Glad to see you on the site. Overall, Huff hit (.280/.337/.442) last year which would be a little below the average starting 1B in the NL for ‘07 (.284/.365/.481).

Huff is a little worrying to me because:

1. His power has been dropping every year since 2003 (minus his 2006 which he saw a small spike but dropped back down this year)
2. This ties into the first point but his HR/F% (or the home runs he hits as a percent of his flyballs) has taken a nose dive, too.

Here’s his HR/F% from 2002-2007

2002 – 16.2%
2003 – 19.2%
2004 – 15.2%
2005 – 12.0%
2006 – 14.6%
2007 – 8.5%

You might be asking what does a HR/F% have to do with hitters? It indicates how well a guy can hit the ball, and hit it hard. When Huff was around 15% he was doing well. From 2002-2006 he averaged almost 26 HR’s a year, in 2007 he only hit 15 (in a friendly hitting environment too, Camden Yards played well for hitters last year, it was the 6th best park when ranking by runs scored and the 3rd when ranking by HR’s)

He’s not terribly old but he’ll turn 31 in December, sometimes guys start to lose their skills past 30. I thought it was interesting that his #3 comparison on BB-Ref was Bobby Higginson a guy who had similar success like Huff but had his last productive season at age 31. He played three more years with Detroit, partly because of the huge, stupid contract they gave him, and then was out of baseball by age 35.

Here’s the sad part, Huff would be a upgrade at first over anyone the Giants currently have on their roster. If Klesko didn’t completely crash and burn in the 2nd half I would be open to bringing him back as a platoon for first but he died in the 2nd half.

If Huff is due $16M over the next 2 years I’d like to see the Orioles eat half of his salary, then I would consider picking him up. Though, I doubt they would want to eat half of his salary. His drop in power with him entering his early 30’s is worrisome. If he only hit 15 HR’s in Camden, and being left handed, I could imagine him barely squeaking into double digits with the Giants. I wouldn’t be comfortable shelling out $8M a year for a guy that might turn into the 2007 version of Ryan Klesko.

But, like any of these guys, if the price is right I would listen. Huff is the type of guy the Giants should think about, but only if the price is right. Players like Durazo and Brazell would require a smaller $$$ commitment than Huff. Sexson, would be a 1-year thing and might cost more but the upside is that it’s only a 1 year deal. Dunn is really the one that we’d have to shell out more money too but he should be worth it for the next 4-5 years.

Enjoy your stay and I hope to see more posts from you!

I know he is no world beater ( 308 Ba 343 Obp 490 Slg 833 OPS in 210 plate appearances at First last year). Though Ortmeier is a small sample size it would seem they would be classic lefty/ righty platoon mates. If the Giants roster makes you cringe go look at the O’s. They might be turning lose veterans so Huff ( due 8 mil in ‘08 & 09) might be had a reasonable price.