Some of my colleagues already know that I despise Yuniesky Betancourt.

I often get asked why I dislike the Seattle Mariners shortstop; either that, or people give me curious looks that say: “He’s not that bad.”

Oh, but he is.

He’s an annoying baseball player who I will never appreciate, and here are the reasons why:

1. Betancourt is impatient at the plate.

This is perhaps the most obvious fact about the pudgy shortstop from Cuba. He averaged slightly more than 16 walks in his first three full seasons in the big leagues — which means he basically walked 3 percent of the time — and took his first free base of the 2009 season just a few days ago.

Betancourt also saw a hack-tastic 3.15 pitches per plate appearance last year, an MLB low. This means he swings at just about everything inside and outside the strike zone — not an effective strategy to succeed in the majors considering his most likely outcomes are “ground into double play” or “pop out to second baseman.”

All in all, Betancourt has managed a high-.200 batting average every year, but that’s about it. He doesn’t hit for power, he doesn’t get on base often, and he contributes nothing of value on offense for the Mariners.

2. Betancourt is now a below-average defender.

His defense is where people often think he redeems himself because Betancourt will make fancy plays from time to time that divert attention from his real problem.

When he first came up to the big leagues, he was touted as a player who had immense range, a quick and powerful arm and great potential to improve.

But instead, Betancourt added several pounds of muscle in order to hit for more power — that worked out, didn’t it? As a consequence, his range on the field has diminished greatly. Not only that, but Betancourt has committed plenty of errors in his career, culminating in one game this season when I witnessed him muff two plays in a row. I threw my arms up in disgust.

3. There are times when he shows flashes of brilliance that prevent the manager from benching him.

This is where Betancourt gets really annoying.

After he goes through a stretch of Mendoza-line hitting and terrible defense, the manager, Don Wakamatsu this year, threatens to take some action. But then Betancourt suddenly flips a switch and sprays doubles all over the field while making spectacular plays at short, preventing benching.

It’s almost as if Betancourt doesn’t care enough about how good he could be.

He clearly doesn’t care about taking the right approach at the plate. Coaches have tried to teach him for several years now.

He clearly doesn’t care about making a full effort on the field. Errors have mounted, and his range has disappeared.

And he most certainly doesn’t care enough to live up to the expectations bestowed upon him a few seasons ago. He’s done just enough to stay in a major-league lineup, but never any more.

Betancourt is the epitome of a lazy, unconcerned major-league baseball player and, at this point, is more useful on the bench than on the field.

Reach columnist Allen Wagner at sports@dailyuw.com.