Tony Clark

[markp]

Over the past seven seasons his OPS+ are 128, 125, 118, 122, 125, 50, and 99.
From 97-2001 he averaged 124. Not the best, but pretty good numbers. The following two years he averaged 75. The drastic decline has been attributed to his health-mostly to his back.
So the obvious question is, how healthy is he in 2004. If he produces in the 124 range he'd certainly be more valuable offensively than Lofton (107 average in the same seven seasons), Sierra (107 career OPS+ with a lot of sub-100's recently), or Lee (97 OPS+ in his career.)
With Bernie returning, a healthy Clark should see 100% of the CF-1B-DH ABs against lefties and probably most against righties too (even with his poor years in 02-03, he still has a 20 better OPS against righties.)
He looks healthy to me, but I didn't see much of him the past two years. But if he is, he should get a lot more ABs than Lofton (unless Bernie's unable to play CF 120 games.)

[AngelAstro]

I don't disagree. However, I'm not so sure Bernie will be able to play that much centerfield. Also, I'm sure Torre will fall in love with Lofton's speed and move him to leadoff before much longer.

[bakntime]

I've always liked TC, back to his Detriot days. I was glad when they signed him, and kinda disappointed when they picked up Lee. Not that I don't think Lee is a decent ball player, but being a switch hitter and with those adjusted OPS numbers, it like TC being the first guy off the bench, pinch hitting, playing 1st, and DHing. I like him better than Sierra, anyway.

[OilCan]

I think I would look at his 2002 season as an outlier. For whatever reason, he was just horrible. Believe me, I watched almost every game, and he looked worse than his stats, if that's possible.

As long as his back stays healthy, he's a decent bench player and probably a better DH than Sierra. But I think his total AB's will depend a lot on Giambi's knees.

[nyyfanatic85]

I agree with OilCan; I think Clark will be a much better DH than Sierra. If injuries don't flare up Clark could be a force.