Juiced Ratings: MLB Players Who Will Be on the Rise

[JoeCoolMan24]

John Danks, Gavin Floyd, Carlos Quentin, Alexei Ramirez. All those 4 will/should have BIG increases in overall for the next game. I really can't wait! And I hope they finally gave Danks a cutter, even though I mentioned it a lot when they asked for player changes last year.

[SuperKyle]

By the way, I wasn't suggesting that all those Rays should be 99s or even above 95.
But when healthy (the number 1 if in sports), Carl should be 93, B.J. 91 (i hope there's not a hustle rating), Carlos Pena 93-94, Evan a 92, and Shields or perhaps Garza a 90.
I agree that we'll see lots of Rays rated in the 80s. The weakest positions will be RF and SS, at least ratings wise.

[slinger45]

http://www.billjamesonline.net/field...eaders2-08.gif

[bigfnjoe96]

Mike Aviles form the Royals is gonna be a STAR. He definitely should be getting a Ratings Boost

[wookie48]

Some future stars:
Pablo Sandoval C, and kevin Ishikawa 1b- Giants: Look for them to start opening day and be a factor from the get go. Dont know about pablo at 3rd but there is no question about his bat

chris davis 1B-rangers (tex part 2?) This guy is gonna be scary. This might be a homer call but he hit for power and average. Got rangers rookie of the year which probably wasnt that hard but look out. The 1st base gig is his full time.

bryan lahair- mariners: With not a lot of options at 1st the mariners will likely give the reins to lahair. He is a good power hitter that will thrive in safeco

blake dewitt-dodgers: When Nomar got hurt this guy was phenominal in replacing him, kind of petered out a little thus casey blake. this year he will be a good regular.

jay bruce -reds: Will be great next year as long as the reds dont mismanage where to put him on the lineup card.

denard spann-Twins: Not only was he a regular on top ten plays with his gove, he was a threat on the base paths and was good at hitting the mroe he played.

Where did they come from?

Nelson Cruz-rangers: was pretty disapointing in the 2007 campaign. Then in 2008 blew up AAA in homeruns and RBI's then got called up late in the season and continued to hit well. Rangers are banking on him to replace bradley's bat. We'll see

Mark Derosa-cubs: Self explanatory. I really didnt see his offensive production being as explosive as it was this season. Heres to hoping the indians can get as much out of him.

Dan Uggla-marlins: Alwyas has been a pretyt good hitter. But after starting the season VERY slow he exploded offensively and had a tight HR race with chase utley for awhile. I dont even think the marlins knew he had that in him. Needs to happen all year though.

Fernando Tatis-mets: Is it just me or did this guy have mr clutch tatooed on him. Not sayin he was an elite player but where did he come from to be clutch HR hitter? Did well filling in for church. David Segui, maybe its your turn to come back now? LOL

Chase Utley-Phillies: Again a great hitter but leading the majors in HR's for awhile certainly I didnt see it coming. I always knew chase as to being an amazing fielder and a great contact hitter but this was crazy.

Dioner Navarro-Rays: After being fat and out of shape and on the brink of being cut by maddon, he got his act together and got into shape and turn in his finest season handling the rotation of the rays, (especially Garza's anger issues) and offensively put together an awesome showing this year. Unsing hero of the rays IMO

Kelly Shoppach-Indians: Kinda of an afterthought with all these big names but lets not rule out what he did for the indians while martinez was hurt. Was an offensive machine. PLayed good enough for the indians to move martinez to 1st and let shoppach have more plate time.

[dvazquez190]

The poster above who said Nate Mclouth is a terrible CF is right. His advanced defensive ratings are way below that of an average CF. He deserved a GG about as much as Jeter did (sorry Jeter you are still my boy). I have questioned Francescas use of a radio show for quite a while. I wouldn't put much credence into what he says. This is the same guy who said he never heard of Joba Chamberlain then latter denied it. Back to Nate Mclouth here is a paragraph from Matt Bandi Who at the time was covering The pirates CF situation
"McLouth, despite making only one error on the season, was near the bottom of the list in most advanced fielding metrics. While defensive stats are not perfect, and I think they shortchange McLouth a bit, he clearly hurts the Pirates in center. Justin Inaz calculated each player's total value at On Baseball and the Reds, combining offensive and defensive performance. McLouth came in at 15.8 defensive runs below average and a total value of 31.7 runs. When Sky Kalkman used Justin's stats to compare players by position, McLouth ended up in a tie as the eighth best center fielder in baseball. His defensive numbers should certainly improve with a shift to left field."

A name I haven't seen mentioned was Ervin Santana. He had a great season last year and he should look to build on it. Another name I would like to see is Edison Volquez. He had a breakout season with the Reds and if he starts well they may look to move either Harang or Arroyo for some future talent.

[ZigZagMan]

How about Ryan Ludwick?

All-Star season: .299 AVG, 37 HRs, .966 OPS

Maybe he'll even get his face in the game this year too...

[tree3five]

Quote: Originally Posted by Lintyfresh85

Good article... but McLouth is one of the worst CF's in baseball defensively.

HAHAHA. Wow, he made one error all season. He may not have the best range in baseball, but he gets to a lot of balls and made some incredible plays in 08. He was good enough to win a gold glove. Nate may not be the best CF in baseball but he is NO where close to being the worst.

Ive been a big fan of McLouth for years now, I have been saying he should be the starting CF for years now. They should have listened to me sooner, lol.