Does Pronk even own a glove anymore?

This past offseason, we had an unusually good crop of hitters that would only qualify as a Designated Hitter heading in to AL-Only drafts this past spring. Travis Hafner, Frank Thomas, Jim Thome, and, of course, perennial MVP candidate David Ortiz did not even have 20 games in the field last year, making them arguably the best group of players that could only be played at DH or UT in AL-only leagues in a long time. With this year winding down, and in-season strategies becoming tougher and tougher, I thought this week would be a good week to start looking at next year’s position eligibility issues, both good and bad, and see how things are shaping up for 2008.

If you think last year’s list of DH-only players was long, this year’s is shaping up to have even more quality. The closest Frank Thomas got to picking up a glove this year would be if he knocked someone’s glove off of the bench and he picked it up for them, and he never appeared in the field. Jim Thome appeared at one at first, and David Ortiz, showing he is Gold Glove material, appeared in seven games there. Travis Hafner, proving he is more man than the previous trio, played 11 in the field.

So all four of them will once again find themselves relegated to playing in your UT position for most of the year, if not all depending on how their team reacts to interleague play next year.

Those four you have little to no objection to playing as your utility player though. After all, who can complain about the numbers Ortiz or Thome puts up? Hafner is coming off a rough season, but no one is going to write him off yet, and while Thomas might be getting up in years, he still has a little left in the tank.

After that, however, things get tricky. For example, Jose Vidro now qualifies only as a DH heading in to next year. Vidro has had a rebirth of sorts in Seattle this season, playing exclusively as a DH. Other than five games at second base and six games as a third baseman, Vidro has avoided the field like Dick Cheney avoided the draft. Vidro’s average has certainly been nice, as he has a .319 batting average in 505 at-bats as of this writing, but the power one would normally associate with this position is just not there, as he has just six home runs and only 56 RBI. He has been hot of late, hitting .389 in 36 at-bats over his previous ten games, but he only has one RBI and only five runs in that time. Is that really what one looks for in the UT or DH position?

Next, there is the Gary Sheffield question. Right now, Sheffield has 108 games in as the designated hitter and just 12 games in the outfield. This late in the season, it is very unlikely that Sheffield will pick up the remaining eight games necessary this year to qualify in the outfield next year. Sheffield certainly puts up solid enough numbers where you would not necessarily worry about him only being your utility player, but when you factor in how brittle he has become, this is just another negative against him. The even more brittle Sammy Sosa has 16 games in as an outfielder – sure, he could finish with four more there, but it is unlikely. At this stage in Sosa’s career, he makes Sheffield look like Cal Ripken.

Two more brittle and aging stars that are DH-only for 2007 – Jason Giambi and Mike Piazza. Without qualifying at catcher, how valuable will Piazza really be next year? Clearly, if he is going to hang around another year, it will not be as a catcher, as he did not play there at all this year, and his agent went so far as to discuss lodging a grievance against the Athletics if they made him play there. Giambi, meanwhile, is a shell of his former self, and there are no guarantees he will be an everyday player next year; as it is, he is playing about three-quarters of the time this year, and avoiding the field whenever possible.

Lastly, a promising young player limited only to DH – Billy Butler. Butler has taken the field just six times in his rookie season, and those that have seen him play the field would say that he did so six times too many. Butler is horrific in the field, but he can hit, having hit .296 with 6 home runs, 46 RBI, and 35 runs in 284 at-bats. Butler has tons of upside, with a 30 homer, 100 RBI season coming soon, maybe even as soon as next year. However, do you really want to lock a UT spot in based solely on potential? It certainly does sound risky.

Questions and comments may be sent to markhaverty@sportsgrumblings.com.