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• Wrigley Rooftop Directory
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A long hard look at Aubrey HuffWednesday, May 25, 2005With the recent trade rumors swirling, many in the CBA have turned their lecherous eyes to the south. In Tampa, there sits a "left fielder" whom many of us desire. Forgetting God's commandment that we not covet our neighbor's left fielder, we have become enthralled with the idea of bring Aubrey Huff to the northside... to play in "Wrigley Stadium." Although I admit I have been occasionally weak-willed when the discussion turns to Huff, I'm still trying to figure out what we find so alluring about the guy? Below are career OPS percentages for four players. One belongs to Huff and the others belong to our current crop of starting outfielders. .841 - Burnitz Clearly, Patterson is underperforming the rest of this group... but makes up some value with his glove. Dubois' OPS numbers are from an admittedly small sample size, but his history in the minor leagues suggests that he'll continue hitting with this kind of power, and eventually increase his OBP.
In the field: First, lets get this straight... Huff is not really an outfielder. Coming into 2004, Huff had played 111 games in the outfield, 103 of which were in right field. He had played 219 games at third, 124 at first, and DH'ed another 140. He is a man without a position. With Derrek Lee putting up MVP numbers at first, and Ramirez and Lee both inked to long-term deals, Huff probably won't be seeing too much corner infield action if he were traded to the Cubs. Moreover, as we play in the superior league, Huff wouldn't be doing too much work as a designated hitter for the boys in Blue. As an outfielder, Huff is not exactly a gold glover, so I don't think he'd be that signicant of an upgrade over Dubois or Burnitz. Furthermore, he lacks the speed necessary to play centerfield. So he couldn't replace Patterson without doing more harm than good defensively. Age is one factor in Huff's favor. He's 28 and entering the prime of his career... but he's also entering free agency at the end of this year. With a nearly $5 million dollar salary in 2005, he costs a little more than 15 times what Dubois is making. Furthermore, Dubois has another two years before he's even eligible for arbitration. Batting: Another factor favoring Huff is his left handedness. However, with Patterson, Burnitz, Walker (he's back from the DL as of today), and the ability to spot start Todd Hollandsworth, the Cubs already have a number of lefty bats. Looking at this year's stats, it also appears that Huff is struggling a bit. His OBP is down slightly from his career numbers, and about 20 basis points from the last three years. In the power department, Huff is having his worst big-league season. His SLG so far is 122 basis points below his career average, and 150 to 250 points below his last three years. Not that I've seen him play at all this year, but I'm wondering if he's struggling with the pressure of his contract year? So in summary, Huff is a good player, but not great. He doesn't bring any skills to this team that we don't already have, and he isn't a significant upgrade for any of the positions he can play. He's also much more expensive than Dubois, and in my opinion has a lower ceiling. In addition, he's struggling this year and probably wouldn't supply the Cubs with the proverbial 'shot-in-the-arm.' If the Cubs were set at the other eight positions and were in a dogfight for a pennant, I could understand mortgaging the future to win a championship. But for the Cubs, a team that is struggling to play .500 ball, with more pressing questions at two or three other positions, we shouldn't be looking to make a trade for Huff. I'll close by saying this: As Cubs fans, we need to recognize the value that Jason Dubois represents for our franchise, and not be too hasty to give him away or cut short his playing time. Posted by Byron at May 25, 2005 6:51 PM
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