Steal Of The Winter

The Diamondbacks have one of the best outfields in baseball, with Eric Byrnes, Chris Young, and Justin Upton providing both offense and defense for the team that looks like the National League’s best. In order to make room for Upton, however, they shipped off Carlos Quentin, and he’s quickly making them regret that decision.

After another huge night, where he was the White Sox offense against John Lackey, Quentin continues to solidify his position as the best hitter in the American League so far in 2008. His .301/.415/.608 line gives him the league’s highest WPA/LI, and his 14 home runs also lead the junior circuit while matching his career total coming into the ’08 season. When you can double your career home run total in 166 at-bats, you’ve either had an amazing year or a pretty lousy career to that point, or more probably, both.

Quentin was a pretty big disappointment in Arizona, and his power was a question mark after just okay performances in some pretty good hitters parks. He’s answering those questions in a big way this year, however. 22 of his 50 hits have gone for extra bases, and when you combine the ability to drive the ball with good pitch selection (13.3% BB%, 17.8% K%), you get an all-star offensive performer. Unlike many hot starters, Quentin’s early strong performance is not driven by an unsustainable rate of hits falling in front of fielders, as his .287 BABIP is actually a little below the league average. His goodness is coming from hitting the ball over the wall, and while he won’t keep getting home runs at this rate, he’s a talented player who is breaking free of the bust label.

Considering the White Sox got him for a decent-but-not-great prospect in Chris Carter, the acquisition of Quentin has to be considered the steal of the offseason, and is one of the main reasons Chicago is a surprising contender in the A.L. Central.