Scanning the list of available free agents today I noticed the name of Ben Grieve. Ben has been a puzzle to me since 1999. He had a great 1998, posting 22 win shares at age 22, his first full season in the majors. He leveled off at the 16-17 win share level for a few seasons, and has been in decline since. It has to be unusual for a player to have his best season at age 22, especially since his only real medical problem was during the 2003 season when he needed surgery to fix a blood clot in his shoulder.

Ben's career OBA is .367, but his slugging percentage is an unremarkable .443. He does hit doubles, however. He also hits a ton of ground balls. Maybe that's the problem. His best home run seasons are the two in which he got the ball in the air the most.

Still, it strikes me that he should be of some value to a team. He'd be a good #2 hitter. (AL #2 hitters averaged a .337 OBA and a .420 slugging percentage in 2004; NL .337 and .408). A fast artifical surface might help his grounders get through the infield. There aren't too many of those left, however. He seems like someone Toronto should want to pick up for under $1 million dollars. At age 29, he seems worth the risk.