He's John Olerud with wheels. Being patient and waiting for his pitch is not a problem for him. Nothing's a problem for him. He should have been drafted as a teen and be killing it in the bigs already.
As as middle IF he'd be a ridiculous bargain, but even in the OF or at 1B...the bat should play anywhere. You'd like to keep the corners available for bigger HR threats...but how long did Ole play a major role at 1B with adequate-but-not-great HR power?
And Ackley can run the bases too. Bring him on, at whatever position.
I'm glad you like my comp from May, Matt. :P
But it's why I'm not that worried about playing him at 1B or LF if Guti's in CF for a year or whatever of Ackley's time on the big club. IMO that bat will play, and the HR power will come as he ages and tweaks his swing arc slightly. Even if it doesn't, another handy comp with the bat would be Mark Grace, I would think. Imagine if Mark Grace had actually done something with his off time other than drink and smoke, and I get chills imagining that in Ackley.
And Saunders has always seemed like a player to me. He's still waiting for something to click, but when it comes, look out. He's a scrapper with mad ball skills. I far prefer those to scrappers with no ball skills.
Can I figure out how to win with the production of park-suited Mike Cameron in LF, Jacque Jones in CF, and Mark Grace at 1B? I'm still looking for a clubber, but yeah, I should be able to build a winner with that starting point. Especially since my Mark Grace can play CF if we decide to move Jacque Jones outta here.
What's Adam Dunn doing again?
~G