I just sent off an email to Bill Smith. It's not my first. The problem with sending Bill Smith, general manager of the Minnesota Twins, an email is that one has so much to say, so much to, well, tell him.
I mostly got that email out of the way on Friday, so today, as I prepare for my trip to the winter meetings, I thought maybe I better send Mr. Smith one very succinct email, titled: Garret Atkins' numbers.
I mean, how could he resist opening that email from his hotel room at the Bellagio? If he doesn't recognize my name, it could be contact information for Atkins. And if he has interest in that, then I know I did the right thing by sending Atkins' contact numbers of a different kind.
While Aaron Gleeman is very comprehensive in his analysis of players like Atkins, I broke down the basics of what Smith needed to know about the Rockies' 3Bman:
Garret Atkins, career away from Coors: .260, .328, .424 (avg, obp, slg)
Brian Buscher, vs rhp in 2008: .316, .368, .437
Brendan Harris, career vs lhp: .295, .360, .440
How can anybody look at these numbers and make a trade for the poor fielder who's enjoyed the fruits of hitting at Coors Field? I don't think even Bill Smith can ignore this...if he opens it. Perhaps I should have shown more restraint and less rambling in my email on Friday, though, for now I fear he will see my name and dismiss it without opening. Oh, the humanity!
1 comment:
I don't think Atkins is really a player the Twins should pursue, but I will say that I think the concerns about his hitting away from Coors are overblown. It's unfair in the sense that many players just hit better at home than on the road. For instance, here's Michael Cuddyer's career road numbers: .241/.323/.395. Does this mean that any team considering trading for Cuddyer is should assume he's automatically going to start posting numbers like that once he leaves the hitter's haven that is the Metrodome?
Atkins isn't going to be the same hitter when he leaves Coors, but he'll probably still be a pretty good one. The stadium hasn't really padded his home run numbers (44 HR in 1192 home AB; 45 HR in 1242 road AB) so he's likely to remain a good deep threat. His issues defensively and his declining numbers over the past three seasons are larger causes for concern than his home/away splits, in my opinion.
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