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He's cheap, decently productive, plays good D...
But a 105 OPS+ LF with good D isn't what I need.  That's what's in RF.  And if we're really lucky what's in CF with Good Guti.
How many of those do we need?  At what point can we put the glove down and consider the bat?
If we have a gold-glove in CF and RF, can we pleasepleasePLEASE have a Manny Ramirez in LF?
Ethier isn't a Manny-level offensive talent - few are, even unjuiced Manny.  But an Ibanez hitting 5th for us would be extremely helpful.  Bone had a great arm but wasn't the greatest fielder.  Him hitting 5th after Griffey and Gar still mattered to that offense.
Ethier hits 40 2B/3B and 20+ HRs per 162.  That's at least Ibanez.
Ichiro/Ackley/Rendon/Smoak/Ethier/Guti could be an amazing lineup for us.  And I like a lineup that doesn't require everyone to be at their best to still be effective.
I understand if Ethier is considered too expensive, or even not a "good enough" hitter somehow, but I am absolutely NOT against a bat-first LF.  I don't want Ackley, Smoak and hopefully Rendon to have to be 90% of perfect just to move the collective inertia of this offense.  And if we don't get Rendon this offense definitely needs HELP - more than a Gardner can provide IMO.
~G