Brad Snyder

As a lefty hitting OF, I foresaw Cleveland AA OF Brad Snyder as a deep sleeper candidate to come up and platoon with the right-handed hitting corner outfielders of the Indians, Jason Michaels and Casey Blake.

I did not foresee, though, Blake finding a batting eye. (36 BBs in fewer than 300 ABs versus 43 in 523 in 2005. I know! 2004's numbers are similar!) Although Jason Michaels performance is not out-of-line with my expectations. (9/49/5/.270)

Where I my prognosticating skills went awry ("third eye" may be contextually correct, but it has taken on another meaning in these modern times,) is the Indians organizations' decision to send Snyder to AA - and keep him there all season!

From this week's Prospect Hot Sheet: "Brad Snyder, of, Double-A Akron (Indians): A lot of Tribe fans were outraged when Snyder didn't start the year in Triple-A, but Snyder was sent back to Akron to work on plate discipline--and his two-strike approach in particular. While his discipline hasn't improved--with 151 strikeouts in nearly 500 at-bats--Snyder is recognizing pitches he can drive better, and has seven bombs in August. Last week, Snyder hit .433 with a pair of homers and drove in six."

Well, the strike zone approach is not apparent in his numbers, he did manage to perform well across the Roto stats - 16 HR and 19 SB in 21 attempts.

Given the Indians ability to give Blake 500+ ABs each year despite well over 100 strikeouts per, I still like Snyder as a sleeper - in 2007!

(Please read my initial assessment from 2/21/06.)