Spring Training Watch: Richie Sexson

Next up in the Spring Training Watch series, is Richie Sexson.

Normally, and so far in this series, we watch rookies/prospects and younger players, not neccissarily sluggers making $12M and see how they progress. Instead, we will be looking at a 33 year old who is coming off of a poor season in which he had a .205/.295/.399 line with 21 HR and 63 RBI. Not bad for someone named Ben Broussard, who's line was better at .275/.330/.404. Sexson is in the last year of his deal, so is a contract year going to bring out the best in Sexson?

Sexson has hit 45 HR twice is his career, and more than 30 HR in three other seasons. He has the power, but because of his 6'7'' 208lb pound frame, he is bound to have a few holes in his swing. In his career, Sexson has managed a total of 294 HR and 907 RBI in about 4600 AB's. He has the ability, that's for sure. In his first two seasons as a Mariners he managed 39 and 34 HR. Exactly what was expected of him. Then only launching 21 last season? Something happened. It could be that Sexson had significantly less AB's in 2007, versus the two season previous, he had about 175 less AB's than about what his average would be in his first two seasons in a Mariners' uniform. It's not rocket science to realize that if a player gets almost 200 AB's less than what the had the previous season, their HR total probably won't be two close to the season before. But when that player is barely above a .200 BA, what can you do? If you have a 6'7'' hole in the middle of the lineup, you can't just hope that it goes away.

Sexson should be on pace for a decent season. I don't see his BA going too far over about .260 or so. He could and should get 30+ HR and maybe closer to 100 RBI. That could be that one notch that needs to be kicked up in the lineup to make it formidable. Bleeding Blue and Teal has their projection of Sexson. Writer Dustin Shires predicts:

Average: .258

Home Runs: 34

RBIs: 101

OBP: .387

Walks Drawn: 75

Ks: 142

That makes sense. Hopefully the Mariners can get something like that out of Sexson. Keep a watch on him. On the fantasy side, Sexson could be a good mid-late round sleeper pick that is ignored by most. If you have that extra pick, pick him up. Also, I was wondering if their was any interest in starting up a Fantast Baseball League for this blog. If you have any interest, leave it in the comments.