Manny or Ortiz... strategy...

[intense]

Since OF is not nearly as deep as 1B this year, if you have the chance to pick betweem them, who would you take in a normal 5x5?

[J.C.Fighter]

I'd go with Manny but just by a hair ...

IDK how he does it ..
You can pretty much book him for 40+ homers and 125+ RBI's

[Gwyddbwyll]

Yeah Manny for me easily.

Ortiz is just as good and probably actually a more stable pick but the depth at 1B is far better than anywhere else. I just took Manny 5th overall and still got Giambi in the 15th round. He could notch 30 homers again. I also took Berkman (1b/OF) as insurance.

[ahorsefish]

I will go with Ortiz. Their numbers are indentical but Ortiz is more consistent(looking at monthly numbers). That's a plus in h2h.

[The Jury]

I will go with Ortiz. Their numbers are indentical but Ortiz is more consistent(looking at monthly numbers). That's a plus in h2h.

Nah, I checked the splits for the past 3-4 years and that it's a wash or Manny is a bit more consistent. You're probably looking mostly at last year - a year in which Manny had his struggles.

They'll very likely put up almost identical stats, Papi with maybe a couple more HR and RBI, Manny with a higher BA.

I'd take Manny based on position depth (LF or OF vs. 1B).

[CircleMeBert]

What would lead you to believe that Manny will hit for a higher average than Ortiz? Seems to me like Manny will be lucky to hit much higher than .300.

[dcskater619]

yeah, saying manny is going to have a better avg then ortiz should always be wrong. ortiz will hit over 300, manny will be in the 285-295 range...and their rbi/hr are very close. id say position is the only reason to take manny over ortiz (although i would take ortiz over manny personally)

[j_d_mcnugent]

yeah, saying manny is going to have a better avg then ortiz should always be wrong. ortiz will hit over 300, manny will be in the 285-295 range...and their rbi/hr are very close. id say position is the only reason to take manny over ortiz (although i would take ortiz over manny personally)

i think man ram will be over .300 and higher than ortiz. last year was the first year since 1998 that ramirez hit lower than .306. he was pretty unlucky in the first half (babip uncharateristically low) but batted .315 in the second half which is right in line with his career average. meanwhile ortiz is the career .280 batter. only with the red sox did he start hitting .300 and that is .300 even, not .300+. i'd be lying if i said i wasnt concerned about ramirez's downward trend, but i still think he is a better bet to hit over .300 than ortiz.

[BronXBombers51]

Manny's .292 average last year was as low as it has been since 1998. Here are his averages for the past 7 years...

2005: .292
2004: .308
2003: .325
2002: .349
2001: .306
2000: .351
1999: .333
1998: .294

So what leads you to believe Manny is no better than a .285-.290 hitter now? Even if Manny is in decline, he'll likely hit higher than he did last year, and I'd venture to guess around .310. I don't forsee a situation in which Ortiz tops last year. I see him regressing, while Manny bounces back from a down year.

Ramirez over Ortiz, and position scarcity has little to do with it.

[DevilDriver]

Manny's .292 average last year was as low as it has been since 1998. Here are his averages for the past 7 years...

2005: .292
2004: .308
2003: .325
2002: .349
2001: .306
2000: .351
1999: .333
1998: .294

So what leads you to believe Manny is no better than a .285-.290 hitter now? Even if Manny is in decline, he'll likely hit higher than he did last year, and I'd venture to guess around .310. I don't forsee a situation in which Ortiz tops last year. I see him regressing, while Manny bounces back from a down year.

Ramirez over Ortiz, and position scarcity has little to do with it.

The only reason Manny's batting average was "so low" was because he struggled in the first half. His second half numbers show me that he definitely is not declining. I expect 40/140/.300 this season.