In-Depth Knowledge On A College Budget

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Texas Hold Em

Going into this season I had the utmost confidence in my team. And why not? I was keeping 2 of 2005's top 10 players in Manny and Mark Teixeira and most experts number one shortstop in Michael Young. While Manny and Young have not performed like top picks, the greatest dissappointment has been Teixeira who I had expected to be my best player and a top 5 player overall.

Tex is just 26 years old and was coming off of a .281/38/112/101 in 2004 and .301/43/144/112 in 2005. This year his numbers are way down compared to the previous two as he only has six home runs 71 games into the season. But before we start going Abigail Williams on him with steroid accusations I think its important to analyze Tex's numbers a little deeper. Here are 5 reasons to keep Tex in your lineup and on your team.

1. The first thing that I notice about him is that the batting average is still respectable as he currently sits on .281 where he was two seasons ago. Richie Sexon and Adam Dunn are like fat men in a small car for your team's batting average, but Tex has remained steady this season in the average category. There is also strong evidence suggesting that Tex is ready to hit for a better average. He is currently hitting .242 at home and .328 on the road this year. Texas is known for being a great hitter's ballpark and Tex did hit .334 at the Ballpark in Arlington last season.

2. With the average being sufficient, the bigger question is will the power come back? This is an issue I have grappled with for a few weeks as Tex has continued to not hit home runs. I've wanted to say yes because scouts raved about him when he was a first round pick in 2001, he was a fantasy cover boy as he shot through the farm system, and he backed up all the hype with back to back monster seasons - but its so difficult with the dingers not there. But then this past weekend as I watched 'A Walk to Remeber' (come on it beats Garden State for a chick flick) it hit me. "Its like the wind you can't feel it - but you know its there." Mandi Moore couldn't explain Tex's 24 doubles in 06' any better. He is on pace to hit 55 doubles which would be 14 more than his steller 05' season. There are some guys like Young and Craig Biggio who just hit a lot of doubles but don't hit homers. Then there are those like Travis Hafner and Derek Lee who do both. I'd compare Tex much more closely with Hafner and Lee than his teammate Young or Biggio.

3. He hits third. Gary Matthews and Michael Young (both in top 15 in MLB in hitting) give him great RBI chances even if the ball isn't leaving the stadium. Having Blaylock hit behind him is also pretty good.

4. 162. As in how many games he played last season and how many games he could play this season.

5. Selling Tex this low is very dangerous. Just make sure the person attempting to trade with you understands the 4 factors listed above before you do anything. Remember Texas is famous for balls carrying during the summer and today is officially the first day of summer. He could get going any day now.

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