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BP Annual Player Comments

Year		Comment
2004		The final stage of Brent Gates Syndrome is always difficult to watch. Fables, who hit 10 homers as a 23-year-old rookie, slugged just .260 last season. He still plays excellent defense, and could still hang on somewhere in a Rafael Belliard role if he can prove he can move around the diamond. The Dodgers are apparently interested in him, and he would fit perfectly into their offensive philosophy of trying to score as few runs as possible.
2003		The enigma continues. For the first time in his career, Febles made it through a season without injury, which would be cause for celebration except that, after hitting just .245 with a .348 slugging average, it’s an open question whether his frequent DL stints have permanently eroded his skills. For the second straight year, a strong finish has made it difficult for the Royals to give up on him entirely. He still plays good defense, still runs well, and there are still no ready alternatives in the system. The Royals could do a lot worse than to give Febles one more shot to regain his 1999 form, like moving Michael Tucker to second.
2002		This just isn't going to happen. Febles hasn't been able to stay healthy for more than a month at a time, and the leg injuries he's suffered have wiped out his speed and taken their toll on his range. He's a good enough player to have a random half-season at some point and hit .300/.360/.440 for a few months, but he's unlikely to reach 500 at-bats and could well be out of the majors by 2004.
2001		He doesn’t turn 25 until May, but he looks less like a phenom and more like a Comeback Player of the Year candidate every day. Repetitive shoulder injuries have robbed him of his power--he had a lower slugging average than Rey Sanchez--and his defense slipped from excellent to merely adequate. Febles has All-Star ability at second base, but if you look at the top-echelon second baseman like Roberto Alomar and Edgardo Alfonzo, you’ll notice that they have a knack for avoiding injury while playing one of the game’s most dangerous positions. Febles, for whatever reason, lacks that ability. Unless he develops it quickly, it’s going to render his talent useless.
2000		As advertised, Febles showed no one outstanding attribute in his rookie year but contributed in every phase of the game. On defense, he showed good range along with an ability to turn the double play. Offensively, he drew walks, stole bases and drove the ball. He played with a bum shoulder for much of the year, which hurt him in the field and held him to a .205 average after the All-Star break. A torn finger ligament ended his season. Second basemen are susceptible to injuries that impede their development, so there is some concern about this. Febles adjusts from at-bat to at-bat as well as any player on the team; if healthy and rested--the Royals made him sit out winter ball--he’s almost a sure bet to improve.
1999		He’s not an offensive juggernaut like Giambi and doesn’t have Beltran’s tools, but he may be the most enjoyable player of the three to watch. He’s a perfectly sculpted leadoff hitter: he hits for average, draws an enormous number of walks, and steals bases with abandon - 100 steals the last two seasons, with a success rate of 79%. He scored 110 runs in just 126 games in AA. He’s also an excellent defensive second baseman, which explains why the Royals are so nonchalant about losing Jose Offerman to free agency. He’ll be 23 this year, a good age for a rookie; if he were 3 years younger, he’d be Roberto Alomar, circa 1988.
1997		It’s not very shrewd to project a player from low A-ball to the major leagues, especially one with little power. But Febles is a terrific fielder—he was voted the best defensive second baseman in the Midwest League - and posted a .403 OBP last year. For a Royals’ hitter to show that kind of discipline is unusual—when you consider the free-swinging tendencies of most Latin players, it’s almost unheard of. A similar player to Jed Hansen, who is the heir apparent at second base, but he’s three years younger and has a much higher upside.

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