[jacksonianmarch]

I like the signing. This essentially assists us greatly vs lefties since Ensberg has historically mashed them. Last yr, even though he barely OPS'd .700 last yr overall, he OPS'd .830 vs lefties and in 06 when he OPS'd only .859 (well down from prior) he still OPS'd over 1.000 vs lefties. Put that with Duncan who crushed lefties last yr and historically through the minors, and you have two right handed power weapons that we didnt have for the full yr last yr. This is a good thing since we struggled vs lefties.

Our OPS vs Righties last yr was the best in the majors, but our OPS vs lefties was 60 points lower, good for 11th. Most of this was due to players like Abreu (.678 vs .857), Damon (.705 vs .762), and Matsui (.814 to .872). Also, Jason Giambi (even though he was dead on in splits last yr) has been historically terrible vs lefties (.843 to .970 for the past 3 yrs). This essentially guarantees that 2 of the above players sit against lefties, offering us a greater offensive capability. How will they both fit in? Well...

Ensberg plays 1b as does Duncan, but Duncan can also DH or play LF. Also a possibility is Ensberg playing 3b and ARod playing DH on occasion. Regardless, it offers another right handed bat coming off the bench late in games to face tough pen lefties too. I think this helps a lot. And, it is low risk, so if he continues to spiral out of control, then he is easily cut.