Frank Thomas

Thomas remained healthy, eclipsing the 150-game mark for the first time since 2003, but saw his power drop from his previous season in Oakland. There's still a lot to like (81 walks, and a nice .336/.431/.631 line against lefties), and his numbers after the All-Star break (.306/.378/.524) show there's still plenty of gas left in the tank. Any sort of drop in his skill set will be masked by a nice home park, so expect another solid season.

After two injury-plagued seasons, Thomas re-established himself in 2006 with a 39-homer, 114-RBI campaign. His season looks even better when you toss out his early season struggles in April. He'll turn 39 in May and will play half of his games on the artifical turf in Toronto after inking a two-year deal with the Jays, so staying healthy could be even more problematic this season. He's about as likely to leg out a double as you, but that's why they call it a home run trot. When healthy, he'll anchor the middle of the Jays lineup along with Vernon Wells and continue to pound away at mistake pitches while in the lineup.

Thomas' career with the White Sox ended with a whimper on the field, and a bang off it. His numbers for the brief period in which he was able to stay healthy are hardly vintage Big Hurt, although he still showed some power, but he wasn't officially out of Chicago's plans until Jim Thome was acquired. He'll turn 38 this season, and probably doesn't have much more left to offer, but look for some team in need of right-handed power and a DH to give him one more shot.

Thomas picked up where he left off in 2003, even kicking his walk rate up a notch to get his OBP back up to its former Hall of Fame level, but a foot/ankle injury suffered just before the All-Star break ended the renaissance, along with his season. Thomas is now back where he was a few years ago with age and injury questions looming overhead, but with 500 home runs still within range Thomas has more than enough motivation for another comeback. Don't count him out yet. He qualifies at DH only this year in most leagues, having played only four games at first base in 2004.

After a slow April, and whispers that he was through, Thomas found his stroke in the summer and posted his fifth 40 HR campaign, and 10th 100 RBI season. His days of contending for batting titles are probably gone, but he's still got some thunder left in his bat -- and 500 career home runs waiting for him in late 2005/early 2006.

The White Sox invoked the byzantine 'diminished skills' clause in his contract at the end of the year, but then tore it up and allowed Thomas to re-sign with the club and retain a smidgen of dignity. Thomas rang up a vintage 1134 OPS in September, which carries the usual "yeah, but..." associated with September pitching. With the new deal every year is potentially a contract year, so motivation shouldn't be a problem. Can he keep it up? It's probably worth a few dollars to find out (even a diminished Thomas managed 28 HR and 92 RBI last year).