12/21/10

2011 Baseball America Almanac, Ike Davis, Ronny Paulino, Jim Hickman, and Kaz Matsui

2011 Baseball America Almanac

NOW AVAILABLE. The 2011 Baseball America Almanac has all the major league news and statistics, plus so much more: complete minor league statistics, an overview of each organization's season, the minor league year in review, comprehensive college and high school coverage, a full recap of the 2010 draft and foreign and winter leagues as well as collegiate summer league coverage - .baseballamerica.  



Ike Davis:

Bill James, as well as the community at FanGraphs, project Davis to hit around .280 next season with 23 HR, 80 or so RBI and a .365 OBP. This reads about right to me, and is not far off of what he expects of himself.  There are fans who feel Ike will become more like Keith Hernandez or John Olerud. The thing is, he is not yet as patient at the plate as they were, nor do I expect him to reach their level of batting average. This is not to say he can’t or won’t become more disciplined. However, he has more power potential than Keith or Olerud, and so I’m OK with him continuing to be more aggressive, especially given the ballpark and the team’s need for power -

metsblog.  



Ronny Paulino:

Paulino is signed a one year contract, but it’s like a two year deal, as he’s still arbitration eligible for 2012. Solid insurance for Josh Thole, and has trade value because he’s signed for cheap and there is a perpetual shortage on catching help. -

patrickfloodblog  



Jim Hickman:

He’d knocked around the St. Louis system for six full years and had never gained an inning of major league exposure. Hickman had legitimate home run power, but struck out a lot and struggled to hit for average, and didn’t really have the range for center field. He projected as nothing better than a utility man. - hardballtimes.  



Kaz Matsui:

Kaz Matsui was the first Japanese infielder to sign with a major league team, when GM Jim Duquette signed him in 2003 amidst great fanfare, on the heals of the Yankees' having signed Japanese outfielder Hideki Matsui one year prior. Not only were the 2 players not related, but once again, the Yankees chose the "correct" Matsui, as their outfielder went on to play 7 great seasons for them and led them to a World Series victory. Kaz never quite lived up to Hideki's accomplishments - in fact, he never came close to being the player most fans and Met executives alike expected when he was originally signed - MM  

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