8 of the most hated Detroit Tigers players since 2000

Jose Valverde

One category of players that is always going to at least get consideration for these sorts of lists are high leverage relievers that make things way more interesting than fans would prefer. Case in point: Jose Valverde. On the surface, Valverde had a pretty nice four season run with Detroit with a 3.22 ERA with 119 saves in 226 appearances with the Tigers.

However, what is lost in those surface level numbers is the how Jose got to those numbers. His 4.0 BB/9 rate often resulted in a couple of free baserunners in the bottom of the ninth in close games and collectively giving Tigers fans heartburn. There were the inherited runners that Valverde let score after things had already gone sideways late in games. It was the wild inconsistency from game to game where you never knew which Valverde you were going to get. Even with all of the good Valverde did for Detroit, you won't find many fans longing for the days when he was closing out games.

Ryan Raburn

This is a funny one because Ryan Raburn is a classic case of a guy being hated for basically existing as an everyday player. Raburn actually was a reasonably useful player from 2007-2010 as he posted an .812 OPS in over 1,000 plate appearances. He hit a few home runs here and there, put up a couple decent seasons, and generally existed in the "he's fine" camp.

However, things changed when he became an everyday player. Not only did his OPS dip almost 100 points in 2011, but fans began noticing that having a guy that plays all the time being very meh was not desirable for a team that had real playoff aspirations. He also made some very questionable defensive plays including have a ball hit off his glove and go over the fence for a home run. No good team wants a Ryan Raburn-type clogging up the lineup, but that is exactly who Detroit had and Tigers fans were decidedly not fans of it.