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John Cocktoston · August 4th, 2007, 10:59 AM

There's no question that his best days are behind him, but I think Todd can still be a pretty useful player. I'd like to see him more in the #2 or #3 hole rather than #4 hole, though.

Interestingly enough, according to his ESPN spray chart, 39% of the balls he's put in play this season have been pulled. He's gone up the middle 29% of the time and the other way 33% of the time.

For what it's worth, I'd rather he went back to that swing he had going in April. I think the fact that he had 1 HR in the month got to him a little bit psychologically, but he was nearly impossible to get out. He hit .384/.518/.500 and drew 25 walks against only 5 K. After that, I think you could see him start to muscle up a little as he tried to drive the ball and his stats tell the story.

If he can get comfortable with where he is now in his career as a hitter, I think he can be a .320/.440/.450 guy over a full season. Again, no longer an elite middle of the order guy, but an on-base machine who will see a lot of pitches and hit some doubles. Rod Carew with more pop and elite doubles potential. That has real value. Is it $16.6M in value? No.

August 4th, 2007, 10:59 AM	#95 (permalink)
John Cocktoston Member Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 375	There's no question that his best days are behind him, but I think Todd can still be a pretty useful player. I'd like to see him more in the #2 or #3 hole rather than #4 hole, though. Interestingly enough, according to his ESPN spray chart, 39% of the balls he's put in play this season have been pulled. He's gone up the middle 29% of the time and the other way 33% of the time. For what it's worth, I'd rather he went back to that swing he had going in April. I think the fact that he had 1 HR in the month got to him a little bit psychologically, but he was nearly impossible to get out. He hit .384/.518/.500 and drew 25 walks against only 5 K. After that, I think you could see him start to muscle up a little as he tried to drive the ball and his stats tell the story. If he can get comfortable with where he is now in his career as a hitter, I think he can be a .320/.440/.450 guy over a full season. Again, no longer an elite middle of the order guy, but an on-base machine who will see a lot of pitches and hit some doubles. Rod Carew with more pop and elite doubles potential. That has real value. Is it $16.6M in value? No. Last edited by John Cocktoston; August 4th, 2007 at 11:01 AM.