Just a Good Ol' Boy

Just a good ol' boy
Never meanin' no harm
He couldn't hit the ball
Lost his job to Asdrubal
Got sent down to the farm

Ah, I loved the Dukes of Hazzard. The most dependable character on the show was Uncle Jesse. Everybody loved the old man. Uncle Jesse didn't have any kids of his own, but if he did they probably would have been unfairly compared to their father.

The same goes for a current son-of-a-Jesse. Young Josh Barfield started his career with the Padres and had a great first season. In his 2006 rookie campaign, Barfield produced an excellent statline of .280-13-58-21. This confirmed his strong minor league numbers which averaged around .300-16-100-20 over four seasons. Going into 2007, roto owners were high on Barfield. But all they got was Barf.

Josh struggled from the start and completed the season with a .243-3-50-14 statline, losing his job to no-hit, no-run Asdrubal Cabrera. It was the slick fielding Ruby who provided the spark that Barfield didn't have.

Is it the end of the line for Jesse's kid? No way. He's only 25 and has four strong minor league seasons and two major league seasons under his belt. The Indians were forced to give up early on Brandon Phillips so I think they will give Barfield every opportunity to rebound. We've all heard the term Sophomore Slump. That's because it happens to a lot of young players. This isn't a new phenomenon.

Take a chance on Barfield in deeper leagues. His low dollar value shouldn't put your team's hopes in Hazzard.