Troy Glaus - This guy can hit, but
he really knows how to find the DL as well, surgery on his Right Rotator
Cuff last year and appears to be heading into camp fully healed.
He is entering the final year of his contract and he will play through
some pain if it arises this year.
Shawn
Green - He played through a lot of pain last year and had surgery on
his right shoulder during the off-season. He is expected to be fully
healed by the start of camp. No reason to think he is done
yet. He did bring his average to .316 in the 2nd half last season.
Phil
Nevin - We don't have to say much here in just a limited 59 games
from late July thru September he did hit .279 and 13 home runs. Now with
Giles, Payton and Klesko all hitting around him he will have a very nice
year in the new stadium.
Carlos Lee - Does this guy get no
respect. He only average 27 HRs his last 3 years and 24 HRs
his first 5 seasons, and 3 of the 5 years he topped 10 steals including
18 last year and 17 in 2001. I don't expect him to he .290
again this year but .275+ is certainly obtainable. Given that he
could very well hit second ahead of Frank Thomas and Magglio Ordonez
won't hurt as he finished the 2nd half of last season hitting in that
slot and finished with 17 HRs 10 SBs and a .325 average. He is
still an easy person to overlook but you shouldn't.
Craig
Wilson - Will qualify at 1B, OF and YES catcher in most
leagues. Start out slow last year but finished the 2nd half
hitting .278 with 14 home runs over his last 58 games. Should show
good power 25-30 home runs, 80+ runs batted in and will be around the
.280 mark. So, obviously if he qualifies at a catcher in your
league he is likely a top 10 at that position but will likely only
qualify at 1B next year depending how the Pirates do, they could still
ship Kendall off to San Diego and use Wilson along with J.R. House to
finish the season out at the catcher spot.
Jeremy
Burnitz - Power Hitter in the Mile High City do I really need to
explain this one? If so, he has always shown he can high for power
but his average has always put him into platoon situations. The
best way to fix that is to go somewhere that will allow you to hit it
out alot! He picked the right team to sign with.
Adrian
Beltre - Showed his power stroke at the end of last season with 17
second half HRs, He has the talent and is just starting to figure things
out. A big wild card with Adrian is the interest by the Yankees,
if their current crop of ML invitees don't pan out.
Paul
Konerko - After struggling mightily the first half he rebound in the
2nd half to hit 13 HRs and a .275 average. He won't struggle get
off to the bad start this year and hitting behind the big 3 in Chicago
(Lee, Thomas, Ordonez) he should get plenty of RBI opportunities, unless
he is traded to LA.
Marcus Giles
- He just keep putting up good numbers and finished out 2003 on a good
upswing .345 and 13 homers the 2nd half. Hitting ahead of the
Jones's and possibly Drew, when healthy enough to play, he should still
see some good pitches and score some runs, Atlanta expecting the hitters
numbers to drop off just a bit with Sheffield gone makes Giles a good
sleeper at a very weak Second Base position.
Joe
Crede - Dang my 3rd White Sox on this list. And probably one
of the best young talents at 3B had a superb 2nd half hitting .308 and
11 homers definitely will give him more then enough at bats to make a
statement this year.
Larry
Bigbie - A case of a big swinger that did pretty well after a
relatively slow start last year. Once taking over LF last season,
he did hit .323 with 8 home runs in his last 60 games and 220 at
bats. Has a little bit of speed, will top 10 for the year and will
be a part in the rebuilding of the Orioles for the next couple of years.
Lance
Nix/Eric Young - Likely the winner of the center field job in Texas,
depending on who wins the 2nd base job with Michael Young, Nix put up
some good late season numbers (8 hrs, .260 avg) as a fill in for Juan
Gonzalez after he was hurt. He is a free swinger with 53 Ks
in 53 games last year, it the old adage "but if he connects, watch
out!" While Eric Young just stole 27 bases while usually
getting on ahead of Barry Bonds last year, he should get more
opportunities to run with Texas.
Danny
Kolb - RP Mil - 21 saves after the break, do I really need to say
much else?
Joe Nathan - RP Min -
Will fly under most peoples radar how have based there draft sheets on
previous years only. He is slated to be the Closer in Minnesota
and unless he really struggles he will likely stay there. He
handled setting up and middle relief very well last but can he convert
that to Saves? He'll get close to 30!
Refeal
Soriano - RP SEA - This kid can really throw and will get a lot of
opportunities to pick up some late game wins and possibly even start a
few games. He looked pretty impressive in the Caribbean Series
last month while starting a number of games.
Jake
Peavy - SP SD - Shut people down the 2nd half allowing opposing
hitters to only hit .216 off of him. Good Strikeouts and keeps his WHIP
rather low which can only add up to good things, especially with a
beefed up offense to give him some run support
Brett
Myers - SP Phil - Nasty Curve Ball, not Zito Nasty but he is getting
there. He had a very good 1st half last year and tired down the
stretch, should see plenty of run support and a quality bullpen can't
hurt!
Bill Mueller - I am sure he is
going to try to prove us all wrong that last year wasn't a fluke, but
get real. 33 years old and only the 4th time in his 9 year career that
he topped 400 at bats, is a good sign an injury is due to pop up
again. If he struggles this year Boston will try to see if Kevin
Youkilis is as good and he is supposed to be as well. Stay clear
until late he is a good hitter for average when given the opportunity.
Juan Encarnacian - 20/20 threat
that hits .270 doesn't sound bad right? But he only hit 7 HRs and
.250 after the break last year and he is moving to one on the best
pitching parks in the league. Steals may come up a little but
hitting a the end of the Dodgers lineup with no protection he won't too
many HRs until they go to Coors in the summer (but who doesn't).
John
Olerud - You can't blame all of lost production on Seattle can
you? 10 homers and a .269 average for the entire year. What
happened? He is 35 years old and on the down side of his
career. Don't expect any power out of him and the average just
keeps on dropping. Stay clear!
Kazuhiro
Sasaki - RP SEA - Stay in Japan with his family and turns down $9
Million! WOW, I'm confident he won't return.
Tom
Glavine - SP NYM - Never should have left Atlanta, but it didn't
really matter, now at 38 Glavine it finishing up his career, and doesn't
have a fast ball that scares anyone.
