Add new comment

He had a bad year, but almost all of it was Safeco-effect and bad BABIPs. The guy hit 10 HRs on the road, you know how many 2Bs hit that many? Especially ones who are 24-freakin years old. Uggla, Hill, Zorbist led the league with 12 road HRs, Cano and Weeks followed with 11, and Ackley and Espinosa led the rear with 10. Espinosa's the only guy who's 25 or younger - everyone else is in their 29-32 prime for power. And Espinosa is a 3-3.5 WAR 2B thanks to that power, despite hitting .240/.315 BA/OBP because he strikes out like he's Adam Dunn. If Safeco didn't absolutely murder him and he didn't run a .250 BABIP on the road (you know how worthless 300 PA BABIP samples are?), no would be talking bad about Ackley. Trade him now, and it's the definition of trading low only to watch the guy become an All-star in some hitter's park.
He's young (only 24, don't get lose in the wishing he was Trout or Stanton), he's improving his contact and K% while maintaining his BB%, he has more power potential than any young 2B in baseball right now, his bad road BABIP and Safeco nuked his value to nothing, if Z traded him this off-season it will be the reason he's gone in 2 years. Guaranteed.