by mfsleeze » Tue Jan 17, 2006 10:38 am
I did a little analysis for you of your division:
vs. lefties
BB H OB TB HR BP
Mafia 106 214 336 357 20 18 Petco
Seawolves 148 185 352 342 37 47 Coors
Weasels 77 233 346 388 27 35 PNC
Cardinals 86 256 361 419 27 36 Ameriquest
vs. righties
Mafia 121 206 343 352 29 30
Seawolves 124 218 360 369 33 53
Weasels 82 215 325 351 25 32
Cardinals 106 245 368 427 37 30
So my basic thoughts are:
Lefties are killing you - you have the lowest OBP, 2nd lowest TB and by far the lowest power numbers vs LHP in your division.
You are in decent shape vs. RHP but can't compete with the Cardinals, who would probably run away with the division with a better bullpen. In a pitchers' park you want your offense to look more like the Cardinals, with a high % of your OB being hits and specifically extra base hits - since HRs are much harder to come by.
You'll have a tough time winning at the Seawolves but you should be fairly even vs them at home.
So it may be crazy, but since you have a high OB guy who cost 3.8MM on your bench, I'd think about trying to trade Hafner. You probably would need to do it in a combo deal, but I'd try to deal Hafner and play Thomas as your DH. Vlad Guerrero would be a target, or you can try to upgrade at C and OF in one deal. Hafner is too one-sided to be worth his $$ since you are facing almost 40% lefties.
I certainly wouldn't drop him, but you definitely need to trade either Hafner or Thomas.