Down the road, I’ll get to more interesting topics for the RotoChamps masses. For my first official article, however, I’m going to take a moment to lament about perhaps my favorite baseball player in the world: Travis Hafner.

Last year I had a very interesting discussion with an intelligent poster on another fantasy baseball site over whether Hafner or Justin Morneau was the better pick for the ’05 season. I went with Hafner, citing the fact that he was already one of the best 15 hitters in baseball along with a myriad of other reasons. The other poster argued for Morneau and his potential. I’m not trying to rub this in the guy’s face so much as make a point about Hafner, and the point is this:

When the heck is everyone going to wake up and realize that Travis Hafner is one of the best five hitters in baseball? Because it wasn’t last year, as the argument for Hafner vs. Morneau went about 50/50 in the discussion thread. I swear to God I almost began banging my head against my poor, defenseless wall over and over again when people were saying Hafner was a fluke, and the banging turned into me pondering Chinese water torture as “Pronk” (yes, he has a ridiculous nickname that I’m in love with – it means half project, half donkey) started off slowly. Hafner proceeded to miss out on the All-Star game, with the likes of Shea Hillenbrand getting voted ahead of him. And while I realize the All-Star voting is already considered a joke to some degree, the fact that the voting public managed to put someone with a career .760ish OPS at the time over a hitter the caliber of Hafner. 

It’s not even the general public that’s missing out on Hafner, either. Baseball Prospectus, one of the most reputable statistics sites out there, actually made fun of Hafner on multiple occasions before and during the ’05 season. Writer Joe Sheehan went on record by saying, “[H]e's 28, likely to have peaked, no defensive/positional value, the Indians have a better player [Michael Aubrey] coming up behind him. Pretty much the poster boy for not doing this. Think Hinske or Grieve.” Sheehan, to this day, has not recanted on this statement. I wouldn’t hold it against him so much if he hadn’t actually made it in the first place. BP knocked a guy who obviously had the skillset to be an incredible hitter (fantastic isolated and light tower power, excellent batting eye and walk ability, the talent to spray the ball all over the field, very good minor league track record, good scouting reports, and a huge, muscular body to boot – yes, I’m one of the guys who believes the bigger a hitter is, the more power he’s likely to have, although there are always exceptions), and that’s just not what you expect from a site renowned for its ability to find value in the misunderstood world of excellent statistical hitters.

Meanwhile, Pronk went on to post a 1.003 OPS in 2005, good for fourth best in all of baseball. Don’t adjust your eyesight, ladies and gents – you read that correctly. Ahead of such stalwart hitters as David Ortiz (5th overall), Manny Ramirez (6th), Carlos Delgado (7th), Helton, Bay, Vlad, Teixeira – and the list goes on – Hafner trailed only Derrek Lee, Albert Pujols, and A-Rod overall. He somehow misses the boat in the discussion of who is the best hitter in baseball right now (hell, he even got snubbed for the World Baseball Classic!), but if you take into account the fact that his park is one of the toughest in baseball in which to hit, it’s pretty obvious that Pronk deserves to be in that discussion. He’s essentially a better version of David Ortiz, only without the Boston (and subsequently, the New York and ESPN) media types around to hype him.

True story. I was on a layover in Chicago’s O’Hare airport last September, waiting for my connecting flight to L.A., when I ran into a kid, about eight to ten years old, who was very excited to see my Seattle Mariners ballcap. He pointed out that the M’s had just beaten the Yankees, therefore giving his favorite team, the Indians, the lead in the wildcard. Astounded by the fact that someone so young could have such an incredibly firm grasp on the somewhat muddled cross-divisional aspects of the current playoff system, I decided he must be a cool kid, so I went for broke and said I really liked Travis Hafner. The kid went on to say, “He swings at too many breaking balls.” Honest to God, even ten-year-olds don’t give Pronk enough credit. The man gets no respect.

There was an excellent poll raised on the RotoChamps forums (http://www.rotochamps.com/ftopict-8104.html) questioning whether Manny Ramirez or Travis Hafner would be the better hitter in ’06. Judging by the current vote (9-4 in favor of Ramirez), it seems the general public still hasn’t picked up on the greatness of Pronk. Yes, he’s been hurt for the last couple of years with various small maladies. But he’s come back extremely strong from both of them, and if you believe he’ll stay healthy long enough to make 150+ games (and I do), Manny vs. Hafner should be a lot closer a vote than 9 to 4. It should look a lot more like a coin toss in my book – and yes, I wish I could gamble on things like this in Vegas because I’d be double down on Hafner with every spare penny I have. 

In the end, the question really isn’t whether Pronk is as good as Manny at this point. Pretty clearly, he is. And so is his team in terms of hitting (1-9, the Tribe rival the Red Sox quite well in terms of hitting prowess), so the Runs and RBI should follow suit. The real question is when will you start to recognize how good he is? I wish I could’ve written this column before the season started so I could’ve persuaded a few more of you to bid the extra buck on Pronk in your drafts, so now I’ll have to settle for a mere understanding between you, the reader, and me, the writer. I love Travis Hafner, and I think he’s one of the best five hitters in baseball. And I hope you’ll come to think so soon.

Next week, I’ll introduce you to the minor league player I believe will have the most fantasy impact in the next two seasons and possibly beyond. In fact, I’d love to get a reader response of who you believe will be the most important fantasy player for both immediate and near future purposes who currently resides in the minor leagues. I’ll give you a hint: I believe it’s a hitter. In the interim, please make sure to line up your voting queue with multiple punches for Travis Hafner, 2006 AL All-Star.

Scott Rudicil enjoys watching Billy Bob Thornton raving like a drunken lunatic in Bad Santa, quoting Ghostbusters, and swinging at too many breaking balls. If you have any questions, comments, or Hafner love you’d like to pass along, please e-mail Scott at Bodhizefa@rotochamps.com.