Blalock vs. Rolen vs AROD vs Chavez

[Absolutely Adequate]

I don't see how people can project a .30 point jump for Chavez. Yes, Rolen did it. But Rolen has been favorably impacted by the more to St. Louis.

Chavez is stuck in Oakland in a horrible hitters park with no hitters around him. There is no way he hits above .280

Durazo, Byrnes, Kotsay and Kendall can all hit. Bobby Crosby is on his way up, as is Nick Swisher. And Scott Hatteberg knows how to get on base. I think Oakland's offense has been mightily underrated here.

[The Jury]

I don't see how people can project a .30 point jump for Chavez. Yes, Rolen did it. But Rolen has been favorably impacted by the more to St. Louis.

Chavez is stuck in Oakland in a horrible hitters park with no hitters around him. There is no way he hits above .280

Durazo, Byrnes, Kotsay and Kendall can all hit. Bobby Crosby is on his way up, as is Nick Swisher. And Scott Hatteberg knows how to get on base. I think Oakland's offense has been mightily underrated here.

I respect you for your defending your stance on this issue, but that list of hitters did make me chuckle The dudes around Rolen are far superior to the dudes around Chavez. I'd stay away from arguing that Chavez has good support around him...

[Absolutely Adequate]

Maybe you're right, Jury. But all that really matters to me are that Kotsay continues to get on base at a .370 clip, Kendall at a .400 clip, and that Durazo hits like he did last year. And if Durazo doesn't drive in Chavez, at least Hatteberg will put the ball in play.

I'm not saying that the surrounding cast is better than St. Louis, but I am saying that they aren't scrubs like Green Monster Goon implied. Oh, and if I'm choosing a home park to hit in - I'd choose Oakland above St. Louis. Over the last three years, Oakland is a far better hitters park than St. Louis.

[The Jury]

Maybe you're right, Jury. But all that really matters to me are that Kotsay continues to get on base at a .370 clip, Kendall at a .400 clip, and that Durazo hits like he did last year. And if Durazo doesn't drive in Chavez, at least Hatteberg will put the ball in play.

I'm not saying that the surrounding cast is better than St. Louis, but I am saying that they aren't scrubs like Green Monster Goon implied. Oh, and if I'm choosing a home park to hit in - I'd choose Oakland above St. Louis. Over the last three years, Oakland is a far better hitters park than St. Louis.

Well okay, but Chavez will likely outhomer Rolen anyways. It's all the other categories than Rolen outdoes Chavez in that makes Rolen better.

[LBJackal]

Chavez is stuck in Oakland in a horrible hitters park with no hitters around him. There is no way he hits above .280

Oakland plays in a hitter's, Busch is a pitcher's park. If you're going to compare ballparks, they heavily favour Chavez, especially for HR's.

Since Rolen was way above his norms in almost every category last year, and Chavez was injured and missed a lot of time, people are saying Rolen will be a lot better... but I really doubt it. Look at Rolen's splits:

Pre ASB - .342 BA
Post ASB - .276 BA

66 points better before the break. Which one would you assume to be his normal BA? His post-ASB numbers which are right in line with his career numbers? Or his crazy first half which he's never come close to in his 8 year career?

And Jury, Oakland's hitters may not be flashy but they get on base. OBA is what matters, BA is meaningless compared to OBA - with regards to how good the hitters ahead of you are such as with Oakland.

[Dodgers13]

Has Glaus really fallen this far...........

[GreenMonsterGoon]

I had to call the paramedics to get a ventilator. I was laughing so hard.....

Kendall, Durazo, Kotsay, and Hatteberg...

Pujols, Edmonds, Walker, Sanders.....


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.......

[Bukoski77]

Last year he was able -for the first time ever - to his lefties and righties equally well. Give him a full season and he'll hit .310 with 40 homers and 115 rbis.

So....You have Chavez improving .33 points on his 7 YEAR CAREER AVG. And giving him 6 more HR than his BEST year ever (assuming he can play more than 153 games, which he did that year), and would also top his career high in RBI.

I've rarely seen a veteran of that many years show that drastic an average shift and I don't see how he will improve in every category with next to no protection in the awful lineup that he hits in.

If injuries would quit slowing him down he could. In 2002 he had 17HR and 65 RBI batting 7th after the all-star break when returning from injury.

He actualy has more protection now then he did then. I think his average ceiling is .290 unless he somehow improves even more against lefties but he is still growing as a player.

[Absolutely Adequate]

I had to call the paramedics to get a ventilator. I was laughing so hard.....

Kendall, Durazo, Kotsay, and Hatteberg...

Pujols, Edmonds, Walker, Sanders.....


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.......

I don't think you're really following the thread of conversation, tiger.

[Skippyoz]

1. My answer to the original:
A: Alex Rodriguez
B: Eric Chavez
C: Scott Rolen
D: Hank Blalock

2. A lot of the conversation has gone into Chavez. Some may feel that he can't "jump" stats by a few homers and rbi and avg seeing how he has been in the league for so long. Take a look at Mora... he set career highs in R, HR, RBI, and AVG and he had been an veteran. He's mentioned in this thread all over the place, and he has really had only one good year. Anyway, not my point... Chavez is about 27 years old, and should hit for 100R, 35 HR, 100 RBI, 8 SB, and a .285 AVG. Pretty much right in line with what Rolen has been doing (prior to last year where he hit over .300 for the first time in his career). Man those third basemen must be juiced.

3. No one has mentioned David Wright in this conversation yet... he's not top 8? I take him over Mora/Lowell/Chipper.