BLUE THINK TANK: Ross Goes Apeshit in Pittsburgh

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Ross Goes Apeshit in Pittsburgh

Or should I say that Ross (Cody that is) went ballistic on Tracy's pitchers, and everyone went apeshit over Ross. E.g., here's dodgers.com and here's Dodger Thoughts. I guess 7 RBIs in one game can change peoples perception of you. With Lofton's return from the DL, Ross was set to be DFAed. Then YB conveniently needed TJ surgery and opened a spot for Ross to remain with the club.

Classic case of small sample size. Sure the guy had one hell of a game, but overall he just ain't that good. He's known as a very good defensive outfielder, but with the exception of one afternoon in Pittsburgh, his bat isn't all that. Zips projects him with a .718 OPS for 2006. OK for a backup center fielder. Bolstered with 7 RBIs in one game, he should have some trade value.

The sad thing is that even though Ross "just ain't that good", he's better than the Dodger's other options. Lofton is an injury-prone old guy whose gold glove days are behind him. While Repko has speed, he is a mess in the OF. Both of these guys project to underperform Ross with the bat:

Zips 2006 Projections

Player	OBP	SPC	OPS
Ross,Cody	.296	.422	.718
Repko,Jason	.307	.391	.698
Lofton,Kenny	.320	.352	.672

The topper, of course, is that Lofton is making almost $4mils a year, while Ross and Repko are making the minimum of just over $300k. Maybe Mr. Ned could find a new home for Lofton and just leave Ross in CF.

# posted by John Hutt @ 10:29 AM