Josh Fields was the 18th overall pick of the 2004 draft by the Chicago White Sox. By 2007 he was the White Sox starting 3rd baseman and slugged 23 home runs in only 100 games looking like a man with a bright future. Since that moment of success it has been a downhill flight that Franz Klammer would be proud of as Fields starts 2011 trying to become the backup infielder to Juan Uribe after not playing one game in the major leagues in 2010.
Since 2007, he has made only 353 major league plate appearances while hitting 10 home runs. Most of 2011 was spent in the PCL in the United States but Fields also spent time in the Japanese Pacific Coast League. He did murder the ball in our PCL putting up an OPS of 1.103 in around 200 plate appearances that was good enough for 3rd best.
In 2005 he was Baseball America's prospect number 95, by 2007 he had moved to 45.
Trivia
A two sport star for the Oklahoma State athletic program he was the Cowboy quarterback in two bowl wins including setting the Cotton Bowl Classic passing record with 307 yards in 2004 against Mississippi.
Contract Status
NRI
Stats
| Year | Age | PA |
HR |
Runs | RBI | BA | OBP | SLG | wOBA |
| 2007 |
24 | 418 | 23 | 54 | 67 | .244 | .308 | .480 | |
| 2008 |
25 | 35 | 0 | 3 | 2 | .156 | .229 | .188 | |
| 2009 |
26 | 268 | 7 | 29 | 30 | .222 | .301 | .347 | |
| 2010 |
27 | 49 | 3 | 5 | 6 | .306 | .320 | .490 | |
| 2012 Projections - Age 29 Season | |||||||||
| Source | PA |
HR |
Runs | RBI | BA | OBP | SLG | wOBA | |
| Marcel | 205 | 6 | 22 | 22 | .249 | .314 | .389 | ||
| ZiPS | 252 | 7 | 30 | 28 | .249 | .308 | .402 | ||
2012 Outlook
If Brian LaHair can be the starting 1st baseman for the Chicago Cubs I don't see why Josh Fields can't get some playing time for the Dodgers given his only competition for backup 3rd baseman is Adam Kennedy and Russell Mitchell. Since he can also play 1st base he does give the Dodgers a right handed corner bat that probably has a better chance of helping the team then most of the other candidates.
What is your guess for Fields in 2012? Be sure to guess BA/OBP/SLG, and anything else you wish to guess.