Aubrey Huff Tracker

DH would be the best position unless Inge hits the DL.

I've wanted Huff for 2 months now...

www.forums.mlb.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?sr=y&msg=49048.5&nav=messages&webtag=ml-tigers

I'm glad someone finally listened to me!

Has he batted yet?

Tigers give Huff rare shot at playoffs
Club's new slugger hopes for first taste of October baseball

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

08/18/09 8:30 PM ET

DETROIT -- Aubrey Huff walked into the Tigers' dugout on Tuesday afternoon and might as well have walked into a whole different league than the one he had been playing in.

With one move from Baltimore to Detroit, he went from worst to first in his teams' respective division standing. Instead of playing out the schedule with nothing at stake, he's playing for October at this point in the summer for the first time in his career. He could feel the difference prior to batting practice.

"Normally at this time of year, you're just grinding it out," Huff said. "You've got your [offseason] vacation plans. You've got [a trip to] Hawaii all booked up. This is exciting. This is like a second Opening Day."

The Tigers are hoping it's the opening of a new-look offensive attack now that they have a proven run producer in the middle of their order.

"He can hit and knock in runs," manager Jim Leyland said. "He's got a track record. He's a guy that's been in there a long time."

For Tuesday, he was slotted in the fifth spot, right behind slugger Miguel Cabrera in the Tigers' order. Carlos Guillen, who had been batting fifth to give Cabrera protection, moved up to third spot, where he hit just twice this year prior to Tuesday.

The impact was to alternate left- and right-handed hitters almost throughout the order, except for fifth and sixth, where Huff and Clete Thomas give the Tigers back-to-back lefty swingers. They have an abundance of left-handed bats available in their lineup for the first time in several years, balancing out an issue that troubled them as far back as 2006.

The other impact was the huge smile on Miguel Cabrera's face as he talked about the trade at his locker in the Tigers' clubhouse.

"It's a really good deal," said Cabrera, who now has another RBI source behind him.

That, more than the order or the balance, seems to be key. Whether the lineup sticks in this particular order is hard to tell right now, since Leyland said it might not. But somewhere around the middle of the order, Huff is going to be a threat, certainly against right-handed pitchers.

For that reason, Huff didn't need long to realize how valued he was in this city. He found that out as soon as he checked into his hotel.

"The bellman actually greeted me," Huff said. "He was real excited."

Much as the Tigers were in need of offense, and as much interest as they had shown in Huff over the past few years, Huff said the deal caught him by surprise. He had prepared himself for a potential trade anywhere leading up to the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline, but he figure it probably wasn't going to happen once the calendar changed to August.

"It was a shock," Huff said, "but a positive shock."

Like the lineup, Leyland said he plans to play Huff's positioning by ear. Both Tigers general manager David Dombrowski and Huff's former boss, Orioles president of baseball operations Larry MacPhail, emphasized that the 32-year-old can play left field and third base as well as first base and DH, where he had played this year in Baltimore. He hasn't started in the outfield since 2006 or at third since last year, but they're options for him in Detroit.

Just how much remains to be seen. Leyland used Huff's first game to start him at designated hitter and play Guillen in left field for the first time since Guillen went on the disabled list in early May with right shoulder inflammation.

Leyland said that Huff will most likely play third on days when Inge gets a rest. But wherever Huff plays, he won't be in there for his defense.

"Offense is his forte," Leyland said.

Playoff chases are not, but mainly because he has never had the chance to really be in the thick of one. His teams in Tampa Bay struggled simply to get to 70 wins in a season before he was traded midway through 2006 to Houston, where the Astros were on the fringe of a playoff race but never quite challenged the Cardinals.

The Orioles got an offensive boost out of him but never got much of a rise in the standings out of it. Their youth movement likely would've had him looking elsewhere as a free agent this offseason anyway. Now, he gets a shot at a contender beforehand.

"It's why you play the game, man," Huff said. "If there's baseball karma, hopefully it's my time."

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Whhooo! Go Aubrey!

Huff trying to work out of hitting slump
Tigers' designated hitter should have his opportunities

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

09/01/09 7:40 PM ET

DETROIT -- Aubrey Huff has been around the game long enough to know that his big hit with the Tigers could be an at-bat away. That doesn't make his wait for it any easier.

Two weeks after Huff made his Tigers debut -- after coming over in a trade from the Orioles -- the veteran slugger who was acquired to add a jolt to Detroit's inconsistent offense could use a spark himself. He entered Tuesday's series opener against the Indians with a 3-for-34 (.088) batting clip since the move, part of a .191 (17-for-89) slump in August that began with Baltimore.

Huff is batting .203 (29-for-143) since the All-Star break, and he's at risk for registering the lowest batting average of his career -- below the .248 mark he had during his first full season in 2001.

If it was a matter of terrible swings, he'd be beating himself up. The fact that he feels like he's making quality swings makes it somewhat easier.

Then again, as a designated hitter, he has a lot of time to think about it.

"When you're a DH and you're not hitting," Huff said, "and you're sitting for 45 minutes between at-bats, it can be tough."

However, it could be worse if he were sitting for entire games.

That isn't likely to happen. Detroit manager Jim Leyland talked after Monday's loss as though he might sit Huff for a game or two to get him away from some of the pressure. Come Tuesday, however, he thought better of it, putting Huff back in the lineup against Indians right-hander Carlos Carrasco in his Major League debut. He did, however, drop Huff from fifth in the order to sixth, the first time Huff has started anywhere other than fifth in his brief Tigers tenure.

After taking on Cleveland lefty Aaron Laffey on Wednesday, the Tigers will face at least three straight right-handed starters, so Huff is likely to get plenty of chances to snap out of it. He's an experienced hitter in a division race and a left-handed hitter to balance out the lineup.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Huff has best game with Tigers
Veteran DH rewards suggestion from Leyland's wife

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

09/02/09 12:45 AM ET

DETROIT -- Jim Leyland is a manager with two World Series rings, but he's also a husband. Whatever his wife says, goes.

He's very glad he listened to Katie Leyland's lineup advice when she suggested he go against his instinct to give slumping Aubrey Huff a day off.

"Actually, my wife was here last night. She told me to play him, to give him another chance," Leyland said. "I said, 'OK.'"

Three Huff RBIs later, the Tigers were on their way to an 8-5 win in Tuesday's series opener against the Indians. In turn, Leyland hopes Huff is heating up at the plate.

Two weeks after Huff made his Tigers debut -- after coming over in a trade from the Orioles -- the veteran slugger who was acquired to add a jolt to Detroit's inconsistent offense needed a spark himself. He entered Tuesday's series opener against the Indians with a 3-for-34 (.088) batting clip since the move, part of a .191 (17-for-89) slump in August that began with Baltimore.

If it had been a matter of terrible swings, he would have been beating himself up. The fact that he felt like he was making quality swings made it somewhat easier.

Then again, as a designated hitter, he had a lot of time to think about it.

"When you're a DH and you're not hitting," Huff said Monday, "and you're sitting for 45 minutes between at-bats, it can be tough."

He didn't have to sit long once Tuesday's game began. Four straight hits and a walk from the top half of the Detroit lineup against Cleveland starter Carlos Carrasco brought Huff to the plate with one out in the opening inning and runners at first and third.

Carrasco, making his Major League debut, tried to change speeds on Huff, who sent the pitch back through the middle to drive in Miguel Cabrera. It marked Huff's first run-scoring hit since joining the Tigers. His only previous RBI in a Detroit uniform came on a groundout.

Three innings later, he had another big hit and two more RBIs. With runners at the corners and two outs in the fourth, he got a fastball from Tomo Ohka and drove it to the out-of-town scoreboard in right-center field, driving in Cabrera and Magglio Ordonez.

Not since July 30 had he enjoyed three RBIs in a game.

"I think he wants to do so well," Leyland said. "I think Jarrod Washburn's had a little bit of that problem, too. They come over here, and everybody's really made them feel at home, but there's a little pressure on guys until they can settle in. And hopefully tonight ... if he gets hitting, and Guillen continues to hit and we get our offense going a little bit, that'll do wonders for us."

Leyland has taken advice from family members before. His brother, Larry, is famous for having suggested that he take a long look at Marcus Thames during Spring Training in 2006, since Larry watched him play at Triple-A Toledo.

The latest recommendation came almost by accident. Leyland was talking about sitting Huff for a day or two after Monday's loss to the Rays, and the manager said so to reporters, but he mentioned to his wife that he probably wouldn't start him Wednesday against Indians left-hander Aaron Laffey.

"She said, 'Well, you'd better play him [Tuesday], then,'" Leyland said.

Good idea.

"She'll be proud as a peacock," the skipper said.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

LoL. Leyland's wife for manager!

Huff agrees to deal with Giants
First baseman to get one-year deal, pending physical

By Chris Haft / MLB.com

01/11/10 2:18 AM EST

The Giants filled their need for a left-handed hitter by agreeing Sunday with free agent Aubrey Huff on a one-year contract.

The deal, pending a physical, was initially reported by The Associated Press, which cited a person with knowledge of the negotiations. A baseball official wouldn't confirm the agreement to MLB.com, but indicated that the one-year accord between Huff and San Francisco was indeed in place.

Huff's a .282 career hitter with 203 home runs and 752 RBIs in 10 seasons with the Rays, Orioles, Astros and Tigers. But he's coming off a season in which he hit a career-low .241 with 15 homers and 85 RBIs in 150 games for Baltimore and Detroit.

Huff likely will occupy first base, meaning that Pablo Sandoval will play third and Mark DeRosa will man left field. Like DeRosa and Juan Uribe, who the Giants have acquired in the past two weeks, Huff has played multiple positions extensively. He has logged 361 games at third base, 320 at first and 245 in the outfield, mostly right. But Huff's apparent lack of range at third makes it more likely that he'll play across the diamond, thrusting Travis Ishikawa into reserve status.

Giants general manager Brian Sabean said last week that he wanted to find a left-handed hitter to balance a projected lineup including right-handers DeRosa, Aaron Rowand, Freddy Sanchez and Edgar Renteria.

Huff also might fit the description of the No. 5 hitter the Giants wanted for their lineup. He has batted in the middle of the order for most of his career, spending 517 games at cleanup, 300 hitting third and 264 in the fifth spot.

Huff, 33, has exceeded 100 RBIs in three separate seasons, most recently 2008, when he batted .304 with 32 homers and a personal-best 108 RBIs with Baltimore.

Huff earned an $8 million base salary last year, but the Giants likely signed him for a more modest figure. They reportedly made a two-year, $17 million offer to free-agent first baseman Andy LaRoche, who spurned the bid.

For what it's worth, Huff has been a productive hitter in the few games he has played at AT&T Park, batting .333 (4-for-12) with a homer and two RBIs.

Chris Haft is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Giants sign Huff to bat cleanup
Lefty-swinging first baseman expected to add punch

By Chris Haft / MLB.com

01/13/10 4:58 PM EST

SAN FRANCISCO -- Giants manager Bruce Bochy used 134 different lineups last year. Ideally, that total will shrink significantly this season.

The Giants believe that the addition of first baseman Aubrey Huff, whose signing of a one-year, $3 million contract became official Wednesday, increases their chances of maintaining a relatively set starting eight -- a luxury that has eluded Bochy in his three-year tenure with San Francisco.

Tentatively, center fielder Aaron Rowand will lead off, followed by second baseman Freddy Sanchez. Pablo Sandoval, previously penciled in as the cleanup hitter, will instead return to the No. 3 spot. Newcomers Huff and Mark DeRosa, who'll play mostly left field, will bat fourth and fifth, respectively.

Speaking during a conference call to herald Huff's signing, Bochy optimistically said that the Sandoval-Huff-DeRosa combination potentially gives the Giants' offense "punch, a presence" -- qualities they desperately need after ranking 13th in scoring, 15th in home runs and last in OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) among National League teams a year ago.

That leaves the sixth, seventh and eighth spots for shortstop Edgar Renteria, right fielder Nate Schierholtz -- the apparent favorite to claim that position -- and catcher Buster Posey, who still could begin the season at Triple-A Fresno if the Giants sign a free agent.

Though news of San Francisco's agreement with Huff initially leaked Sunday night, Wednesday's chat still provided fresh material when Bochy and general manager Brian Sabean discussed the ballclub. Issues they addressed included:

• The batting order. Bochy subscribes to the widely held theory that a team's best all-around hitter should bat third, explaining why Sandoval will fill that role for the second year in a row. Besides, Bochy added, "It's hard to put somebody in that four-hole who doesn't have experience." Huff fills that requirement, having hit cleanup in 2,238 of his 5,444 career plate appearances.

Lacking a prototypical leadoff batter, the Giants will ask Rowand to handle that job. He started 49 games at leadoff last year and thrived briefly before a slump left his batting average from the No. 1 spot at a still-respectable .294.

"It's not etched in stone," Bochy said of Rowand's leadoff duties. "But that's the thought now."

CF-	Aaron Rowand
2B	Freddy Sanchez
3B	Pablo Sandoval
1B	Aubrey Huff
LF	Mark DeRosa
SS	Edgar Renteria
RF	Nate Schierholtz
C	Buster Posey

• Huff's role. Contrary to speculation, the Giants would prefer not to platoon at first base, with the left-handed-batting Huff sitting against left-handed starters.

"With your fourth hitter, you want him out there as much as you can," Sabean said.

Bochy said that Huff, who has played 245 games as an outfielder, may play left field when Travis Ishikawa starts at first base. That might happen from time to time at home, given Ishikawa's robust .349 batting average at AT&T Park last year.

"Travis is still part of this club," Bochy said.

Though Huff has played right field in all but eight of his games as an outfielder, Bochy indicated that the size and difficulty of AT&T Park's expanse in right might make the opposite corner more suitable for the 10-year veteran.

"To be able to come to the West Coast and play National League ball is something I've always wanted to do," said Huff, who has played all but 68 of his 1,322 games in the American League. He spent the second half of the 2006 season with Houston. "It's something different, a change of pace. You always want to be challenged in some other area."

• More moves. Sabean didn't rule out signing a catcher, though he's content to wait for "somebody left without a place to go." That description might fit free agents Rod Barajas and Yorvit Torrealba, who remain unsigned. Barajas and Torrealba might command more attention once former Giant Bengie Molina reaches his long-awaited agreement with the New York Mets.

"At this time, we are prepared to go to Posey," Sabean said, referring to the Giants' top position-player prospect who has played 132 professional games and will be 23 come Opening Day. "But we'll keep an open mind."

Despite the specter of expensive salary arbitration cases involving two-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum, closer Brian Wilson and prized left-hander Jonathan Sanchez, Sabean said that the Giants had enough payroll flexibility to sign not only a catcher but also a veteran reliever to complement youngsters such as Sergio Romo, Dan Runzler and Waldis Joaquin. Sabean said that obtaining a reliever takes precedence over securing another starter, further affirming rookie left-hander Madison Bumgarner's status as the top candidate to claim the rotation's No. 5 spot.

Chris Haft is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Giants, Huff reunite with two-year deal
Lefty slugger gets wish, returns to World Series champs
By Chris Haft / MLB.com | 11/23/10 9:42 PM EST

SAN FRANCISCO -- Aubrey Huff could have written the verse from the song "San Francisco" that goes, "Other places only make me love you best."

What little tension surrounding Huff's free agency and whether he would bolt for another team vanished Tuesday when the Giants, the only club he truly wanted to play for, retained him with a two-year, $22 million deal that included a club option for 2013.

Huff wants to perpetuate the camaraderie and success the Giants enjoyed last season as they surged to their World Series triumph.

"There was big interest out there," Huff acknowledged in a news conference at AT&T Park. "But in the end, it wasn't going to take much to come back here for me. Some other team would have had to blow me away with like a four-year deal or something and a lot of dough to stay away from here.

"I've played nine years of losing baseball for not-so-good teams, and this is the most fun I've had playing baseball in my life. To be able to come back and try to have a chance to defend this title which we earned this year, and to do it in this great city and this great organization, it's actually a big moment for me."

It also was a big moment for the Giants. They addressed one of their top offseason priorities by keeping Huff, their top run producer during 2010.

"There aren't many players who can do what Aubrey can do," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said, citing Huff's versatility, prowess as a left-handed batter and his essential role, red thong and all, in the team's renowned chemistry.

Huff will receive $10 million in each of the next two seasons and will get a $2 million buyout if the Giants decline to pick up his $10 million option for 2013. That dwarfs the $3 million Huff earned last season, when the Giants signed him only after failing in their efforts to obtain free agents Nick Johnson and Adam LaRoche.

Giants general manager Brian Sabean said that another team's interest in Huff hastened the deal late last week following "a little bit of a moratorium" to allow the veteran to contemplate his options. A partial list of teams seeking offense at first base or in general includes the Red Sox, Mariners, Dodgers, White Sox, Twins and A's.

"One other club accelerated their interest and we played tag with that and were able to get in a position where we matched what the other club did," said Sabean, who emphasized the importance of maintaining continuity by holding onto Huff. "Aubrey wanted to be a Giant versus going somewhere else."

As Huff said, referring to the mystery team, "Whoever it might have been or who was interested, the point's moot. This is where I wanted to be."

Huff, who turns 34 on Dec. 30, was pleased to settle his playing status relatively early in the offseason.

"With all the craziness of the postseason and getting all the way to the World Series, to get it done this quickly and out of the way is something I really wanted to do and I'm sure the front office wanted to do the same," Huff said.

Huff became one of baseball's biggest bargains last season by hitting .290 with a team-high 26 home runs, 86 RBIs and 83 walks. He ranked among the league leaders in on-base percentage (10th, .385) and slugging percentage (12th, .506), while establishing a personal best with 100 runs. Huff became a fixture in the middle of the Giants' batting order, hitting third in 98 games, batting fourth 40 times and occupying the fifth spot 13 times.

Huff, who placed seventh in the National League Most Valuable Player balloting, also contributed defensively, performing adroitly at first base and starting 57 games at the outfield corner positions. Bochy admitted that Huff's defensive expertise at first base surprised him "a little bit." As for playing outfield, Huff deadpanned, "I told [Bochy] I was the best athlete on the team and I could handle it."

Huff's carefree attitude didn't inflate the value of his contract, but it accented the Giants' desire to bring him back as an often humorous, sometimes serious clubhouse influence.

"That certainly helped, because we know his presence in there is a big one," Sabean said.

"He plays the game the way you want your players to, and that's play it hard but also loose," said Bochy, who credited Huff with "changing the dynamic of the clubhouse." Bochy added, "He doesn't take himself so seriously, but he takes the game seriously."

Another player integral to the Giants' success, infielder Juan Uribe (.248 batting average, 24 homers, 85 RBIs), remains a free agent. Sabean said that talks with Uribe, who was offered salary arbitration on Tuesday, were active but indicated that no deal appeared imminent.

"I think both parties are willing to do something faster, but we're just not talking the same language yet, as far as ballpark figures," said Sabean, adding that the Giants have explored trade possibilities for another shortstop.

Tampa Bay's Jason Bartlett, Kansas City's Yuniesky Betancourt and Boston's Marco Scutaro are among the shortstops thought to be available through trade.

Chris Haft is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.