But he’s probably still kind of hurt is my guess. He’s still a .300 hitter pretty much. I don’t know. If he doesn’t have a good post season, probably got to definitely let him walk. He carried the offense for so long, but now he doesn’t look like he fits anymore.

then Napoli has to DH. The question is how much is Vlad worth in a 4th outfielder / DH platoon role? Would he take $3m or $4m a year to remain with the Halos – or do we take the two draft choices and move on?

The signing priorities remain Lackey, Abreu and Figgins. It’s too tough to find solid SP these days, and we have to keep what we’ve got. SOS and Bell are not the answer to replace Lackey. If Figgins stays, then we have to believe Wood is gone.

That Vlad can no longer hit good pitching and will therefore continue to struggle in the playoffs.

I hope he proves me wrong,but history is not on his side.

…back and forth, for or against. I just know Vlad still offers a scary presence in the lineup, even if he backs that up only once or twice a series.

On that note, man, he looked BAD last night. When he was up with the bases loaded I kept screaming, WHAT ARE YOU SWINGING AT?! Is it just me or did all of you know Lestah was going to go with high heat? Sad he went after those bad pitches.

Vladdy did get a hit in this game. A hit that resulted into a run. Also, he showed a lot of patience at the plate in last years playoffs. Maybe that will carry over again in Game 2.

 With the bases juiced, Vlad went up there hacking. What else do you want Vlad to do? Its how he plays the game. Sure he is deteriorating and I was questioning by strike three, if that chance had just cost us the game. Looking back though, its the way he plays. And imagine if he had hit one of those pitches. BOOM.

He has had so much success as a free swinger. Currently, smart pitchers are getting him out on pitches that are nowhere near the zone. The pop-out yesterday to 1B was case in point. If he hadn’t hit it, the ball might have hit his toes.
If he did develop some plate discipline (about 1/2-3/4 of Abreu) he could re-establish himself as one of the top 5-10 power hitters in the league.

Old dog, new tricks? I hope so, but don’t think it will happen.

Any baseball discovered southwest of the pitcher’s mound is something to be swung at. That has always been Vlad’s “zone”, and he remains right there. It just ain’t working for him anymore.

My eyes tell me too much arms and shoulders, not enough leg/hip/waist. Probably because his legs are shot. No need for pitchers to throw him anything reasonable.

along with Napoli for the remainder of the post season. Vlad’s bat speed is slow against this pitching we will face and really you don’t need to swing at the first three pitches that come across the plate every at bat. Could Vlad’s eyesight be waning?

Now they will think he is an easy out and he will go 4-4 with lotsa ribbys.

(fanboy FTW)

 I admit I was devastated when he K’d with the bases loaded.. I don’t think Vlad can change,I don’t think he was ever mentally a strong hitter,he just relied on pure skill alone…
Now the skill is going,and he is not a great mental hitter..I don’t think he thinks much other then to swing at everything hard.. He will never change his approach,just my thought..
Good pitchers will get him out,jam him,throw the ball in the dirt…Any pitcher that throws him good pitches is either making a mistake or being stupid…
I’ll always love Vlad,but I’m hating watching him the the playoffs …
On a side note,he did have 5 days off before he played last night.. That is something that must be counted for him,how could his timing be great,facing a 95 mph thrower like Lester…