Rich Aurilia

Aurilia was terrible during his first season of a two-year, $8 million contract, finishing with an OPS (.672) nearly 200 points lower than the season before (.867). At 36 years old, he's lost all defensive value and isn't even a productive platoon player, hitting just .240/.265/.411 against southpaws last year. Over the season's final five months last year, Aurilia had a miniscule 16 extra-base hits. He'll need a big bounceback season to have viable fantasy value.

After a couple of productive years in Cincinnati, Aurilia gets the everyday job opportunity he craved with the Giants. Don't be surprised if he eventually is reduced back to a platoon role. His splits were pretty significant: he hit .347/.406/.680 against lefties, but only .276/.318/.437 against righties. The change in ballparks hurts him too. Not only did he fare far better in Cincinnati than on the road the last two years, but according to the Bill James Handbook, AT&T Park has been the toughest power ballpark on right-handers the last three years.

Aurilia began the 2005 season as the Reds' starting shortstop, but lost the job to Felipe Lopez after getting off to a terrible start at the plate and then getting hurt. D'Angelo Jimenez's collapse and Ryan Freel's various injuries still afforded Aurilia plenty of chances to accumulate over 400 AB's, and he managed a recovery of sorts at the plate. Be wary of expecting too much - he had a .941 OPS at home and a .622 OPS on the road - and will enter 2006 in a reserve role unless the Reds make a trade.

The bottom fell out for Aurilia in 2004 as he was waived by the Mariners in midseason as a scapegoat for their poor start. He later signed with San Diego but didn't hit for much power. His glorious 2001 season really sticks out like a sore thumb now.

Aurilia had the misfortune of being a free agent at the same time as Kazuo Matsui and Miguel Tejada, not to mention in a year when Nomar Garciaparra and Alex Rodriguez were on the trading block. He's been consistent, save the fluke 2001 monster year, and can help a team looking to add power up the middle for a low price. Strong bargain potential in 2004, both in MLB and fantasy.

After a sterling 2001, Aurilia's numbers dropped precipitously in 2002, and there may be three reasons why. First of all, he turned 30 in 2001, which is when many players come up with their career year; secondly, he hurt his elbow early in 2002, and it probably affected his stroke for some time after he got back in the lineup; finally, he's a member of the MLBPA executive committee, and was therefore far busier than most players during the labor talks. We'd expect a rebound in 2003, although not up to his 2001 numbers.