Free-Agent Right Fielders

Welcome back.

Now we take a look at the 2004 free-agent right fielders, which is a great list of players.

The one thing you will notice while looking through the scouting reports, is that an above-average amount of the players on the list have been injured recently, or have been "injury cases" for much of their careers.

Those injuries were factored in my ranking of whom I believe is the best available.

Each player's rank is next to thier name.

1. J.D. Drew (29): Signed with Dodgers, 5 years ($55 million) 2004 Statistics: .287/.391/.513, 31 HR, 116/118 K/BB, 12/3 SB/CS, 78.7 VORP////Translated 2004 Statistics: .306/.436/.574, .335 EqA////Career batting line of .287/.391/.513--////Translated career batting line of .287/.388/.514, .304 EqA////Very good career K/BB of1.36/1--////Due to many injuries throughout his seven-year career, 2004 was Drew's first season with 500+ AB's////Excluding Drew's rookie year in 1998, where he had only 36 AB, 2004 represented a career high for him in HR, OBP, Translated OBP, and EqA////Recent EqA trend going up (02'-.277, 03'-.300, 04'-.335)////Decent base-stealer, his career SB/CS is 71/22 (76.3 %)////Spent last four seasons in St. Louis (moderate pitcher's park), and Atlanta (slight pitcher's park)////

2. Magglio Ordonez (31): Signed with Tigers, 5 years/$75 million 2004 Statistics (202 AB)- .292/.351/.485, 9 HR, 22/16 K/BB, 11.8 VORP////Translated 2004 Statistics: .292/.354/.490, .282 EqA////Career batting line of .307/.364/.525--////Translated career batting line of .307/.365/.537, .299 EqA////Excellent career K/BB of 1.29/1--////2003 Statistics (Last full season): .317/.380/.546, 29 HR, 73/57 K/BB, 63.2 VORP////Translated 2003 Statistics: .317/.385/.558, .309 EqA////Knee Injury in July ended Ordonez's 2004 season early////Has spent his entire eight-year career in Chicago White Sox (slight hitter's park)////

3. Ben Grieve (29): Signed minor league contract with Pirates 2004 Statistics (250 AB): .260/.361/.424, 8 HR, 70/39 K/BB, 12.5 VORP////Translated 2004 Statistics: .260/.357/.417, .272 EqA////Career batting line of .269/.367/.443--////Translated career batting line of .272/.372/.457, .287 EqA////Good career K/BB of1.68/1--////2002 Statistics (Last season with 450+ AB): .251/.353/.432, 19 HR, 121/69 K/BB, 19.5 VORP////Translated 2002 Statistics: .256/.363/.447, .281 EqA////Injuries limited Grieve to 250 AB's last year////Spent last 4 season in Milwaukee (neutral park), Chicago Cub's (slight pitcher's park), and Tampa Bay (neutral park)////

4. Richard Hidalgo (29): Signed with Texas, 1 year ($5 million) 2004 Statistics: .239/.301/.444, 25 HR, 129/44 K/BB, 10.0 VORP////Translated 2004 Statistics: .240/.302/.444, .252 EqA////Career batting line of .273/.350/.497--////Translated career batting line of .269/.345/.489, .280 EqA////Career K/BB of2.00/1--////Seemed to regain his power after midseason trade to New York Mets, 21 HR in NY as opposed to 4 in HOU, .463 SLG in NY, vs. a .412 SLG in HOU////Spent last four seasons in NY Mets (severe pitcher's park), and Houston (severe hitter's park)////

5. Jermaine Dye (31): Signed with White Sox, 2 years ($10.5 million) 2004 Statistics: .265/.329/.464, 23 HR, 128/49 K/BB, 23.3 VORP////Translated 2004 Statistics: .267/.336/.476, .275 EqA////Career batting line of .272/.334/.463--////Translated career batting line of .269/.335/.466, .272 EqA////Career K/BB of2.23/1--////Career has been limited to to many, many injuries////In all seasons of Dye's career when he had 450+ AB's, he has hit no less than 23 HR////Has spent last four seasons in KC (severe hitter's park at the time), and Oakland (neutral park)////

6. Todd Hollandsworth (32): Signed with Cubs, 1 yr/$900,000 2004 Statistics (148 AB): .318/.392/.547, 8 HR, 26/17 K/BB, 16.8 VORP////Translated 2004 Statistics: .315/.387/.538, .307 EqA////Career batting line of .279/.336/.447--////Translated career batting line of .276/.332/.448, .266 EqA////Bad career K/BB of2.55/1--//// An injury to Hollandsworth shin limited his AB's last year (148)////Only once in Hollandsworth's 12-year career has he exceeded 300 AB's in one season (1996-Los Angeles)--a career backup////Each of the last three seasons, Hollandsworth's SLG % (02'-.417, 03'-.421, 04'-.547), and translated AVG (02'-.250, 03'-.258, 04'-.305), have gone up////Has spent last four seasons in Colorado (severe hitter's park), Texas (severe hitter's park), Chicago Cubs (slight pitcher's park), and Florida (severe pitcher's park)////

7. Juan Gonzalez (35): Signed minor league contract with Indians 2004 Statistics (127 AB): .276/.326/.441, 5 HR, 19/9 K/BB, 4.4 VORP////Translated 2004 Statistics: .273/.328/.438, .260 EqA////Career batting line of .295/.343/.561--////Translated career batting line of .299/.349/.584, .302 EqA////Bad career K/BB of2.79/1--////2003 Statistics (Last season with 300+ AB): .294/.329/.572, 24 HR, 73/14 K/BB, 24.3 VORP////Translated 2003 Statistics: .285/.322/.570, .289 EqA////Due to injuries, Gonzalez has not had a season with 350+ AB since 2001 (Cleveland)////Spent last four seasons in KC (severe pitcher's park in 2004), Texas (severe hitter's park), and Cleveland (neutral park)////

8. Mark Sweeney (35): Signed with Padres, 1 year ($575,000) 2004 Statistics (177 AB): .266/.377/.508, 9 HR, 51/32 K/BB, 14.8 VORP////Translated 2004 Statistics: .243/.363/.462, .284 EqA////Career batting line of .256/.349/.392--////Translated career batting line of .253/.347/.388, .259 EqA////Good career K/BB of 1.60/1--////Has been a backup entire 10-year career, has never had more than 180 AB's in any season////Recent EqA trend going up (02'-.164, 03'-.237, 02'-.284)////2004 represented a career-high for Sweeney in HR (9), Strikeouts (51), BB (32), and doubles (12)////Spent last four seasons in Colorado (severe hitter's park), San Diego (severe pitcher's park), and Milwaukee (neutral park)////

9. B.J. Surhoff (40): Signed with Orioles, 1 year ($1.1 million) 2004 Statistics (343 AB): .309/.365/.420, 8 HR, 29/29 K/BB, 16.7 VORP////Translated 2004 Statistics: .309/.369/.429, .278 EqA////Career batting line of .283/.334/.416--////Translated career batting line of .292/.346/.443, .271 EqA////Very good career K/BB of 1.28/1--////Excluding injury-shortened season of 2002 (75 AB), Surhoff's AVG (01'-.271, 03'-.295, 04'-.309), OBP (01'-.321, 03'-.353, 04'-.365), and EqA (01'-.254, 03'-.271, 04'-.278) have all gone up in last three years////Primarily used as a backup since 2001////Spent last 4 seasons in Baltimore (severe pitcher's park, until 2004 when it bacame a severe hitter's park), and Atlanta (slight pitcher's park)////

10. Gabe Kapler (29): Signed in Japan, 2004 Statistics (280 AB): .272/.311/.390, 6 HR, 49/15 K/BB, 1.2 VORP////Translated 2004 Statistics: .268/.310/.391, .243 EqA////Career batting line of .272/.332/.424--////Translated career batting line of .265/.328/.421, .261 EqA////Career K/BB of 1.93/1--////Has been a backup since 2002 (no season with 300+ AB's)////Spent last four seasons in Boston (slight hitter's park), Colorado (severe hitter's park), and Texas (severe hitter's park)////

11. Danny Bautista (33): Signed with Devil Rays, 1 yr/$1.9 million 2004 Statistics: .286/.332/.401, 11 HR, 66/35 K/BB, 14.4 VORP////Translated 2004 Statistics: .275/.321/.385, .247 EqA////Career batting line of .272/.315/.409--////Translated career batting line of .265/.305/.403, .245 EqA////Bad career K/BB of2.74/1--////2004 represented a career high in HR (11) for Bautista////Spent last four seasons in Arizona (severe hitter's park)////In each of the last three seasons, Bautista's translated OBP had dropped (02'-.360, 03'-.325, 04'-.321)////

12. Brian Jordan (38): Signed with Braves, 1 yr/$600,000 2004 Statistics (212 AB): .222/.275/.363, 5 HR, 35/16 K/BB, (-7.0) VORP////Translated 2004 Statistics: .208/.269/.356, .218 EqA////Career batting line of .284/.336/.462--////Translated career batting line of .283/.335/.470, .273 EqA////Not a very good career K/BB of2.33/1--////2002 Statistics (Last season with 450+ AB): .285/.338/.469, 18 HR, 86/34 K/BB, 27.0 VORP////Translated 2002 Statistics: .297/.348/.499, .283 EqA////Injuries in both 2003 and 2004 have limited Jordan to under 250 AB's each season////Spent last four seasons in Texas (severe hitter's park), Los Angeles (severe pitcher's park), and Atlanta (slight pitcher' park)////

13. Darren Bragg (35): 2004 Statistics (101 AB): .188/.261/.356, 4 HR, 31/10 K/BB, (-2.5) VORP////Translated 2004 Statistics: .186/.262/.361, .219 EqA////Career batting line of .255/.340/.381--////Translated career batting line of .251/.338/.384, .256 EqA////Career K/BB of1.87/1--////Has not had a season with 275+ AB's, since 1998 (Boston)////Bragg's AVG (02'-.269, 03'-.241, 04'-.188), translated OBP (02'-.350, 03'-.303, 04'-.262), and translated AVG (02'-.275, 03'-.242, 04'-.186) have all dropped in each of the last three seasons////Has spent last four seasons in five different cities: New York Yankees (slight pitcher's park), New York Mets (severe pitcher's park), Atlanta (slight pitcher's park), Cincinatti (moderate hitter's park), and San Diego (severe pitcher's park)////

14. Orlando Palmeiro (36): Signed with Astros, 1 year ($800,000) 2004 Statistics (133 AB): .241/.344/.346, 3 HR, 19/18 K/BB, 1.9 VORP////Translated 2004 Statistics: .233/.334/.341, .244 EqA////Career batting line of .277/.356/.348--////Translated career batting line of .279/.360/.355, .256 EqA////Unbelievable career K/BB of .798/1--////2003 Statistics (Last season with 300+ AB): .271/.330/.347, 3 HR, 31/32 K/BB, 00.0 VORP////Translated 2003 Statistics: .278/.346/.353, .249 EqA////Has never had a season of 318+ AB's in his entire 10-year career--a career backup////In each of the last three seasons, Palmeiro's AVG (02'-.300, 03'-.274, 04'-.241), SLG(02'-.354, 03'-.347, 04'-.346), and EqA(02'-.271, 03'-.249, 04'-.244) have dropped////Spent last four seasons in Anaheim (slight pitcher's park), St. Louis (moderate pitcher's park), and Houston (severe hitter's park)////

Next up, free-agent right-handed starting pitchers (RHSP).

Since there are so many free-agent RHSP, the scouting reports will be done in groups of ten (1-10, 11-20 etc...) according to my ranking of whom I believe is the best available.

Thank you for reading.

Frank Bundy III

If you have any questions, comments, concersn, or suggestions, please do not hesitate to email me at frnkbndy@yahoo.com.