It was two years ago that Aubrey Huff signed the Rays first deal of this kind "drafted, developed, and signature on a multi year deal". At the time it was a first time you could say the Rays finally got something right. But the year is now 2006, and the landscape of the Rays has changed quite a bit.
One thing we have found out that Aubrey does not have thick skin as far as being able to deal with his name in the press on a regular basis. Similarly, he tends to pop off with his mouth about his current situation rather than thinking about the team first. This tends to indicate he is not the best clubhouse guy and his leadership on a young up and coming team is not really in existence. As far as production, either he stopped working hard to be successful, or he has Ben Grieve Disease. I don't take his approach that he had one off year as a solid excuse. If he was doing all the right things mentioned above, It would be just one bad year. But, there is a bad attitude here.
As far as the people who project what Huff will do in 2006, the guru Bill James predicts a low OBP (336) and a Slugging percentage (474) that is nowhere near his career years.
That being said, we also have a guy who plays his position pretty well in Gomes, and a universal stud prospect in Young on the way who knows how to mash.
So, I do not want to wait until the season to rid our seleves of this guy. He is everything that Jonny Gomes is not. For the good of the franchise, lets hope we don't have to sit through another cold April and May when his value drops even lower than it is now. Its a shame LaMar was to chicken to deal him when he actually had some decent value.