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After hitting .286 with a home run and 10 stolen bases this spring, Carlos Gomez was told that he’d won the job as the opening day center fielder for the Minnesota Twins.

Gomez is expected to hit leadoff and should show some real fantasy baseball value in the stolen base category. He’s averaged 44 stolen bases per year over the last three seasons.
photo credit: prth8machine

Joe Torre has made it abundantly clear that the Dodgers are going to manufacture runs this year. He plans on doing this by taking chances on the basepaths this season. This new strategy was reinforced in a recent Spring Training game:

Ultimately, the only action they forced was a 10-4 loss to the Washington Nationals, a game in which the Dodgers didn’t get a hit until the seventh inning. But they also manufactured a run before Nationals starter Mike O’Connor recorded a single out, manufactured another by the end of the first inning and finished the afternoon with five walks and four stolen bases.

Now that we know Joe Torre’s master plan <g>, which Dodger is really going to benefit from this? My first thought is Juan Pierre.

Three walks were drawn by the notoriously non-walk-drawing Juan Pierre, who is beginning to appear entrenched in the leadoff spot, with Rafael Furcal hitting behind him.

Early fantasy drafters have been cautious about drafting Pierre as we weren’t sure if he would be in a platoon situation or not. His ADP is 107.52 (late 9th round) which is almost 1% better than his ADP two weeks ago. If Pierre is going to be given more opportunities to be aggressive on the basepaths due to him drawing more walks and the new Dodger philosophy of manufacturing runs, is it possible for him to swipe more than 64 bases, which was his stolen base total from last season?
photo credit: zerorules677

We’re a few weeks into Spring Training and Mariners outfielder, Ichiro Suzuki is without a hit. In seven games he’s 0-21 with an RBI. The interesting point about Ichiro’s hitless streak is that he doesn’t care.

“To tell you the truth, some of this is kind of fun,” Ichiro said, speaking through translator Ken Barron. “To be in a situation this early in spring training, and have this bit of an intense environment, it’s something I couldn’t experience before.

“Basically, it’s a situation where I need to battle within myself mentally. That’s something I haven’t experienced this time of year, and I get to experience that right now. That is something that is great for me.”

So rejoice, Mariners fans. Ichiro, as usual, is in full control of the situation. The more outs, the merrier. All hail the weak grounder! Power to the pop fly!

Looking a little more intensely into his stats shows that he hasn’t struck out at all in his 21 at-bats. He’s making contact, and sooner or later those balls are going to start squirting through.

Since balls started flying in Florida and Arizona, Ichiro has been firmly entrenched near the back end of the second round in mock drafts. Two weeks ago his ADP was 22.45. Last week his ADP was 22.81 and right now it’s 22.98. Not too much movement for a guy who can’t buy a hit right now.

Apparently, neither Ichiro nor mock draft participants really care about his hitless streak. So, until the regular season begins, join me, and Ichiro, in hoping that none of his batted balls land in fair territory.

UPDATE, 3-14-08 at 08:43: Of course, as soon as I start the spring 2008 Hitless Ichiro campaign he beats out an infield single to crush all my hard work.

photo credit: BobbyProm

Is it possible for a player to breakout in consecutive seasons? It just might be for Rockies outfielder, Brad Hawpe. In 2007, Hawpe raised his home run total by almost 25% (27 compared to 22 in ‘06) and drove in 116, which was almost 28% more than his 2006 season. What does Hawpe have left to do?

The simple answer is that he has to hit left handed pitchers. Let’s take a look at his lefty/righty splits from ‘07.

• vs. RHP - .315/.418/.585 24 HR 94 RBI 1.20 K:BB
• vs. LHP - .214/.283/.397 5HR 22RBI 4.00 K:BB

If you take a look at a few of Hawpe’s projections for 2008, it doesn’t look like he’ll take another big step.

• Bill James - .295 27 HR 105 RBI
• Marcel - .286 21HR 89 RBI
• CHONE - .276 24 HR 78 RBI

However, Brad Hawpe has worked out a ton in the off-season. He only took one week off after the World Series and has been working out six days a week at Shawn Morgan’s Cooperstown Rockies facility in Dallas. Coming into camp this spring, Hawpe looks to be in great shape and has packed on 10 extra pounds of muscle.

If Hawpe’s extra weight and extra time in the batting cages this winter don’t increase his numbers against lefty pitching, you can bet that he won’t add on to his 2007 numbers. In fact, if his lefty splits don’t increase, he may start splitting time with Ryan Spilborghs, who mashes left handed pitching.

Keep an eye on Hawpe every time he hits against a left handed pitcher this spring. If he’s still inept against southpaws, you may want to downgrade Hawpe as he might become a platoon player with Spilborghs. If he’s learned a bit this winter and shows success, you might want to think All-Star with some upside from 2007.

New Cincinnati Reds manager, Dusty Baker has his hands full with his team’s center field situation. The Reds have three players competing for the CF job, and top prospect, Jay Bruce may not like the results.

The problem is that the Reds also need a leadoff man. Baker would like whoever wins the CF job to also be the teams leadoff hitter. Bruce’s other competitors (Ryan Freel & Norris Hopper) are a better fit for the leadoff slot, but that in itself won’t kill Bruce’s chances of every day play at the start of 2008.

Baker has also suggested that the Reds are still looking outside the organization for a leadoff/CF. Their prime target right now is Kenny Lofton. If the Reds sign Lofton, Jay Bruce may start the season in the minors.

Take a look at the top 20 National League fantasy outfielders as they head into the 2008 season.

1. Matt Holliday | Colorado Rockies
2. Alfonso Soriano| Chicago Cubs
3. Carlos Beltran | New York Mets
4. Carlos Lee | Houston Astros
5. Adam Dunn | Cincinnati Reds
6. Eric Byrnes | Arizona Diamondbacks
7. Chris Young | Arizona Diamondbacks
8. Hunter Pence | Houston Astros
9. Cory Hart | Milwaukee Brewers
10. Brad Hawpe | Colorado Rockies
11. Andruw Jones | Los Angeles Dodgers
12. Jason Bay | Pittsburgh Pirates
13. Shane Victorino | Philadelphia Phillies
14. Juan Pierre | Los Angeles Dodgers
15. Jeff Francoeur | Atlanta Braves
16. Ken Griffey Jr. | Cincinnati Reds
17. Matt Kemp | Los Angeles Dodgers
18. Pat Burrell | Philadelphia Phillies
19. Aaron Rowand| San Francisco Giants
20. Jeremy Hermida | Florida Marlins

Here are the top 20 American League fantasy baseball outfielders heading into the 2008 season.

1. Carl Crawford | Tampa Bay Rays
2. Grady Sizemore | Cleveland Indians
3. Ichiro Suzuki | Seattle Mariners
4. Vladimir Guerrero | Los Angeles Angels
5. B.J. Upton | Tampa Bay Rays
6. Alex Rios | Toronto Blue Jays
7. Curtis Granderson | Detroit Tigers
8. Magglio Ordonez | Detroit Tigers
9. Manny Ramirez | Boston Red Sox
10. Bobby Abreu | New York Yankees
11. Nick Markakis | Baltimore Orioles
12. Torii Hunter | Los Angeles Angels
13. Vernon Wells | Toronto Blue Jays
14. Hideki Matsui | New York Yankees
15. Nick Swisher | Chicago White Sox
16. Jermaine Dye | Chicago White Sox
17. Delmon Young | Minnesota Twins
18. Johnny Damon | New York Yankees
19. Jacoby Ellsbury | Boston Red Sox
20. Raul Ibanez | Seattle Mariners