I have in my mind some notion that Carlos Febles was a good player once. Sure, it didn't last and didn't matter, but it happened, once. Right? He was some late Clinton-Era Mike Aviles, or so I remember, part of Dos Carlos. And then his sister married Angel Berroa (or something crazy like that, probably not that, but like it) and he rode off into the sunset.
Did this happen?
| Age | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | |
| 1998 | 22 | 29 | .400 | .483 | .600 |
| 1999 | 23 | 524 | .256 | .336 | .411 |
| 2000 | 24 | 399 | .257 | .345 | .316 |
| 2001 | 25 | 317 | .236 | .291 | .363 |
| 2002 | 26 | 404 | .245 | .336 | .348 |
| 2003 | 27 | 219 | .235 | .299 | .260 |
What a strange career. There were always the low batting average, but some years he walked a little and had some decent power, but never in a consistent way. To be sure, he was a second baseman, but for his era the composite line was never even close to average, peaking at an OPS+ of 88 back in the golden light of 1999. What I like best about Febles's career is the absolute destruction of his final season. At age 27, with the Royals actually competing for the division, with Febles a seasoned veteran... yea... here's a .299 OBP and a .260 SLG in a high offense era. Nice working with you.
But was he ever good? Well, according to baseball-reference WAR, he was worth 1.5 wins in 1999 and 1.3 in 2000, thanks to positional adjustments and some decent defense. I definitely know that I didn't value defense at the time. Did anyone else? Was that enough to stand out in the loaded fin de siele Royals lineup? Not really.
Prospect hype? Maybe. Baseball America rated him the 30th best prospect in baseball prior to the '99 season, but I would have not known about that then.
Ultimately, the notion of Febles as a good player seems rooted in a familiar culprit: he started well. In the chart above you can see the good play in his cup of coffee in 1998. In 1999, he was a first half sensation. After 53 games in '99 he was hitting .329/.405/.546. It was a long way downhill from there. Over the next 345 PAs he hit .219/.301/.342, basically your standard issue Chris Getz line.
He followed that up with an rough 2000 at the plate (though he was still worth about a win thanks to defense and walks) that firmly established his actual offensive level.
Anyway, Carlos Febles.
1 recs | 38 comments
He was definitely somewhat I enjoyed watching play
Until I hated watching him play. It’s our time!!!
[Also, Freneau, it’s fin de siecle.]
Loose Seal - January 19, 2012
gaaaaaaa
Freneau - January 20, 2012 via iPhone app
Class A Coaching Staffs; Where MLB busts go when they can't sell insurance.
OnixConcepcion - January 19, 2012
whoa
PhattStairs - January 20, 2012
One of my favorite Royals at the time
“Carlos Febles is the better member of Dos Carlos”
-Big Matt, circa 1999
big matt - January 19, 2012
Likeable guy
But, yes, he sucked.
Rufus R. Jones - January 19, 2012 via mobile
My question
I don’t have much doubt that about whether he was good or not. (Not).
But I do wonder if he really was Carlos Manuel Febles, born May 24, 1976.
UncleFester - January 20, 2012
For some reason, whenever I think of a past Royals second baseman,
He’s always the first to mind.
royaljester - January 20, 2012
He avoided any unpleasant pantless moments.
Therefore, he’s a winner in my book.
Discolando - January 20, 2012
Carlos Febles
He was good enough to wear a ML uniform for 6 years.
R_F - January 20, 2012
Does it still count
if it was between the years 1998-2003, and it had a “KC” on the front?
Rufus R. Jones - January 20, 2012
I remember really liking him
And being high on his chances of succeeding. Maybe I was just high. I was in college at the time.
RoyalsRetro - January 20, 2012
He smiled a lot, sort of like Frenchy.
It’s an evil, evil power that makes people seem much better than they are.
OnixConcepcion - January 20, 2012
I always thought he was Yuni
Before I became aware that Yuni existed.
mitchfreakingmaier! - January 20, 2012
Not actually good, but he had his moments
Just didn’t have enough of those moments. He was fun though.
Scott McKinney - January 20, 2012
I remember when Dos Carlos came up...
and they were thought to have similar potential, other than Beltran was a year younger. After Feble’s first full season, with a .747 OPS, 10 HR’s in 453 AB’s as a 23 year old, he looked like he might be as valuable as Beltran. Brandon Phillips, at 25, finally put it together and had a similar season as Febles’s ‘99 campaign with an 88 OPS+ and .751 OPS. So at that point, it wouldn’t have been unreasonable to have thought Carlos could have turned into an even better version of what Phillips became. And that would have been close to being as valuable as Beltran was.
setupunchtag - January 20, 2012
It was Luis Silverio’s daughter that married Berroa.
seelztlb - January 20, 2012
For some reason I don't remember him on the 2003 team
I thought he was gone after 2002? 2003 was the year Berroa tore it up at shortstop and Desi Relaford got off to a fluke start at 2B. Wasn’t Mendy Lopez the backup?
It’s sad to think this was our only quality ballclub……in 18 years. Depressing. Is 10:30 in the morning to early to start drinking???
Kim DeJesus - January 20, 2012
And then we had Ruben Gotay
Which for some reason I clung onto as the next Carlos Febles although he wasn’t nearly as highly touted.
RoyalsRetro - January 20, 2012
Retro
I’ve been reading you’re top 100 royals list and rusty meachem goes to ray sanchez, I just kinda wanted to see what you had to say about the guy and can’t.
Kansas City Keith - January 20, 2012
Try this
http://www.royalsreview.com/2007/6/26/124930/205
RoyalsRetro - January 20, 2012
This guy
didnt have shit on bip roberts
Kansas City Keith - January 20, 2012
Bip actually had some decent years if I remember correctly
May have been in the NL with the Padres or Reds.
Rufus R. Jones - January 20, 2012
I liked Bip
it could of been since i was 7 and thought he had a stupid name when he was here though.
Kansas City Keith - January 20, 2012
He's Smaller Than
I am, and he managed to not suck for 12 years in MLB. A .294 .358 .380 career line is very respectable.
philofthenorth - January 20, 2012
12 years?
I’m about to look up his career with the royals, thats an excellent line I guess I do remember him being a good player
Kansas City Keith - January 20, 2012
He had good years with both teams
Bip was a rule 5 and was aquired by the Royals from the padres via trade of wally joyner
Kansas City Keith - January 20, 2012
RoyalsRetro - January 20, 2012
Loved Bip.
Warden11 - January 20, 2012
Didn't he get in trouble once for throwing some firecrackers into a crowd of people?
Google is not my friend this morning. In any case, not as bad as shooting Karen Kornacki in the eye with a pellet gun.
OnixConcepcion - January 23, 2012
I Remember Vince
Coleman doing that.
philofthenorth - January 23, 2012
I blame Neifi Perez
Then again, I blame Neifi for just about everything that happened to the Royals during that stretch.
On the other hand, maybe having Neifi around is what made Febles look really good at the time. In 2002, Carlos F. had an OPS+ of 76….Neifi’s OPS+ was 44 (in 180 more PA’s! – and we paid 4.1 mil for that!).
aHorseWithNoName - January 20, 2012
I Followed The
Royals by newspaper in those days, so I thought he was good for a while. I was really surprised how quickly he disappeared. Now I see why.
philofthenorth - January 20, 2012
I remember when Dos Carlos was gaining steam, my dad said:
“Enjoy Febles now, the bubble’s going to pop soon enough.” I hate it when he’s right.
Dadunca - January 20, 2012
Love the post...
thank you. I wondered myself- after the Balboni talks- how good our past Royals really were. I remember Febles being much better, but if he was much better I wondered why he didn’t stick around. And hence the post. Who’s next? Michael Tucker? Brent Mayne? Darryl Motley? Tom Goodwin anyone? Were they actually ever good? I don’t know, that’s for sure. I know I remember Jeff Montgomery being a lot worse than he actually was. This site has changed the way I look at players. Perception is one thing, but what do the “real” stats say?
PhattStairs - January 20, 2012
Michael Tucker
http://www.royalsreview.com/story/2007/12/31/113610/16
Brent Mayne
http://www.royalsreview.com/2008/5/8/482638/the-100-greatest-royals-of
RoyalsRetro - January 20, 2012
I remember reading these but I think I paid more attention to the history and less whether they...
Were actually good are not. Superb work. Couldn’t enjoy them more.
PhattStairs - January 20, 2012
Carlos
was figured out by pitchers faster than Beltran- he had his Sophomore slump in the second half of his rookie season. He came back to play well in the first half of his second season, when he injured his shoulder and knee. (If my sometimes faulty memory is correct, it was on a collision with an outfielder) He came back and went great guns for about a week and a half and then re-tweaked his shoulder, and though he did not miss a game, I don’t think his shoulder was ever the same. His career triple slash when this happened was .270/.353/.405. I would take that any year at second. He also had nagging knee injuries the rest of his career after that, including a career ending one in the Red Sox org. after we cut bait.
He is a manager in the minors for the Red Sox now.
KHAZAD - January 21, 2012
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