Who Would You Rather Have-Andrew McCutchen Or Carlos Gonzalez??

Here is another Who Would You Rather Have article as requested by readers here at Fake Teams. This article compares two former highly touted outfield prospects who had very solid rookie seasons in 2009.

Andrew McCutchen will probably be the only Pirate making the All-Star game in 2010, as he has the potential to be a 20-20 guy on a regular basis, but in 2010, he is more likely to go 15-30, and I am being conservative with the stolen base total.

Gonzalez also has the potential to be a 20-20 guy on a regular basis, including 2010, as he should be the Rockies regular left fielder. It appears manager Jim Tracy will let Gonzalez run in 2010 as he was succesful in 16 of his 20 SB attempts.

Here is a comparison of their 2009 stats:

The concern I have with Gonzalez is that he plays in Colorado where they have Seth Smith sitting on the bench looking for playing time. Should Gonzalez slump in spring training, or in April and May, will Tracy go to Smith in LF?

McCutchen has no such concerns in Pittsburgh as he is already their best player. He has shown he can adjust at each level in the minors, and based on his 2009 stats, he doesn't need to make many adjustments at the major league level.

Bill James project Gonzalez to go 19-73-78-18-.280-.334-.485 in 2010, while he has McCutchen going 13-61-90-31-.281-.353-.430. Obviously CarGo has a little more power than McCutchen, and McCutchen has more speed, but I would lean toward McCutchen based on his SB potential, and the Rockies outfield situation.

Baseball HQ's Ron Shandler likes McCutchen even more than I do. Here is what he says about McCutchen in 2010:

Second half BB% and OBP says it will only get better from here. UP-20 HR, 40 SB