Who To Watch in '07

Conor Jackson, ARI: Look for this guy to see all of his numbers take a nice leap in his sophomore year. After posting a career .332 AVG in 3 seasons in the minors, he transfered that to .291 in 485 AB in the majors. His line last year was .291/15 HR/75 R/79 RBI. With a full year as a starter and about 100 more ABs, I'll put him at .288/20-25HR/90R/99RBI.



Alex Rios, TOR: Last year, everyone gave the rave reviews and big time contract to Vernon Wells, shifting attention away from Rios' break out year. At .302/17HR/82RBI/68R/15SB Rios posted a very respectable, albeit under-the-radar performance. The numbers would have been significantly gaudier if Rios had not contracted a staph infection in June. Hes a five-tooler in the making with power, speed and quick hands. He will emerge this year as a prominent part of a potentially daunting Blue Jay lineup alongside Glaus, Wells, Frank Thomas and Overbay. With the protection in this line up I'll go with .315/24HR/78R/97RBI/25SB.



Howie Kendrick, LA-ANA: While he does seem to have Francouer syndrome with 9BB in 267ABs, this 22 year old posted .285/4HR/25R/30RBI/6SB in limited playing time. The 6SB for a 1B are impressive enough in that limited playing time. He will have plenty of time to develop this year and despite the growing pains experienced by all young players, I predict .280/14HR/75R/63RBI/18SB.


Brad Hawpe, COL: Hawpe is somewhat of a puzzle in Colorado, as he is one of the only Rockies players I have ever seen who produced significantly LESS at Coors Field than at opponents fields. Heres the numbers breakdown:
Home: .282/6HR/34R/36RBI
Away: .303/16HR/33R/48RBI
If he can begin to take advantage of Coors Field, then there is nothing to stop this 27 year old from posting sky-high numbers. I put him at .305/30HR/80R/99RBI.


Adrian Gonzalez, SD: Hitting in the pitcher-friendly Petco Park 81 games a year is no walk in the park. Gonzalez seems to be on a mission to prove this wrong. A-Gon posted .304/24HR/83R/82RBI last year and at the Fisher Price age of 25, he will undoubtedly improve upon those numbers this year. He proved in his first full season he can hit anywhere and this year will go .308/28HR/95R/100RBI.