» 3B

First, I see David Wright during spring training as I live in Port Saint Lucie. The first thing everyone needs to know is he is the first player to show up in spring, usually one of the earliest to the spring traing facility, and usually one of the guys last to leave practice.

The Wright Stuff in 2009

It all depends on where in the line up he hits. He may hit 2nd if Reyes is moved to the 3rd slot in the line up. If that is the case, you may see a decrease in RBI production and see an increase in stolen bases and runs; a season more like 2006. His home run production is very high, his highest home run total is 33, but in the two slot he still will hit closer to 30 home runs rather than seeing an increase from last year. If the two slot is where he plays, I think his stats will be as follows: 310 avg, 31hr., and 110 RBI’s with approximately 35 stolen bases.

If Wright is in the 3 slot he will have more men on base on average so his RBI chances will increase and his batting average will certainly increase. His stats then will be: 320 avg, 35 hr., and 125 RBI’s with around 15 stolen bases.

His stats really depend on how well Luis Castillo plays because he will hit lead off if they move Reyes out of the lead of spot. Or if the Mets leave Reyes in the lead off slot and they bat Daniel Murphy in the two slot as they did near the end of last season which was very productive, Wright will produce certain numbers without help but generally players have big seasons when players in front of them get on base and they are followed in the line up by big or bigger bats(Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran).

The one thing for sure is this: David Wright is only going to get better! Players generally hit their full or peak baseball ability generally around 27-30 years old.

If David Wright has a season ending injury the answer to who will replace him at third is clear. Daniel Murphy is a natural third baseman, he played 3B until mid last year and was converted to a 2b then an outfielder so he could make the big club. If David Wright wasn;t in the Mets organization, Daniel Murphy might have already been at third base. Daniel Murphy would be a starting 3B on many big league clubs right now. Ramon Martinez also has played 3b during spring training and likely will either be on the big club as a part time player or be down in triple A awaiting a call up when someone needs a day off or injuries occur. He would be a back up on third either way. Also, I think Jose Valentin has played some third base in spring training and he may be doing so as a utility player option during the season if he makes the team.

Not So Fast Evan!

Evan Longoria was one of the best hitting prospects to come up in 2008, making a big splash in limited time for Tampa Bay.  He also rose to the occasion in October, doing serious clutch damage against numerous playoff pitchers.  In just 122 games during the regular season Longoria put up the following impressive numbers:

Fantasy Spin:  Great power potential from a less deep 3B position in ‘09 is the reasoning behind fantasy managers’ selection of Longoria in the middle of the 2nd round in drafts.  His exact ADP is 21 which is well ahead of Aramis Ramirez, Kevin Youkilis, Chipper Jones, and Chris Davis.  Longoria, at 23 years of age, is a great young hitter who is not expected to peak till another 4-5 years.  He’s always racked up his fair share of strikeouts with more than one K in every five at bats in the minor leagues.  This signifies he will not hit for a great average in 2009, so you are pretty much banking on 35+ homeruns when drafting him as early as he’s going.  Longoria further demonstrates one-dimensional abilities as his steal numbers is 2008 were flukish; he had only 8 in 758 minor league at bats. 

In addition, it was recently reported by Rotoworld.com that BJ Upton will be leading off for the Rays in ‘09.  This presents less RBI opportunites for Longoria as he will no longer hit behind the plate discipline guru Upton, who walked 97 times last year.  This does not do anything to boost Longoria’s value and should be the final straw bouncing him to the end of the 2nd or early 3rd round.

Hello, I am the new Twins author here at Major League Baseball Blog. In my posts i hope to inform you about Game Reports and other twins news such as Trades, Free Agent signings ETC.I hope you enjoy my posts as much as I enjoy writing them. This will be a learning process for me so bear through my first couple of posts as i try to get better, thanks.

Sincerely

Aaron Bickler

News:

After a Rather quiet off-season, the Twins look as good as ever with the Signing of 3B Joe Crede. The new deal which is worth 2.5 Mil Base Salary but has the potential to get the slugging Crede 7Mil in Incentives, these start once he reaches 250 or more at bats. The Twins are hoping that this will motivate Crede to stay healthy, after being plagued with back problems.

My Analysis: This move gets the twins what they needed most this off-season, a power bat. Better yet he bats right and will not have to face the Baggie in the Dome. This also makes the twins more like the standard AL team, with power at both corners of the Infield. The irony in all of this is we are hoping the man who ended our 2008 season with a HR off of Blackburn, will help take us to the world series in 2009.

Joe Crede signs with the Twins.