Kevin Millar
My projection: 440 AB, .284/.377/.430, 16 HR, 69 RBI, 52 BB
The community line:
AB AVG OBP SLG HR RBI BB
474 .279 .378 .448 18 74 63
CC.com loves some Kevin Millar these days. And I'm hip. I'm with it. The best thing about having Millar around is his ability to be a rock for this team, if he's needed to fill in for Gibbons or Huff or even Payton or Mora. The positional flexibility all around is nice. If Melvin goes down, you take the defensive hit and throw Huff in at 3B for a while, instead of having to rely on Chris Gomez to actually start games. Nobody is calling for a down year for Millar, though the possibility is certainly there. But how the hell are you going to root against Kevin Millar?
Jay Payton
My projection: 388 AB, .262/.303/.371, 4 HR, 37 RBI
The community line:
AB AVG OBP SLG HR RBI
427 .281 .319 .421 12 55
OOOOK, you can probably guess by my line that I don't see Payton being a success. I think he's going to fall out of favor quickly and be a general nuisance. I didn't like the deal when we signed off on it, and I don't like it now. I sure hope he proves me wrong.
Overall, the community is much nicer than I am, and projects a fairly useful season out of Payton, though nothing worth writing home about.
Corey Patterson
My projection: 497 AB, .281/.317/.456, 20 HR, 71 RBI, 41 SB, 34/107 BB/K
The community line:
AB AVG OBP SLG HR RBI SB BB/K
483 .288 .324 .461 17 61 43 26/90
Why are we so positive about Corey Patterson? I think there are a few reasons. First and foremost, we WANT him to be good, but even just that has its own reasons. Of course, he's fast and fun to watch when he's playing well. Also, it's always fun to steal a good player from another team for nothing, and even though Corey already paid himself off on that deal last season, it'd be even more awesome if he kept producing at the major league level after the Cubs gave up on him.
Then there's the fact that if he fails, everyone told us so. I think we all know how close Corey Patterson always is to being an absolute black hole in the lineup. Maybe that sense of danger is what compels us. Roller coasters and the like, you know?
Razor Ramon
My projection: 440 AB, .278/.340/.466, 17 HR, 70 RBI
The community line:
AB AVG OBP SLG HR RBI
466 .275 .342 .473 19 84
Mostly we agree that Ramon cannot and will not have 500 AB again. These numbers are pretty much in line with his career averages. He's a good player, and as long as he's healthy, he'll be a plus offensive catcher.