Travis Hafner - Put simply, this is just not the same guy that we watched from 2004-2006. After making only 40% of his outs on the ground during that tremendously productive three-year stretch, Hafner's GB% has increased to 49% since the beginning of 2007. One of the hallmarks of Hafner (along with Jason Giambi, as long as we're discussing big lefty sluggers with "old player skills") when he was hitting well was opposite-field power, something that is almost completely non-existent now. At almost 31, he's getting to the point where quite a few similar players started to decline rapidly (Kent Hrbek, Tino Martinez, Mo Vaughn, Boog Powell), so his current line of 219/313/354 is absolutely a concern. Positive signs, for me, would include flyballs to left and center and a better eye at the plate (his walks are down roughly 50% as well sof ar this year). I don't think this is an injury issue.
Adrian Beltre - Beltre continues to show improved patience at the plate, having reached base in 12 straight for the M's through Sunday's games. Beltre's two best seasons (2000 and 2004) have been characterized by better than average (for him) unintentional walk totals, and so far this year seems to be continuing that trend, as Beltre is hitting 293/381/511. The trend is a bit too strong to be ignored....last year was the first year where he was able to bat and slug above his career averages without a higher walk rate than average. I fully expect him, at age 29, to have his best Mariner season yet.
Carlos Quentin - Quentin's 3-4 with a 2B and a HR still counts, even if the game was suspended after 11 innings yesterday, so Quentin has now reached base in 13 of his last 15 plate appearances, bringing his line to 312/454/623 for the year. He's walking more than he's striking out, he's mixed in a couple of steals....what's not to like? At age 25, Quentin may still have even more growth in front of him, which is a scary though indeed.
Aaron Laffey - Laffey definitely deserved a better fate against the Yanks yesterday, holding them to just one or two hard-hit balls in 5 2/3 innings while leaving on the short end of a 4-2 score. Laffey's problem is much like Mike Mussina's (his counterpart in yesterday's game) in that he just doesn't generate enough swinging strikes to keep the game out of luck's hands now and then. He generates enough movement to engender poor contact much of the time, though, and with his GB% I do think that he has a future in the Tribe rotation. With Carmona, Westbrook, and Laffey, Cleveland has three groundball machines available for their rotation. Carmona is the only one with the potential to be better than a #3 I would say, but Laffey, along with Westbrook, certainly could be a mid-rotation starter with his control and ability to limit SLG.
German Duran - With Hank Blalock out for the better part of a month, third base will be filled by some combination of Ramon Vazquez and rookie German Duran. Since we know what Vazquez is, Duran is the more intriguing option. His power developed much more quickly than expected last season at AA, as he went from hitting .284 with 13 homers in A-ball at age 21 (OK, but not all that impressive) to hitting .300 with 22 homers in AA at age 22, and with fewer strikeouts to boot (quite impressive). Duran has played mostly 2B in his minor league career, but should have the arm strength to make the move to third base. He wouldn't be a bad stopgap in deeper leagues, but since there's a question as to how much of the playing time he'll receive I doubt he'll have much value beyond that. He is still a solid prospect in all formats, regardless of how this first big league trial turns out.
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