Dwight Evans Agrees With Similarities Drawn With Jayson Werth, Thinks He Would Fit in Boston

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Nov 29, 2010

Outfielder Jayson Werth has been described as the second coming of great Red Sox right fielder Dwight Evans by his agent, Scott Boras. According to WEEI.com, Evans thinks the comparison isn’t far off.

Werth is a free agent this winter after being with the Phillies for the past four years, and his agent is attempting to get the money he believes the outfielder is worth. One of the ways Boras has been trying to do so is in his comparison between Werth and Evans.

WEEI.com’s Alex Speier points out that one of the main reasons why Boras has chosen to compare his client to Evans is due to the similar statistics they share from ages 28 to 31 and that Evans stayed healthy and productive for his entire career up until he retired at age 39.

Evans was a three-time All-Star, eight-time Gold Glove winner and finished in the top ten in the American League MVP voting four times. He played 20 seasons in the majors from 1972 to 1991, 19 with the Red Sox and one with the Baltimore Orioles in ’91.

Boras isn’t the only one that sees the Werth-Evans comparison as spot-on. Evans himself has explained that Werth is the “best all-around right fielder in the game today.”

“I look at this guy, and I kind of see myself a little bit in the way he approaches the game, the way he struts, the way he walks, his mannerisms, the way he goes about his job,” Evans told WEEI.com. “You can see he loves the game. He’s passionate about his position.”

Before even comparing his statistics to Werth’s, Evans acknowledged that the former Phillies right fielder is doing all the right things.

“I think, not having known that we were comparable in stats and all that, just watching this kid, seeing him play a little bit, mostly on TV and in interleague play, I just love everything he does,” Evans told WEEI.com. “He, to me, is the best all-around right fielder in the game today. That’s my feeling. I felt that way before knowing that we were [compared by Boras].”

Speier compiled statistics from both Werth and Evans from ages 28 to 31, and the numbers are very similar.

Jayson Werth: 543 games, .282/.380/.506/.885, 95 HR, 300 RBI, 60 SB, 131 OPS+
Dwight Evans: 544 games, .274/.380/.496/.876, 94 HR, 287 RBI, 12 SB, 135 OPS+

Werth battled injuries early in his major league career, but his stats have resembled Evans’ since then, and Werth has posted better numbers than Evans in all categories except OPS+ (OPS compared to the league average). Evans did not have one bad thing to say about Werth after taking a closer look at the statistics.

“I think he’s the best pure outfielder and all-around player on the market today,” Evans concluded to WEEI.com. “I would go so far as to say I think, as a right fielder, he’s the best in the game right now.”

Evans was Boston’s hitting coach in 2002 and now is a Red Sox player development consultant working with minor leaguers. The former Red Sox legend wouldn’t mind seeing Werth in Boston.

“It looks like he loves to play and he loves the game, just his physical makeup and the way he walks,” Evans told WEEI.com. “He would fit in with [Dustin] Pedroia and [Kevin] Youkilis very well. That’s just my feeling. I would love to see him in a Red Sox uniform.”

Werth has Dwight Evans’ seal of approval. Time will tell if the Red Sox can make a deal with Boras to sign the outfielder.

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