Sunday, March 30, 2008

Sleeper Alert: Jason Giambi

Jason Giambi may be owned in your league or he may not. Whatever the case may be, he should be on your radar. Last year his season was ruined by injuries and that may happen again this year, but so far he feels and great and is hitting great. He finished the spring with a .413 batting average and 2 home runs.

When aging sluggers decline in power, you normally see their peripheral stats decrease as well. His line drive percentage has decreased since his monster years, but 16.5% is still respectable. He's still drawing walks at a great pace, and his slugging percentage should come back to his career level of .536 with his good health. He's obviously batting in a great lineup so runs and rbi's should approach the century mark as long as he gets regular playing time.

Playing time could be an issue with Giambi considering the Yankees want to give Shelly Duncan and Wilson Betemit some at bats. Either way I believe Giambi will get plenty of at bats and it won't be issue since reports are that he's playing a good 1st base.

There's obviously a chance that at 37 years old Giambi just won't have enough left to play well for a full season, but considering the cheap price you can get him at, I think he's worth the risk. The high reward is definitely there for a season with a .260-.270 ba, .410-.430 obp, 30 homers, 85 runs, 110 rbi's, and the ever important 1 stolen base.

Giambi is not a guy like Delgado whose age has caught up to him. Right now all the indicators are present that Giambi will rebound this year. If he is on the f/a market, take a chance and add him if you've got somebody you feel comfortable dropping. If he's on the bench of another team, then offer them something small for him like a average pitcher and see if you can acquire him that way. Giambi doesn't have to be your starting 1st baseman now, but by the end of the season when you've won your league, you just might find him there.

Cheers!

Paul

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