Quote Originally Posted by statquo View Post
Why not? Its essentially the same thing. EE changed his swing, had better plate discipline and got to swing the bat regularly. We hit the lottery with Bautista but we also stuck with EE to unlock his potential. Nobody says he's a future MVP candidate but the same adjustments and time were given to EE. Why is this different?
Lightning doesn't strike the same place twice. Just because it happened once doesn't mean it'll happen again. EE had a great year, without question, and I hope we see him produce the same way next year but lets not kid ourselves, Jose Bautista is one of a kind so to speak. How many guys go from average players to MVP candidates overnight? extremely rare.

Quote Originally Posted by metswon69 View Post
At least you are humble enough to admit that.

As for Encarnacion, you could be right.

I could still see him hitting 30-32 homers (in that neighborhood of numbers) next year, he was a top prospect with the Reds and he has shown home run potential before with 26 homers in 2008.

We'll see.
I think EE will put up a solid number, in the 30-40 home run range but, BUT if he can put up the .384 OBP he put up last season, that's what we need. If there's a high OBP hitting behind Bautista and in front of Lawrie(or someone else) that's where this team will produce. If things end up like we hope, we'll have the best offense in the AL. Last year, prior to the entire team dropping like flies, we had the second best offense in the AL only a few runs behind the Yankees. I don't think most people comprehend just how good the offense of this team can be. A team last season who had a hole in LF and at SS. Two holes filled by Reyes and Cabrera. If this team doesn't score next season, I sure as hell won't be blaming our GM. The speed and power is there, possibly more so than any team in baseball.