Over the next couple of days, Jorge Says No! will be highlighting some of the forgotten free agents. You know, the guys that aren't getting much publicity or action on the open market even though they could have a lot to bring to the table. Next up, Aubrey Huff..304/32 HR/108 RBI/96 R/.360 OBP/.912 OPS
That line is from Aubrey Huff's 2008 season. Pretty impressive stuff, right? During the 2008 season, Huff was one of the top hitters in the American League and finally put together the strong offensive season that so many expected from him.
If Huff was a free agent after the 2008 season, is there any doubt that he would've been in line for a multi-year contract?
But unfortunately for Huff, he became a free agent after the 2009 season, which meant that if Huff wanted to put himself in a good position for free agent riches, then he would have to duplicate his 2008 offensive statistics. Not surprisingly, Huff's offensive stats fell dramatically in 2009, largely because of his struggles against right handed pitching:
.241/15 HR/85 RBI/59 R/.310/.694 OPS
Because of his poor 2009 season, the free agent market for Aubrey Huff has been non existent and through the first six weeks of free agency, Huff's name has rarely been brought up in discussions. The biggest problem facing Huff at the moment is that if he cannot perform at the dish, then he offers little value elsewhere because his defense is so poor. Huff seems destined to land somewhere in the American League where he can DH, but there do not seem to be many teams out there looking for a DH and there are plenty of other free agents out there who bring similar qualities to the table as Huff (Delgado, Branyan, Blalock, LaRoche, Thome, etc.).
So what does this all mean for Huff? In a nutshell, if he is offered the opportunity to DH everyday on a incentive laden one year contract, then he should absolutely take it. It's very doubtful that Huff will land anything more than a one year contract at this point, so Huff should simply be looking for the best opportunity he can find.
