Thursday, March 27, 2008

¡you-HAY-nee-oh!

Yes, it is Velez Time here at RMC. There isn't much to get excited about offensively, as we well know, but our boy Eugenio is, to borrow a phrase from JCP, a "human highlight film." What do we make of this? Does he have the chops to be an impact big-leaguer? Take a quick look at FanGraphs, they have a nice display that includes his stats from the minors and the "projections" of the various systems out there. They aren't particularly kind, they have him striking out too much and walking too little, with a high SB potential and no power. But I see a ray of light: he was a consistent .350 OBP guy in A and AA, then made the leap to the majors with little AAA service. He'll be 26 in May. Perhaps he is just at the cusp--finally putting it all together. If so, he could be a serviceable lead-off man, especially if he continues to improve, and the fact that he's a switch-hitter is a nice bonus. It seems painfully obvious that we have to ship Roberts and Durham. Velez can do both: lead off and play 2B. We have too many OFs, and Frandsen will be back next year to compete at 2B. Learn to say "you-HAY-nee-oh." And if you need some data overload, check out the "community projection" about Sr. Velez on McChronic.

1 comment:

JC Parsons said...

What really excites me about Velez is the ugly factor. This guy is almost, not quite...(dare I say it?)...he is just about as ugly as Willie McGee!!!!

I can't tell you how long I have waited for that kind of ugly.