I was distressed this morning when I read that Joe Kennedy
died. When you have played this game as
long as I have (and many of you have) it is always sad when a player dies. They are young, often with small
children. It is depressing. This was the first time that the player who
passed on was on my home team roster. The
Commissioner of my home league had a pretty nasty streak going of always owning
the dead player.
I drafted Kennedy in the 9th round of the 2006 draft. Obviously someone owned him previously and dropped
him. I picked him up as a lefty for my
bullpen. I’ve used him every year. This year I was going to use him as my
lefty-specialist. For a while, it looked
like he was going to be part of my rotation until he hit a rough patch and Oakland waived him.
I wish to offer his family my sympathy.
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This week I’m going to look at corner outfielders. As I talked about last week, I traditionally
don’t split left fielders from right fielders because in my league we use the
advanced outfield defense rules.
Travis Buck
2007 Role: Part Time Outfielder
Probable Defensive Rating: lf-4(+1), cf-4, rf-4
2008 Role: Possible Starting Left Fielder
Career: Starting Left Fielder
Classification: Prospect
The biggest question about Travis Buck is whether he will hit for
power. He started to show a little more
pop in his brief time in the Major Leagues.
He is compared to Rusty Greer, a left fielder who hit .280-.300 with
15-20 home runs. Defensively, he is
below average with a weaker arm. There
is spot for him on the team as it stands right now.
Billy Butler
2007 Role: First Baseman vs. Left-handed Pitchers
Probable Defensive Rating: lf-4(+2), 1b-4
2008 Role: Starting First Baseman
Career: Starting First Baseman
Classification: Prospect
I missed Billy Butler. He should
have been added to the first baseman.
Like I said, I don’t know how this is going to go. There is no question, Billy Butler can
hit. The only question was where would
he play? He is too young to be the
designated hitter. He was pretty
terrible in the outfield. Now, it looks
like first base. I would put him pretty
much equal with Daric Barton on the first base rankings.
Brett Carroll
2007 Role: Triple-A
Probable Defensive Rating: lf-3(-2), cf-4, rf-4
2008 Role: Possible Starting Right Fielder
Career: #4 Outfielder
Classification: Prospect
Power? Check. Arm?
Check. Strike Out? Check.
I don’t mind someone who strikes out a lot, if they take a walk. Carroll doesn’t. I think he will be a -3 on a regular basis,
but his inability to make contact means that he might not get a chance.
Kory Casto
2007 Role: Triple-A
Probable Defensive Rating: lf-4(+1), 1b-4
2008 Role: Possible Starting Left Fielder
Career: Possible Starting Left Fielder / #4 Outfielder
Classification: Prospect
Casto is the type of player who makes a ton of adjustments. When he had a chance to start in the Major
Leagues and didn’t find immediate success he kept on making adjustment after adjustment. When they sent him down, he kept on making
adjustments. Assuming he can get back on
track mentally, he’s a left-handed bat who could hit .280 with 20 homeruns and
a .370 on-base. That is if he gets
another chance.
Buck Coats
2007 Role: Triple-A
Probable Defensive Rating: lf-4(+1), cf-4, rf-4
2008 Role: #4 Outfielder
Career: #4 Outfielder
Classification: Non-Prospect
Coats is an asset on a Major League roster. A left-handed bat off the bench, he has a
good on-base and above average speed.
Power doesn’t matter when you are a pinch hitter. From a Strat perspective, you can find a
regular to do this job.
Ben Francisco
2007 Role: Backup Outfielder / Triple-A
Probable Defensive Rating: lf-3(-1), cf-4, rf-4
2008 Role: Possible #4 Outfielder
Career: #4 Outfielder
Classification: Non-Prospect
I know he had a breakout season in Triple-A, but I don’t really see
much difference between any of his previous seasons. He has power and speed to make him a possible
20/20 guy, but I don’t think he’d hit enough to keep the job.
Carlos Gomez
2007 Role: Pinch Runner
Probable Defensive Rating: lf-2(-2), cf-3, rf-2
2008 Role: Triple-A
Career: Starting Center Fielder
Classification: Prospect
Gomez is a Roto owner’s dream.
Speed! Stolen Bases! Gomez can be a Strat owner dream. Good center field defense! Very strong arm! Both the Twins and Nationals have talked with
the Mets about him. If the Mets are
willing to trade, then Gomez starts next year in the Major Leagues. If he stays with the Mets, he’s in Triple-A
to make up for the missed time he had due to a broken hand.
Nathan Haynes
2007 Role: Triple-A
Probable Defensive Rating: lf-4 (+1), cf-4, rf-4
2008 Role: Possible #4 Outfielder
Career: Possible #4 Outfielder
Classification: Non-Prospect
He had one heck of a season in Triple-A, hitting .386. Unfortunately, he’s 28 next year, so he’s not
a prospect. He might get a job as a #4
outfielder because he can hit and he’s left-handed.
Fred Lewis
2007 Role: Platoon vs. Right-handed Pitchers / Pinch Runner
Probable Defensive Rating: lf-3(-1), cf-4, rf-3
2008 Role: #4 Outfielder
Career: #4 Outfielder
Classification: Non-Prospect
He did hit for the cycle, so he’s got that going for him. He took up baseball late, and because of
that, he didn’t learn how to play well until he was too old. The Giants see him off the bench. He will have a nice card against
right-handers.
Paul McAnulty
2007 Role: Triple-A
Probable Defensive Rating: lf-4(+1), rf-4
2008 Role: Possible #4 Outfielder
Career: Possible #4 Outfielder
Classification: Non-Prospect
It’s another left-handed bat off the bench with good on-base and some
pop. Not worth drafting.
Dan Ortmeier
2007 Role: Backup Outfielder
Probable Defensive Rating: lf-3(0), cf-4, rf-4
2008 Role: Possible Backup Outfielder
Career: Backup Outfielder
Classification: Non-Prospect
This time it is a switch hitting backup outfielder. Ortmeier did hit pretty well. His card will be awkward. He hit right-handers for average and
left-handers for power. Still, he is too
old to have a meaningful career, so if you draft him, it will be for the card.
Nate Schierholtz
2007 Role: Backup Outfielder
Probable Defensive Rating: rf-4(-1)
2008 Role: Possible Starting Right Fielder
Career: Starting Right Fielder
Classification: Prospect
It’s a prospect! After all those
#4 outfielders, I wasn’t sure if I was going to see another prospect
again. Schierholtz has some sneaky power,
a strong arm, and a good bat. He plays
for the Giants, and is probably young enough to be the child of one of their regulars,
and not many people know about him. He
makes a good middle round pick.
Kevin Thompson
2007 Role: Roster Clog
Probable Defensive Rating: lf-3(+1), cf-4, rf-4
2008 Role: Possible #4 Outfielder
Career: Possible #4 Outfielder
Classification: Non-Prospect
Ick.
Justin Upton
2007 Role: Defensive Replacement / Pinch Runner
Probable Defensive Rating: rf-2(-2)
2008 Role: Starting Right Fielder
Career: Starting Center Fielder
Classification: Blue Chip Prospect
Justin Upton. He’s better than
his brother. He scores a 65 or more on
the scouting scale for every single tool.
He punished Double-A hitters at the age of 19. He held his own in the Major Leagues,
especially in the playoffs. He is the
real deal.
Corner Outfield Analysis
Not as deep as I thought it would be.
Justin Upton leads this class by a mile.
There is a pretty big drop off after him. Make sure you keep good notes and don’t
accidentally pick up one of the 26 year-old #4 outfielders that are clogging up
this position.
Corner Ranking
Grade A
1.) Justin Upton
Grade B
2.) Carlos Gomez
3.) Travis Buck
Grade C
4.) Steve Schierholtz
5.) Ben Francisco
6.) Brett Carroll
7.) Kory Casto
Next week I’ll starting attacking the starting pitchers. I’m not sure how I’m going to do that yet, so
you’ll have to wait and see. I hope
everyone had a wonderful Thankgiving. My
family’s is tomorrow and I’m hosting, so it is time to get back in the kitchen.
JP Kastner is the winner of the 2007
Strat-O-Matic Baseball Online Expert League World Series. In five seasons
of SOMBOE, JP Kastner has five winning seasons, four playoff appearances, three
World Series appearances and now one World Championship. He is in his
second season in the Tout Wars mixed league.