I would take him over Howard for many of the same reasons stated by others already... with some Homerism mixed in I confess. My impression is that he improved as a batter of the course of the last year as well. One example: early, opponents would use that Barry Bonds shift on him and that disappeared as his opposite field hitting improved. IIRC, his draft projections and part of the reason he was available, was because he wasn't expected to reach the level of performance he already has due to weight. Is he fat? That's a relative term. Hard to imagine he doesn't fit most people's definition. Height/weight charts are approximations across a range, but there is a point where everyone there is "overweight." I can remember him remarking that he was trying to keep his weight down early in the season. How about the need for a mansiere? Can a person have low body fat and still need one of those? I'm sure its not great on his feet, ankles, knees and back regardless of the fat/non-fat breakdown. I went to physical therapy over a long period of time. There were always 5/6/7 stations going at all times while I was there. I heard a lot about a lot of injuries while I was there and the talk to a new knee rehab client usually began with the phrase "the knee is a load bearing structure," followed by the admonition to trim down or stay that way.