Tori Hunter Mentioned With The Reds

[Jay Bruce]

He has already declined more than hunter in the field.. and last year, a contract year no less he hit .222.. I would have loved to have Andruw about 5 years ago.. but after 2003 he changed his batting, and now just goes strictly for long ball, something dunn already does.... had we gotten the .280 hitting 35 home run, gg outfielder of pre2003 hells yeah, but now.. its a rehash of dunn, by the way.. how many division titles have we won since dunn has been here? ohh thats right 0, because we are compromising defense and pitching for a precieved lack of power, or need of power, in a hitter friendly park..

First of all, I believe that the fielding decline of Andruw Jones is ridiculously overstated. Now, keep in mind that defensive stats are not always the best, but last year, Jones had 7.5 fielding winshares, andmade 80 plays out of zone last year, with 73,60 and 75 the previous 3 years before that. Over the same time, Hunter had 5 fielding winshares, and only made 47, 48, 33 and 65 plays out of zone. Jones has put on some weight over the last few years, but he is still a very good fielder, and should be better than Hunter going forward.

I also firmly believe that Jones simply had a fluky off year last, and should rebound to form this year. His BB/K ratio was right in line with previous season, as was his LD%. The things that hurt him were an unlucky .248 BABIp, coupled with a HR/FB% 13.4%, from a man whose career number is over 19%. I would be worried if he stopped walking, or struck out at a ridiculous rate last year, but he didn't, and even had more flyballs than his career norms. He would be a much better candidate for a long term deal over Hunter, and it isn't really close.

GABP being a hitters park is a perfect place for people like alex gonzalez and josh hamilton, and norris hopper.. GREAT on defense, and with the park they can stretch hits that were normally singles into doubles, and doubles into going over the wall..

In regards to Hopper, I guess GABP has given him the ability to stretch outs into singles then, hasn't it .

[timbok]

The race for Hunter is on....
its the new amazing race : the Hunter Race