an Oklahoma team led by Chip Glass (birth name David Jason), who was named CWS Most Outstanding Player. In the first round of the 1994 draft, the New York Mets took Paul Wilson with the #1 overall pick (more on him in a later post, to be sure), Terrance Long #20 (as compensation for the Orioles signing Sid Fernandez), and Payton #29 (also compensation for the Orioles signing Fernandez) with the first pick of the supplemental first round.
Payton signed quickly and appeared in 58 games for the Mets’ Short Season A affiliate, the Pittsfield Mets of the New York Penn League (in addition to the Mets’ affiliate being in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, there were also teams in New Jersey, Vermont, Pennsylvania, and Ontario), hitting a robust 365/439/498 with ten stolen bases and nine (!) HBP. Payton was promoted to the Mets’ AA affiliate, the Binghamton Mets, for the final eight games of the season where he hit a gentlemanly 280/357/320. Payton was rated the #96 prospect by Baseball America and assigned to the AA Binghamton Mets, where he mashed to a 345/395/535 slash line, primarily playing Center Field. Payton was promoted to the Mets’ AAA affiliate, the Norfolk Tides, for the final 50 games of the season. In Norfolk, Payton put up a lackluster 240/284/398 slash line. After the 1995 season, Payton had his medial collateral ligament (MCL) surgically repaired after the 1995 season, a problem many felt was the reason for the poor AAA showing.
Baseball America took notice and ranked Payton the #21 prospect for 1996. In 1996, Payton played only 71 games, with 55 of them in Norfolk, putting up an impressive 307/363/503 slash line while in Norfolk. Payton had more injury troubles, thoroughly destroying us ulnar collateral ligament and hurting his shoulder, resulting in surgery on both his shoulder and Tommy John surgery on his elbow. Despite the short season and injury concerns, Payton was rated the #34 prospect for 1997. Unfortunately, Payton missed the entire 1997 season rehabilitating from his injuries.
In 1998, Payton played in 85 games, 82 of them in Norfolk, putting up a pedestrian 261/318/404 slash line while just trying to stay healthy. He also put up a more impressive 318/348/364 slash line in a cup of tea during September. In 1999, a healthy Payton put up a 389/437/674 slash line in Norfolk, appearing in 13 games with the Mets, hitting 250/333/375 while in the Majors. Coming out of Spring Training, Payton appeared to be sharing the 4th outfielder role with Benny Agbayani, but Payton appeared in 124 games, putting up a respectable 291/331/447 while finishing third behind Rafael Furcal and Rick Ankiel (but ahead of Pat Burrell, Lance Berkman, and Juan Pierre) in the 2000 Rookie of the Year Award voting.
After a pedestrian 255/298/371 showing in 104 games in 2001 and a solid 284/336/415 showing in 87 games in 2002, Payton was dealt to Colorado with Robert Stratton and Mark Corey for Mark Little and John Thompson. Payton put up a monster 335/376/606 for the rest of the year, taking advantage of pre-humidor Coors Field to the fullest. In 2003, Payton put up another monster season, hitting 302/354/512, though he did lead the NL by grounding into 27 double plays, just one behind major league leader Paul Konerko (who was, incidentally, drafted with the 13th pick of the 1994 MLB draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers). After the 2003 season, Payton signed a two-year contract with the San Diego Padres for $5.5 million (with a $4 million club option on the 2006 season with a $500,000 buy-out).
From 2004 through 2008, Payton appeared in 667 games with 2368 Plate Appearances, putting up a roughly league average 267/310/393 slash line (85 OPS+) while transitioning from being a CF to a LF. In March of 2009, Payton suffered a shoulder injury while lifting weights and missed the entire season. In January 2010, Payton signed a minor league contract with the Colorado Rockies, and put up a 323/365/469 slash line while primarily playing left field for the Rockies’ AAA affiliate, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. Called up to the Rockies in September, Payton made up for lost time, mashing a 343/361/514 line in 36 PA. Faced with another off season shoulder surgery, Payton announced his retirement.
But what happened to Jay Payton? Why was he unable to reach his potential? It’s easy to say that injuries curtailed his career before it really got started or that he just wasn’t THAT talented. I think it’s a combination of the two. No one ever saw Payton as a future hall of famer, but it would not have been a stretch to see Payton hit 300 for a decade while playing a good center field. It seems that the key to reaching potential is to avoid injuries, something that may involve more than a little luck.
Until next time, leave comments and follow me @HypeProspect.
Sources:
http://www.baseball-reference.com (http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/paytoja01.shtml, http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=payton001jas, etc.)
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/04/crasnick-on-remaining-free-agents.html
http://www.topix.com/forum/baseball-players/jay-payton/T6MUMML3RNFN12RVC
