Once you see Wilkerson for who he is, there's nothing debatable about him.  He's an easy file folder, as it were.   Healthy and in a role, he can help.  As a starting player, yowch.  It would be May, at the latest, before everybody was screaming for whoever the alternative was...

In 2008, Wilkerson's back and hammy robbed him of power.  His K/BB, K rate, and everything else was as usual, but he left his fly balls on the warning track.  The Red Sox are no doubt stashing him in the minors, in hopes that some R & R will have his power stroke and torque back.  No harm in waiting to see.

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=== When Is a Platoon Not a Platoon, Dept. ===

Job shares are tough for Wilkerson.  If you haven't looked it up, he actually hits lefties a bit better than righties.   A job-share would soothe Wilkerson's aching, aging legs and back.  Think Jay Buhner:  Brad crashes into walls, tears out of the batter's box too hard... always dinged up.  Sigh.

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=== Where's the White Rat When You Really Need Him, Dept. === 

Wilkerson doesn't care what hand the pitcher throws with; he just needs a pitcher who stays DOWN in the zone.  First question is whether a manager would be willing to platoon Wilkerson by spotting him against the GB pitchers that he can hit. 

Check it out:

.280/.372/.484 - Wilkerson "lifetime" against groundball pitchers

.209/.317/.395 - Wilkerson "lifetime" against flyball pitchers

In between - what he does against pitchers neither GB nor FB 

In other words, if a pitcher keeps the ball low, Wilkerson is Hideki Matsui.  If a pitcher stays out and over the plate, Wilkerson is Willie Bloomquist.

Can you platoon a guy based on GB/FB splits?  Earl and Whitey woulda.  They platooned based on whatever gave them an edge that day.  The Red Sox are the kind of an org who would give Wilk 200 AB's in exactly that role.

So Wilkerson mashes GB pitchers, and is helpless against FB pitchers.  Well, is that a fluke or part of who Wilkerson is?  Why the GB/FB pitcher split?

....................

Wilk's hot zone is the classic down-in ball to lefties.  He can't hit a pitch out and over the plate to save his life.  Ask the Rangers or Mariners' scouts, and you'll see.  Wilkerson, with his swing shape and the juice he puts into each swing, has got to be the most extreme example of "lefty wheelhouse" hitter in the major leagues.

You can't teach Wilkerson to hit a ball over his belt, but you can spot him against groundball pitchers who are essentially incapable of throwing a good pitch in the up-away area. 

If the Red Sox spotted Wilk against the Wang, Westbrook, Loewen, McGowan type pitchers who liiterally don't know how to do anything but pound the knees, they'd get a "surprising" year out of him.  If they indiscriminately threw him out there against the Jered Weavers, Ted Lillys and Cliff Lees of the game, he'd hit .225.

Do the Red Sox know about that hot zone chart?  Don't be silly; of course they do.   It's a question of inertia.  

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=== Popeye I Yam What I Yam Dept. === 

Wilkerson is who he is.  He'll hit .250, hit 25 homers and 25 doubles (prorated full season), get some walks, play average-solid defense.  Any variation from that is just random fluctuation.  .250/.350/.460 and 5.0 RC/27, that's who he is, regardless of whether his numbers are up or down at the moment.

After fooling the Rangers, who thought they were getting Jim Thome Lite in the Soriano deal ... Brad Wilkerson found his level (until the 2008 injury year).  It's not a Jason Bay situation, where you need an expert to plot his arc.  Anybody can plot Brad Wilkerson's arc.

He does have a very, very high PX (power index) -- 150 PX's are routine for Wilkerson.  (That's Cust, Manny, Pujols PX.)

He'll hit .250 and he'll hit a fairly good number of homers.  He'll get his 5.0 runs created per 27 -- exactly league average -- in a Moneyball way:  a ton of whiffs, a couple walks, and a home run a week. 

Are you getting tired of repetition yet?  Wait till the season starts. 

........................

Give Wilkerson credit for versatility, also.  He can play first, left, right, doesn't mind DH, and yes, Virginia, Wilkerson can back up in CF if that's what the situation dictates.  (Did I suggest Wilkerson as a 350-AB player yet?) 

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=== I Don't Mind a Spoon As Long As It's Soup We're Having === 

If you're talking fulltime RF's, I'd rather have Geoff Jenkins than Wilkerson, even with the AL transition and the extra couple years on him.  Wilkerson is the kind of CYB Honda Civic that Dr. D finds so frustrating...

Still.  If anybody would ever consider an A's-style 10-, 11-man lineup rotation, Wilkerson could seriously help.  ...As a 500-AB regular ... he'd be a pretty good Royal.

Cheers,

Dr D