Position by Position: Shortstop

Mike Aviles- Aviles seems to be living out that cliched high school yearbook quote of "What a long, strange trip its been". He's gone from $1,000 bonus signability draft pick, to minor league depth, to Major League rookie sensation. I saw him in his first start in KC last year in person. He botched 2 double plays and struck out a couple times if I remember correct. He looked like he had no business in the bigs. Then he started hitting last year and after a small slump, readjusted and began again. Aviles ended up playing an okay SS last year too despite being a little range challenged in my opinion. His strengths are his good contact skills, average power, and steady glove while his weakness is mainly just how much of a free swinger he is. Advanced stat metrics also point out his his BAIBP was extremely high (.384?) last year when contrasted to his line drive rate. His expected BAIBP was aroun 60 to 70 points lower. I predict though that Aviles makes up for his dropoff in average with a little more patience and goes .295/.355/.450 on the year with 15 HR's.

Tony Pena Jr.- Not much to say here. He's above average with the glove (not great as some believe) and can't hit worth a lick. I think he should be reassigned to a low level as a pitcher. He may have some potential as a pitcher. If not he's an AAA player this year who would hit .200/.210/.250 over a whole season. Maybe that's harsh but he sucks.