Kevin Mench Scouting Report

It occurs to me, after glancing at some old fantasy mags, that Kevin Mench is supposed to be a 35-HR slugger. He’s got the power, he’s got the body, and he’s got the major-league experience. After 1,500 MLB at-bats it’s either 30/100 this year, or 25/75 for the next 5 seasons.

Mench is Matt Stairs. You always look for comparison players when you’re writing up scouting reports, and this one is so obvious that it just jumped out at me. Mench has cracked 100 RBIs only once in his pro/amateur career, and that was a .334/27/121 season in 2000 at A-Charlotte. That’s a monster year. But he followed it up with a .265/26/83 at AA, then a .214/6/15 at AAA. Granted, he only had 96 ABs, but .334 to .214 is a steep drop.

Guys usually find their stride as they get closer to the majors, and Kevin’s found his niche as a .275/25/80 player. He hit .279/26/71 in ‘04, then hit .264/25/73 over 100+ more ABs in ‘05. That’s why I say it’s either a huge break-out ‘06, or 25/80 forever.

At 6′0, 215, he’s got a slugger’s body. And his K:BB was a very impressive 68:50 last year. Plus, you’ve got to remember that Stairs had 2 100+ RBI seasons with Oakland in ‘98 and ‘99 while maintaining almost IDENTICAL K:BB ratios as Mench. Stairs’ career SLG%: .489. Mench’s career SLG%: .484.

So what do you need to know? Stairs had his 2 huge seasons at age 30 and 31. But he also had much less MLB service time under his belt. And Stairs’ first big year? It came right after a 27/73 season. Mench’s 2005 numbers: 25/73.

Mench wore down in the second half of ‘05, going .235/9/28 after the All-Star Break. Pre-ASB: .291/16/45. He’s not flashy, and you should be able to get him cheap.