First $Billion$ Player....Elly de la Cruz?

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

Elly de la Cruz looks to be in great physical condition though. Shouldn't you be more concerned about Juan Soto having passed his peak given that he already has a dad bod at the age of 26? While Soto was clearly an early bloomer, he may very well flame out early as well.

Juan Soto is a power hitter who walks more then he strikes out.

Elly de la Cruz is a hitter with some power who strikes out almost 4 times more then he walks. This with the eyes of a 22 year-old. These type of optics rarely get better as a player ages.

Tony Gwynn, David Ortiz and Babe Ruth all had "dad bod's" for the majority of their careers.

A guy with Juan Soto's power, combined with his eye is a rare commodity in baseball...dad bod, or not. It's also the type of skill set that ages well. No, he won't ever win a Gold Glove or steal 50 bases, but what he does do is pretty predictable and repeatable for those who are good at it, and stay fairly healthy.

[packs]

I'm having trouble understanding the dad bod comments at all. Have you seen photos of Babe Ruth? Who would confuse him with Mr. Universe?

Baseball is about production. If people cared about your appearance, I doubt Randy Johnson would have had much of a career.

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

Elly de la Cruz is a hitter with some power who strikes out almost 4 times more then he walks. This with the eyes of a 22 year-old. These type of optics rarely get better as a player ages.

Elly de la Cruz needs to learn to hit the ball where it's pitched. That's something a good pitching coach should be able to teach him (unless he's a total idiot of course).

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

Juan Soto is a power hitter who walks more then he strikes out.

A guy with Juan Soto's power, combined with his eye is a rare commodity in baseball...dad bod, or not. It's also the type of skill set that ages well. No, he won't ever win a Gold Glove or steal 50 bases, but what he does do is pretty predictable and repeatable for those who are good at it, and stay fairly healthy.

That though is the problem with Juan Soto. He's a one-dimensional power hitter. When that goes, he has nothing else to offer. Given that he's not shown the commitment to being the best that he can be, I think there's going to be a quick drop in his production and thus value to any team, particularly now that he's signed a guaranteed long-term contract.

But hey, if you're a Yankees fan, that should please you!