Just in time for Manny's possible arrival today to spring training, we take a look at the main contenders for some DH time this season. It's likely that it'll be a combo of these players, including good ol Manny starting as soon the Twins series at the end of May or against the Royals in the beginning of June. Is Manny taking up an all important roster spot? Beane said it the best earlier this week: "We couldn't find a reason not to".
There's two questions here:
-Was the signing necessary?
-Is there a better in-house option that can yield similar offensive results?
Compared to last year's AL DH production, I've isolated the league best, league average, and where our candidate's 2012 projections place them in context. Josh Willingham was mentioned just because he did play a portion of last season as DH, but mainly to humor myself.
One note that I saw earlier this week is that even if Manny's power isn't completely there, his OBP projects still be be the highest of this group (0.369). The next closest is Seth Smith (0.333). Before the majority of the offseason moves that created our OF (possible DH) problem, Chris Carter seemed to be an inside lock for the spot. Just looking at what PECOTA is telling us from our study, he's looking pretty close to the likes of Seth Smith, but is likely to take one of the OF spots instead. Lets give him a shot, at the least, the 269 PA that he's projected.
Note: Swingin A's did an article last week predicting Kila Ka’aihue as the opening day DH, but it's hard for me not to see Brandon Allen or Chris Carter in higher favor.
Check out more infographics at FUNGraphs or follow me @cobradave
