Anyone think Beltre or Ol. Perez cracks this undynamic trio list? All 3 have all but taken themselves off keeper lists for 2006, though Beltran and Thome have a shot at bouncing back in the 2nd half imo.
I'd take Furcal off because of his stolen bases. Beltre and Oliver should definitely be mentioned there. I think Thome could improve second half if the offense around him stays hot and they're in contention. Beltran's numbers without the stolen bases aren't bad, but definitely not top 5 pick good.
Agree on Furcal - outside of BA, he's living up to what I would have expected (and has stolen more bases than I expected).
As for Thome, if healthy, he could bounce back.
As for Beltran, I agree that, based on expectations of being a Top 5 pick, if he doesn't pick up the SB pace and soon, he'll end up being a disappointment.
But I agree most with Beltre being a bust. Until recently, he didn't have the injury excuse Thome had - and now that his hammy is bothering him, I'm not sure how much time he'll have fully healthy to try and reach the numbers many expected when he was made a 2nd round pick.
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Furcal is not hitting 260...he is hitting 220...he is an avg cat killer and his extra few SBs are not making up for his Enrique Wilson-like avg.
Thome has been hurt, but has been almost as bad.
Beltran is not only posting a 1 in the SB column, but his HR and rbi production are that of a fantasy 5th OF. He is a HUGE bust so far. That could change, but right now, he may be the biggest flop of them all without significant injury time for an excuse.
i have no idea what you expected from frucal, but he's got 2/3 of the SB i thought he'd get in 1/3 the time.
and his periferals arn't bad. i'll grant that he kills your BA, but how can you argue with the NL lead in SB??
we're talking a 100R, 15HR, 75RBI, 60+SB pace here.
his BA bits the big one (especially when you consider he's had 263 ABs. take a walk, furky!!), but i still wouldn't call him a "top 3" bust. beltran, OTOH, has underperformed in every category (at least by most people's estimation ), and has no excuse. as for fucal, he's just been hurt and playing through, and that's not really something that's predictable.
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I agree with the Furcal comments. My expectations weren't particularly high for him to begin with, so if he's kicking ass in one category then he's no dog in my book.
Thome's been terrible, but given that Todd Helton was picked before him in most leagues, I'm not sure you could say Thome has been a bigger bust. At least Thome has given his owners some reason to dream from time to time. My only dreams with Helton lately have involved my hands around his throat.
Beltran...man, it's gotta be brutal to have spent a top choice on him. Especially when you know so much of his value decline is entirely managerial discretion. Even the sabremetrics guys will say you should steal bases when you can do it at the percentage Beltran did last year. I don't know what the story is there.
You can't compare Beltre's decline to guys like Beltran, Helton, and Thome. Most of us predicted Beltre was going to crash and burn this year. Maybe not to the extent that he did, but a return to mediocrity is no big surprise here.
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by TheYanks04 » Mon Jun 20, 2005 1:39 pm 
), and has no excuse. as for fucal, he's just been hurt and playing through, and that's not really something that's predictable.
