Aaron Rowand

Rowand's disappointing tenure with San Francisco hit rock bottom last season, as he finished with a career-low .659 OPS in 331 at-bats. In fact, he lost his starting job to Andres Torres, becoming a bench player with a $60 million contract. While the Giants have entertained trading Rowand, the team would likely have to pick up most of his remaining salary, so expect Rowand to still be with San Francisco in 2011, acting as a fourth or fifth outfielder, leaving him with little to no fantasy value.

Rowand's second year in San Francisco was even worse than his first, as he finished batting just .261 with 15 homers and 64 RBI. He's getting paid like a star, but with a .738 OPS, 125:30 K:BB ratio and a declining glove in center field, he's played like anything but one. Rowand hit .218/.271/.358 after the All-Star break last season, so things may only get worse for the injury-prone 32-year-old from here on out. Rowand can still be useful in NL-only leagues, but since he no longer steals many bases (he's just 6-for-11 on stolen-base attempts over the past two years combined), his fantasy upside is quite limited.

Rowand finished 2008 with 13 homers, 70 RBI and a .271 batting average. After signing a $60 million deal before the season began, Rowand's OPS dropped from .889 in 2007 to .749 in 2008. The change in ballparks had something to do with it, but he's simply not a franchise player, and at age 31, it's unlikely he'll approach 2007's production ever again. His defense in center also slipped last year, and he went just 2-of-4 on the basepaths. Rowand will once again man center field and bat somewhere in the middle of the Giants’ lineup in 2009, but the huge five-year contract is likely to look really bad toward the end of the deal.

Rowand is a prime candidate to drop off after posting big numbers in his walk year with the Phillies. Thanks in part to the offensive-friendly environment of Citizens Bank Park, where he batted .319 with a .937 OPS. The 30-year-old finished with career highs of 27 HR, 89 RBI and 105 runs. Now, he’ll be playing half his games at AT&T Park, a much tougher venue for hitters. Rowand will probably top off at about 20 HR, with subsequent drops in RBIs and runs in 2008. Leaving a potent Phillies lineup for one that's still under post-Barry Bonds reconstruction doesn't help matters, either. At least he was able to cash in, $60 million over the next five seasons.

After coming across in the Jim Thome deal, Rowand began 2006 playing well, but then broke his nose when crashing into the centerfield fence in May, effectively ending his productivity for the year. It appears Rowand will return to man center for the Phillies in 2007, and he will have lots of playing time as long as he can produce even a little. The fans and Charlie Manuel love him, and Michael Bourn, the Phillies' top outfield prospect, isn't quite ready yet.

Rowand did nothing at the plate last season to dispel the notion that 2004 was a fluke, but even his reduced offense was adequate for a fly-catching center fielder. Moving to Philadelphia's bandbox of a stadium could help his numbers, although he didn't take advantage of US Cellular while he was there, posting a home and road OPS no more than 15 points apart each of the last two years.

If you are a White Sox fan who fell into a coma in mid-May and just woke up, Rowand's numbers aren't a misprint -- he did indeed rebound from hitting barely above .200 at the quarter pole to blossom into stardom. Whether he can keep it up with his plate discipline remains to be seen, but for now Rowand is the answer to one of the Sox's questions in the outfield.

Rowand banged up his ribs in an offseason dirt biking accident, then slumped his way down to Charlotte. Used mostly against lefties he was on fire after his recall, putting up a .997 OPS after the All-Star break -- but center field platoons aren't exactly SOP. Depending on their offseason moves Rowand could get one more chance to win the starting job, but it seems more likely that he's destined for the bench.

For a few glorious days last spring, between the trade of Chris Singleton and the signing of Kenny Lofton, Rowand was going to be the starting center fielder. Four months later he got his chance when Lofton himself was dealt, and looked no better than adequate (.286/.333/.412 in 182 at-bats.) Joe Borchard will get a look, but Rowand's defense should win him the job this spring -- how long he keeps it will depend entirely on whether his bat comes around.