Hays is one of those players that has never really put it all together for a couple consecutive seasons. And I have the feeling he will. But somewhere else. I think the real player is the .800 OPS player we see from time to time, and not the .700
I can't help but think he throws himself around enough on defense, that he occasionally pulls some ribs or some other nagging thing that screws his swing, but not enough to pull him cuz he plays through it.
So he's good for a couple month long slumps per otherwise pretty great season. Gotta think he'll put together the complete season or two at some point. And if so, would probably be the team's best outfielder, rookies on the brink included... And as I said, I think it will happen. But probably not here.