Bobby Abreu
Age: 33 Years Old (Turns 34 next March).

Three-Year History, three-year splits and last year's splits.

SEASON Team G AB H 1B 2B 3B HR R RBI BB SO SB CS AVG
2004 Phillies 159 574 173 95 47 1 30 118 105 127 116 40 5 .301
2005 Phillies 162 588 168 106 37 1 24 104 102 117 134 31 9 .286
2006 Phills-Yanks 156 548 163 105 41 2 15 98 107 124 138 30 6 .297
2007 Bill James 160 588 170 104 43 2 21 104 99 123 141 26 9 .289
2007 CHONE   529 148 98 32 1 17 106 78 109 129 25 5 .280
2007 Marcel   504 146 90 35 2 19 90 90 99 115 27 6 .290
2007 ZiPS   534 153 98 34 1 20 89 98 114 122 28 7 .287

SEASON Team BB% K% BB/K OBP SLG OPS ISO BABIP
2004 Phillies 18.1 % 20.2 % 1.09 .428 .544 .971 .242 .334
2005 Phillies 16.6 % 22.8 % 0.87 .405 .474 .879 .189 .335
2006 Phillies-Yankees 18.5 % 25.2 % 0.90 .424 .462 .886 .164 .375
2007 Bill James 17.3 % 24.0 % 0.87 .415 .476 .891 .187 .350
2007 CHONE 17.1 % 24.4 % 0.84 .407 .440 .847 .161 .342
2007 Marcel 16.4 % 22.8 % 0.86 .406 .480 .886 .190 .343
2007 ZiPS 17.6 % 22.8 % 0.93 .414 .466 .880 .179 .339


Outlook: Traded to the Yankees at the trading deadline, Bobby had 209 ABs in Yankee pinstripes and he made them count, going .330/.419/.507 in that span (which coincidentally, is pretty close to Jeter's stat line for the full year). Everyone knows Abreu's game by now; he is a remarkably patient hitter and takes his share of walks (his 124 BBs would have led either league had he been eligible) and strikeouts (138 Ks). After he switched leagues, perhaps after a concerted change in his approach at the plate, Abreu put a few more balls in the air, helping him in the XBH and SLG category as a few of those fly balls ended up going out. Other than that, he is an on base machine who fits very well into the Yankee line up. His acquisition allows Torre to put a left handed version of Derek Jeter (though Abreu is more patient) in the line up right after the Captain. As a bonus, Bobby averaged 4.44 pitches a plate appearance as a Yankee, which when combined with Jason Giambi behind him, will help wear pitchers down and get the Yankees into the other team's bulllpen early.

Bobby is currently rehabbing a stained oblique but the injury is not expected to cost him significant time (or more importantly, effectiveness). Also, Abreu will be in a modified-walk year as he would be playing for the Yankees to pick up his $16MM option at the end of the year. Who knows, perhaps we could see a contract year big-time season. Actually, it'll be interesting to see how Abreu ages as his closest comparison through age 32 is none other than Bernie Williams, who had his last great season at age 33.

Still, the important number to keep an eye on this year will probably be Bobby's SLG percent as Abreu's power outage (relatively speaking) has been well documented since the 2005 All-Star Break. However, even with diminished power, Abreu is a great addition to the Yankees lineup; a professional hitter with great on-base skills, good instincts on the basepaths and is someone the third in a line of 3 players who could each put up a 20-20 season.

Please post your predictions for the following stat line in the comments section:

AB R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG