Will the Giants dump Fred Lewis?
Giants’ play-by-play announcer Dave Flemming said on air Thursday that outfielder Fred Lewis won’t suddenly blossom into a strong defensive outfielder and base-stealer.
A caller asked Flemming what the Giants would do with Lewis since he’s out of minor league options.
“Fred’s 28-years-old,” Flemming said. “At 28, you are the player you are. There’s no more saying that Fred came to baseball later in life or anything. If he doesn’t earn a spot on the big league club, they’ll designate him for assignment and hope they can work out a trade for him. At some point, you have to acknowledge the situation.”
Once labeled a five-tool-can’t-miss-kind-of-player, many people are now saying that Lewis is a bust and that the Giants need to cut ties with him. Mychael Urban of CSN Bay Area predicted yesterday that Lewis would be cut loose near the end of camp.
Lewis’ first full year in the majors wasn’t exactly horrible. He put up respectable numbers of .282/.351/.440 to go with 9 HR and 40 RBI. He also stole 21 bases with his above-average speed. Those numbers led to high expectations in 2009, and Lewis failed to deliver. His numbers dipped significantly to .258/.348/.390 with the HR’s and RBI’s being cut in half. He only swiped 8 bags, but also had nearly 200 less plate appearances.
What do you think?
2 Responses to Will the Giants dump Fred Lewis?
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On a team of free-swingers, I would have hoped that Lewis' career .355 OBP (.381 in the 2nd half of 2009) would mean something. But, alas…
In short, I think there is no reason to keep Velez as a 5th outfielder over Lewis. But, I agree with the Giants' assessment that there just isn't much playing time for him on this team.
-ehopper
Freddy has speed but I have a hard time watching him patrol left field. The team already has questions defensively but he's a true liability out there. I'm sure another team can use him, I hope the Giants get something for him if they do trade him.