Look at Maggs without the hair!
Rightfield, like Second Base, presents the case of a productive player that has moved past his peak. Like with Placido Polanco before, we turn our sights on Magglio Ordonez.
In 2006, Ordonez was coming off an injury plagued season in which he played well when healthy, but it was uncertain whether he would return to the form that he had shown with the White Sox. In 2006, fully mended, he did this (If anybody knows how to embed videos from MLB, please let me know).
His 2007 and 2008 seasons have actually been better than his 2006 campaign, and Tiger fans have now come to expect .300/20/100 out of him, something that he seems to have no trouble producing. The question is, can he keep it up? Maggs isn't getting any younger, but we're yet to see a marked decline in his production. A full season out of him in 2006 was a huge boost to the club, that production is now expected from him.
Breaking it down:
Defense: Push
Offense: Push (may be in decline, but was better in '07 and '08 than he was in '06)
Upgrade: 2006
If the team is going to turn itself around, it won't be because of Magglio. Despite the impact he can make, he represented a huge jump in production from 2005 to 2006, something that the team can't hope to replicate in 2009. Still, his bat is potent and he should have no trouble filling the role that the Tigers need him to fill.
