My projection: 550 AB, .274/.348/.482, 27 HR, 97 RBI
I think Huff will be perfectly useful, but those expecting an All-Star caliber player will be disappointed. Of course, nobody here really expects that, judging by the projections, which were scarily consistent:
1. All 13 projections had Huff hitting between .265 and .289, which is a big enough difference, but nobody projects a down year from Huff. (Seven have him hitting .280 or better, six do not.)
2. Seven have Huff slugging in the .480s; four in the .490s; just two have him below .480, and those are .461 and .475.
3. Eight had Huff with an OBP between .338 and .352, two at .358, one at .365.
4. Home runs: 22 low, 35 high. Three others have Huff hitting 30 or more. Everyone else says 26-29.
5. Three have Huff reaching 100 RBI, which is a crapshoot but a fun stat to guess on anyway. There is one at 86 and one at 78, but everyone else is in the 90s.
So we expect contribution offensively from Huff, and if he so much as meets the line we have for him, he'll be a positive asset for this team, and a huge upgrade on what he's replacing, as long as that doesn't wind up being Millar (by which I mean last season Millar, not whatever Millar winds up doing this year).
Personally, I don't think Huff will wind up platooning much at all, and I don't think Chief Perlozzo is going to platoon nearly as much as he's letting on right now. I could be wrong, but my gut feeling is you're going to get a bunch of guys complaining about their playing time. I mean, I'm sure Corey will sit against lefties and Payton will play in center those days, but what else is there to platoon really? Millar? Gibbons? Gibbons is hurt so much it doesn't matter, and Millar wouldn't complain about his job if it was being the freakin' Oriole Bird because the regular guy got the crabs. So I think we're going to see Huff every day, mostly at DH and 1B, or at least I hope.
Here's our community line for Huff in '07:
AB AVG OBP SLG HR RBI
533 .280 .348 .484 29 95