Fransden is done for the year so I think he starts. Hes been the most exciting player in that organization all spring and they have no reason not to start him. With regular ABs I can see .280 and 40+ SB.
Velez will give you steals. He'll also give you som-err oh wait, he can't give you anything. Poor walk rate, poor average(oh yes, it will be exposed wildly in the year), extremely poor power(not great power+giants home ballpark, ugly aint it?), poor walk rate will all add up to him being a speed guy and only a speed guy. Oh and his R/RBI will be bad, regardless of where he hits. He might look like he's helping your team with all those steals, but when you look deeper, he'll be hurting your team by double, and it becomes even more noticeable in a H2H league.
I picked him up and is currently sitting on my bench. I think he could potentially be a big sleeper for this year. He did hit 14 HRs and 90 RBI along with 64 SB at Single-A 2 years ago. Granted he was a 24 yr old at the time and was playing against mostly 21-22 year olds.
However, from the small sampling in ST, he has shown thus far that he might do a little more than just be stolen base machine.
If you temper your expecatations, and realize that his main value is in steals, then he might make for a great bench player, especially in H2H. I mean, let's say its Thu and you could really use a few steals to take the category for the week. I don't see how plugging him in for a couple of days will really hurt you if he does in fact start.
For the season, if he gets regular playing time, I could see him doing something like .260 with 40-50 SBS.
I went to the A's - Giants exhibition game Saturday, and Velez was about the only bright spot on the SF team. First time I'd seen him at all (mostly just listen on the radio), and his speed definitely impressed me. He hit into a fielder's choice his first AB and got a single the second time up. Both times he promptly stole second off of Duchscherer and Suzuki, and it wasn't even close. Also made a nice defensive play. With Durham hurting and no real 3B on the team (Rich Aurelia, Jose Castillo ), I could see Velez getting 350-400 ABs, with a minimum of 35 SB.
Right now hes behind Durham at 2nd. He doesn't really have a position defensively. He's kindof a butcher in the field, often booting the routine play. At one spring game I was at, they even had him taking fly balls in the outfield.
He'll see some time especially with the off days Durham needs and his propensity for getting hurt. Speedwise, there are few in the game that can run like this guy. Physically he's all skin and bone. If he could hit a little and play average defense, he could steal 60 bags in his sleep.
When he plays, he will get plenty of steals, but thats still an "IF". The giants, atleast to start the season, are going with the old guys they gave too much money. That means Dave Roberts, Randy Winn, Ray Durham, and Rich Aurillia will all see plenty of time. As the season goes on, he will get more time, as will Freddy Lewis and Raja Davis.
But as others said, he is only steals, thats it. And this he will get very inconsistent time in field(atleast until Durham hits the DL), I don't know if I'd pick him up yet, but if you're really desperate for SBs, I'd definitely keep an eye on him, and as the aging giants proceed through the year, he will get more time.
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by tomahawks » Fri Mar 28, 2008 4:56 pm 
), I could see Velez getting 350-400 ABs, with a minimum of 35 SB.
