I’m glad to see that he seems to have gotten his life back together and is fulfilling the worlds of potential that everyone saw in him back in 1999 when he was the #1 overall pick in the draft. He had a great rookie season with Cincinnati in ‘07 and hasn’t skipped a beat since his trade to Texas, as he’s currently leading the Rangers and the rest of Major League Baseball with 36 RBI. He’s gotten even further away from everything that’s haunted him in the past, which is a fantastic thing for him, his family, and the Rangers. It’s a near-miracle that someone who was addicted to such horrible drugs was able to overcome that, become fully clean, and excel at what they do for a living, especially playing professional baseball. He’s a great hitter. He’s got all-world power and hits absolute moonshots. He can take walks, get on base, and doesn’t strike out a ton. He’ll get you a .280-.290 average. He’s a great fielder and has one of the strongest arms of any outfielder in the majors; I’d put it right up there with Ankiel, Markakis, Vlad, and Francouer. And on top of that, despite all the issues he’s had that set his career back, he’s only 27 and has a good 8-10 years left ahead of him, so he didn’t lose too much of his career. Sure, he would have ended up with much better career numbers, but I think the numbers he gets from this day forward will mean even more no matter what they are, simply because of what he overcame to get to this point.
He looks like he’s going to be a 30-40 home run, 100-120 RBI threat year in and year out, just as expected. I have all the respect in the world for a guy like that. You can’t help but root for someone who has suffered through the lowest of lows and is now experiencing all-time highs, and not “those” highs.
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