Pogotheostrich wrote:Fraud? Come on. The guy had a bad year and regressed some. Look past 2005. People wrote off Ensberg after 2004.
Enberg's problem last year was physical. He played through elbow problems all season that ruined his power. So I'm not sure that is an apples to apples comparison. Blalock had no physical ailment as far as I know.
Of course you don't point the finger at Tex as his overall numbers were insane. Blowlock's certainly were not despite playing half his games in a park that seriously inflates all hitting categories.
His road average during his career prove he's an ordinary hitter.
2005 .231
2004 .239
2003 .260
2002 .176
His drastic regression against lefties in 2005 should be especially worrying. He was terrible against them in 2002 and 2003 but appeared to turn that around in 2004. Not a good sign.
Don't get me wrong, he does have value, but only as a platoon player and only because of his home park. And for this reason, no way he is a Top 100 pick and in my opinion he is not even in the Top 12 3B.
As for upside, the trends I see do not look promising.
Think about where Gareth Atkins should be taken next year in drafts and put Blalock not that much higher.
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WittyC wrote:I have to argue that a sample size of 1,985 at bats, 624 of which had a miniscule L/R disparity, is far too small to infer a trend with fluctuations.
Even if he does turn out to be a righty-hitting specialist, he'll still have a spot on the roster. He'll lose AB's, but just like Trot Nixon, he's a great matchup player for fantasy purposes.
And I have to reiterate, that ballpark advantage is irrelavant for a fantasy discussion unless Blalock gets dealt. I mean, Teixiera hit 64 points better this year at home, but I don't see anyone pointing a finger at him.
I'm not sure where you get your numbers, but Blalock's never had a season major or mino rleague where he did not have at least a 100 point difference in his OPS versus lefties and righties.
You couple that with his home/road splits and you have a guy that you can only play for value on the road against righties. That's still decent numbers in the games he plays, but it's round 15 material, not round 5 because of the limited PT.
I've been hearing on the radio out here trades that would involve Brian Lawrence, Sean Burroughs, Hank Blalock, and a few minor leaguers.
I'll try to pay attention more the next time I hear it, but I wonder how much more Blalock's stock would tank if he came to Petco. Either way I think he's a decent sleeper at 3b.
davidmarver wrote:I've been hearing on the radio out here trades that would involve Brian Lawrence, Sean Burroughs, Hank Blalock, and a few minor leaguers.
I'll try to pay attention more the next time I hear it, but I wonder how much more Blalock's stock would tank if he came to Petco. Either way I think he's a decent sleeper at 3b.
No way, he'll be grossly over valued. How is that a decent sleeper?
If Blalock went to Petco he would not be worth drafting.
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New Zealand Fan wrote:Of course you don't point the finger at Tex as his overall numbers were insane. Blowlock's certainly were not despite playing half his games in a park that seriously inflates all hitting categories.
His road average during his career prove he's an ordinary hitter.
2005 .231 2004 .239 2003 .260 2002 .176
His drastic regression against lefties in 2005 should be especially worrying. He was terrible against them in 2002 and 2003 but appeared to turn that around in 2004. Not a good sign.
Don't get me wrong, he does have value, but only as a platoon player and only because of his home park. And for this reason, no way he is a Top 100 pick and in my opinion he is not even in the Top 12 3B.
As for upside, the trends I see do not look promising.
Think about where Gareth Atkins should be taken next year in drafts and put Blalock not that much higher.
All this talk about Blalock not able to hit on the road made me look this up. Can you guess which TEX player put up these mediocre numbers on the road?
Bottom line. Blalock is way too young to be written off when he has put together more good years than bad. One bad season should not label him as anything.
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Yoda wrote: All this talk about Blalock not able to hit on the road made me look this up. Can you guess which TEX player put up these mediocre numbers on the road?
Bottom line. Blalock is way too young to be written off when he has put together more good years than bad. One bad season should not label him as anything.
Teixeira.
An OPS of 1.00 at home and .8 on the road is very different from an OPS of .900 at home and .700 on the road. That's equivalent to the difference between Paul Konerko and Shea Hillenbrand.
I don't think anybody is writing him off, but there's no doubt that his value is limited by his inability to hit lefties and his home/road splits.
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by rlee » Mon Oct 10, 2005 3:09 pm 
