The Marlins and Tigers made a trade yesterday afternoon, sending Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante to Detroit as the Tigers work to secure their spot as an American League favorite. Let’s break it down into some quick and dirty Roto Riteup style pieces, shall we?
• Chris Perez converted his 27th save tonight against the Orioles and though he’s been having a great year for the Indians (2.95 xFIP; 27/29 on save opportunities) his days of closing for them might be coming to an end as the Giants are rumored to be interested in acquiring his services. The Giants could use some bullpen depth with Santiago Casilla in a rut, blowing five of his past nine save opportunities (although he converted the last one) and since the Giants seem to prefer to have Sergio Romo pitch in a set up role, it’s possible that if Perez is traded that he could remain closing games. However, it’s worth noting that the Indians are currently 48-48 and only four games behind the division lead, so they could still try to compete. But, with the trading deadline rapidly approaching, their next few games may determine if they choose to hold onto some of their valuable trade pieces like Chris Perez and while no trade is imminent, the Giants are looking for bullpen depth and they might turn their eyes to Perez.
Recently here at Rotographs, we released our rest of season rankings for starting pitchers, I had Tim Lincecum rated as the sixth-highest fantasy pitcher. To say the least, I took a little heat for that ranking. I will try to justify the ranking today.
Sunday night, Alexi Amarista played a little center field and a little left field. Not so ground-breaking if you consider he’s been doing a lot of this sort of thing recently. Since the All-Star break, Amarista has played at every position other than the third, first, pitcher and catcher. There’s an outside chance that Amarista can put up real value for daily leaguers, in the vein of — but of course not quite exactly like — Emilio Bonifacio.
Today brings yet another installment of the American League Outfield Stock Watch.
Bullish:
Brennan Boesch – I touched on Boesch in a recent Roto Riteup, and since that he has done nothing but continue to hit. After last night’s 2-3 performance (plus a walk) that included a homer, he is looking more and more like the outfielder that the Tigers had hoped he’d become. He now has a home run in back to back games and seven RBI’s in his past five games. By all accounts he is as hot as he’ll ever be. He is still freely available to pick up in 30% of Yahoo! leagues and 28% of ESPN formats. I’d act now before someone else does.
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Let’s start the week with an up-and-coming young catcher and a veteran reliever hanging on by the skin of his teeth…
Salvador Perez | C | Royals | Owned: 39% Yahoo!
A trendy breakout pick for 2012, Perez’s season debut was delayed because of a knee injury. He returned to the Royals late last month and has hit .350/.373/.600 (.408 wOBA and 160 wRC+) in 83 plate appearances, building on last season’s .331/.361/.473 (.361 wOBA and 127 wRC+) performance. In a whopping 241 big league plate appearances, Perez owns a .338/.365/.518 batting line (.377 wOBA and 160 wRC+).
Ian Desmond has been a big part of the Washington Nationals’ success this season. The highly-criticized shortstop has found his power stroke, slugging 17 home runs already. But after struggling with an oblique injury for a few weeks, Desmond was finally put on the disabled list. With Desmond out, the Nationals will have to shift some players around to compensate for the loss. Their tinkering could have a strong impact on some fantasy players.
Last week, I looked at starting pitchers who have been trending both positively and negatively, by examining their last 30 day SIERA marks. Today I jump over to the hitters and check on the surprising ISO (isolated slugging percentage or SLG minus AVG) positive trenders.
Look who’s penning today’s Roto Riteup. Zach is back, back again. Tell your friends.
• The Brett Myers trade finally went down, with Myers headed off to the South Side in exchange for a couple of minor leaguers and a player to be named later. White Sox general manager Kenny Williams clarified that Myers and his 3.83 xFIP is expected to be a setup man, not the new closer for Chicago. This comes as no surprise, as Robin Ventura has stuck with current closer Addison Reed even though he hasn’t exactly been the model of a shutdown reliever this year (four blown saves and six meltdowns). Reed possesses a solid K% (23.6%) and his 8.3% BB% isn’t awful so he should continue to grow into the position with time. Myers should only be held by owners in need of holds and is droppable in most redraft leagues.