Lorenzo Cain finally looked great to start off the 2013 season after struggling with injuries in 2012. He hit .325 with three steals in April. While the short sample was not the league’s best, he looked to be useful in deeper leagues and as a plug-and-play canidate. The wheels quickly came off and he hit only .233 over the rest of the season. A change in his approach and injuries caused his season to collapse. His 2014 value will be tied to getting back to his early 2013 form.

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The Indians finalized their two-year, $12 million deal with David Murphy today. He’s projected for two wins by Steamer, and in the past that front office has pegged the cost per win much higher than we’ve had it on this site. So it’s probably a good deal if he can manage to put up two wins in those two years combined. But should fantasy owners care?

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The Milwaukee Brewers suffered through a season they’d like to forget in many ways. The club finished 14 games under .500 and trudged through the media firestorm that was the Ryan Braun suspension. Furthermore, Yovani Gallardo took a significant step backward, Corey Hart missed the entire season, Aramis Ramirez battled through a knee injury and Rickie Weeks was borderline unplayable prior to his season-ending injury.

For fantasy owners, however, the Brewers season had several bright spots. Jean Segura was the best shortstop in baseball, Carlos Gomez enjoyed a breakout year and Scooter Gennett showed flashes late in the season. Often overlooked, though, is the fact that Khris Davis established himself as a sleeper candidate, and even displayed some skills that could make him an impact outfielder if they carry over into 2014.

He launched 11 home runs in only 153 plate appearances, and he finished the season with an impressive .406 wOBA. If you’re looking for a single number, his lofty .316 ISO illustrates the impressive power display in August and September. It’s not really fair to do this because of the small sample size, but his .316 ISO ranked second in Major League Baseball (min. 100 PA) behind only his near-namesake Chris Davis.

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Or stated more accurately, both injuries and a surprise medical procedure hampered Jason Heyward’s season. After coming off a year in which Heyward was the 10th most valuable outfielder, he was limited to just 440 plate appearances as he dealt with a spate of health related issues. While actually on the field, he was still a bit of a disappointment to fantasy owners, especially to the many who figured an MVP-type season with mammoth offensive production was in the cards. Unfortunately, the health and fantasy Gods were not on his side this time.

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Writer’s Note: Willingham ranked 89th on Zach Sanders’ outfield rankings.

It couldn’t be more blatantly obvious that Josh Willingham had a down season. Not only were his offensive numbers down monumentally, but he only got into 111 games. That was the lowest mark the oft-injured outfielder had posted since 2008, and the second-fewest in his career. Read the rest of this entry »

Alfonso Soriano just posted his best fantasy season since 2006 – the year before he signed his mega-deal with the Chicago Cubs. In 2013, the Cubbies finally managed to shed themselves of an aging Soriano by trading him to the similarly aging Yankees.

Soriano was a four category monster last season, posting 34 home runs, 18 stolen bases, 84 runs, and 108 RBI. His .255 average didn’t hurt too badly either, although those in OBP leagues suffered to the tune of a .302 on base percentage. This is why you’ll find Soriano ranked ninth on Zach Sanders’ list – nestled between Jacoby Ellsbury and Matt Holliday. The performance was worth $26.

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It seems like Michael Saunders has been tantalizing fantasy managers with his annual seven weeks of quality hitting for the better part of this century. Even for a Mariner fan, it’s surprising to look up and realize The Condor really only has two full seasons under his belt, and he is entering his age 27 season, having a birthday just three days ago. When Saunders is going good, he can be a handy fantasy player. The problem is, of course, all of the bad that he mixes in between those stretches.

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It seems like it was just yesterday that Eno Sarris was discussing the fantasy fallout of Prince Fielder’s move from Milwaukee to Detroit. As part of that piece, we took a look at the park factors not only of Prince’s new and old home stadiums, but of his new road destinations, as well.

So why not go at it again? This time the move isn’t as drastic – what with the not changing leagues and all – but the reputations of the parks involved has led to some speculation that Fielder should be flying up draft boards this Spring. But the data doesn’t always agree with the reputation.

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Jay Bruce has had a three year stretch of significant consistency. Check out the chart below showing the lack of variance.

The results have been similar, but the way Bruce has gotten there has been a little different. Read the rest of this entry »

Coming into the 2013 season, Aaron Hicks looked like he might have finally put it all together. The former first-round draft pick was coming off a highly productive season in Double-A, where he hit .285/.382/.459 with 13 homers and 32 stolen bases. Then came Spring Training, where Hicks looked like a man amongst boys, hitting an absurd .370/.407/.644 with four dingers and three steals while playing excellent defense in center field. The five-tool player that the Twins had spent so long cultivating was finally bearing fruit. Minnesota handed Hicks the starting job in center field over Darin Mastroianni and set him free to light the world on fire.

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