Doc, wondering about the 1b/DH slots. Branyan ought to fill one, but that is not a 100% lock. In my book, Carp is a longshot to be a regular (not to be a major leaguer, but a regular), and I think there's zero chance that he's anything more than the last-ditch fallback in the offseason. Jr. is not supposed to be an everyday option, and looks like Sweeney won't be back.
So, then, just eyeballing it:
Nick Johnson, by the numbers, looks like playing Dustin Ackley at 1b/DH. Sure, you could do it, but it's not optimal. Olerud with 20 points lower SLG.
Carlos Delgado, was not falling off a cliff (outside of an ugly '07), but got injured and will try to come back at 38.
Jim Thome, was falling off a cliff, to my amatuer eye (.563 to .503 to .481 SLG), but am I wrong? And Thome part way down the cliff is still a better SLG than Nick Johnson.
Or does it make sense to sign some position-player vets and rotate them with Saunders, Tui, Carp through the DH slot? (Of course, all assumes that our Adrian Gonzalez dreams are just that -- though Thome and Delgado were once the kind of players that AG is becoming.)
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