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By far, the first choice out of all of the candidates for LF is the Rockies’ Matt Holliday with a line of .340/.405/50/120/36/137 (BA/OBP/2B/R/HR/RBI). Wow!
Over 40 (but closer to 50) points behind Holliday would be the trio of the D’backs’ Eric Byrnes who also qualifies for CF and RF, The Reds’ Adam Dunn and Houston’s Carlos Lee.
Although the Rays’ Carl Crawford had lower power numbers in 2007, his stolen base total hit 50 and those power numbers might return in 2008. 2007 Could have just been a one year thing. Along with Crawford would have been the Yankees’ Hideki Matsui, but due to reports about his ailing knee woes would suggest a lower ranking despite his 2007 numbers which were top 10 out of all LF’ers.
Next up is the Cubs’ Alfonso Soriano, who could be a 30/20 player in 2008 and if he remains healthy, maybe even a 30/30 guy.
Another minor drop of brings us to Raul Ibanez of Seattle and the Phillies’ Pat Burrell, but I question Ibanez at this point in his career unless they drop him into the DH slot this year (just my opinion).
The last three selections that I’ll cover are the Yankees’ Johnny Damon, the Marlin’s Josh Willingham and the Red Sox’s Manny Ramirez. Damon’s body is taking a beating and he can no longer play CF for an extended period of time so I’m not sure his numbers will reflect the Damon of old (Red Sox, A’s & Royals), but if healthy, they should be better than his 2007 especially his batting average and run totals. He also qualifies as a DH. On the other hand, Willingham seems to be a possible rising star, but not to the same degree that his current bookends have achieved. With Cabrera gone, he may become a go to guy in the Marlin’s line up after H-Ram. Next is Manny and if he can bounce back from his lackluster 2007 (and injury) his 2007 numbers should be easily eclipsed! He is a very proud player despite his public persona and it is my opinion that he will be determined to prove 2007 to be a non-issue with his contract options coming up in the next few years. He will want to make the Red Sox think that he is worth the $20M a year for those last few years so 2008 is HUGE for Manny!
*If you want to ask me about other players at this position, please do not hesitate to post a comment below!*
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