EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted November 3, 2004 This is the interesting position in the free agency market, with a ton of useful players available. 1. Nomar Garciaparra 2. Edgar Renteria 3. Christian Guzman 4. Omar Vizquel 5. Orlando Cabrera 6. Jose Valentin 7. Rich Aurilia 8. Royce Clayton 9. Barry Larkin 10. Alex Gonzalez Nomar Garciaparra had a poor season by his standards, lowering his value. He is a potential bargain. Garciaparra holds a .322 career batting average, third among active players. His four most similar batters at his age are in the Hall of Fame. He still has quite a few years left. I think the Angels, Mariners, and White Sox will show interest. Edgar Renteria had a subpar year, posting just a 287/327/401 line. Still, he has hitting potential, speed, and he is a superior defender. At 29, he could be an excellent long term investment. Christian Guzman is just entering his prime years, which could mean a boost to his offensive numbers. But his key is his defense, which is excellent. Guzman is an option for teams looking to improve defensively, and at 27, he is the youngest player out there. Omar Vizquel had a good year offensively, boosting his value. His offense will decline, and his defense is just average at this point. Still, he can make a nice fill in for a season. Orlando Cabrera is overrated. He boasts a gaudy .316 career OBP, and he turns 30 next season. He is good on defense, but you can find that anywhere. Based on the Red Sox' title, someone will likely overpay for his services. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Smell the ratings!!! Report post Posted November 3, 2004 the White Sox look like the're going to go with first ballot Hall of Famer Juan Uribe at short. arg. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted November 3, 2004 Uribe posted a .327 OBP and .506 Slugging percentage last season, at the age of 24. He's also above average defensively. You could do a LOT worse. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vern Gagne 0 Report post Posted November 3, 2004 With Jason Bartlett waiting in the wings for the Twins. Expect a 1 year stop gap with someone like Vizquel. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest cpac Report post Posted November 3, 2004 This is one of the better crop of players available. It is going to be interesting to see what Boston, St. Louis, Chicago and whomever else do. I would love to see where Nomar is going to end up he must be killing himself right now for sulking and crying himself off a World Series team. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Smell the ratings!!! Report post Posted November 3, 2004 he's definatly good defensively, I'll grant you that, but I'm always afraid of Beltre years. At least he's not Nefi Perez I guess. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Slayer 0 Report post Posted November 3, 2004 Definitely a buyer's market for shortstops this year Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MikeJordan23 0 Report post Posted November 3, 2004 Uribe posted a .327 OBP and .506 Slugging percentage last season, at the age of 24. He's also above average defensively. You could do a LOT worse. Get Fuzzy's got to be the best comic strip going now. That is all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Man in Blak 0 Report post Posted November 3, 2004 Uribe posted a .327 OBP and .506 Slugging percentage last season, at the age of 24. He's also above average defensively. You could do a LOT worse. Orlando Cabrera is overrated. He boasts a gaudy .316 career OBP, and he turns 30 next season. Not to take the thread off course, but what would you consider to be a "good" OBP? How would you rank OBP scores? (i.e. most people would consider .260 to be an mediocre batting average, whereas .300 is considered good) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bored 0 Report post Posted November 3, 2004 This year the league averages for OBP was .336 in the A.L. and .329 in the N.L. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dr. Tom 0 Report post Posted November 3, 2004 Uribe posted a .327 OBP and .506 Slugging percentage last season, at the age of 24. He's also above average defensively. You could do a LOT worse. Orlando Cabrera is overrated. He boasts a gaudy .316 career OBP, and he turns 30 next season. Not to take the thread off course, but what would you consider to be a "good" OBP? How would you rank OBP scores? (i.e. most people would consider .260 to be an mediocre batting average, whereas .300 is considered good) I'm not trying to answer for Al here, but what I see when I look at those numbers is this: Cabrera, in the prime of his career, has a .316 lifetime OBP, which is bad. Uribe, who is young and still improving at the big-league level, posted a .327 OBP last year (to go along with a pretty decent SLG), and has plenty of time to improve on that mark. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted November 3, 2004 Exactly, Tom. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
