Episode 160

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is now live!

Eno Sarris and Nicholas Minnix discuss, among other items, along with an interesting tangent or two, Zach Walters; Kyle Ryan; Adam Wainwright; Yadier Molina; Shane Greene; Drew Smyly; the Chicago White Sox’s bullpen; Brandon Finnegan; Masahiro Tanaka; and, by request, possible changes in playing time in the final month for players like Hanley Ramirez.

As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us or comment with fantasy questions so that we may answer them on our next episode. Read the rest of this entry »

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In a comment on the post of a recent ep of “The Sleeper and the Bust,” quinceleather asked if there’s a way to play matchups for stolen bases for players like Rajai Davis and Ben Revere. Presumably, this would be for the purpose of increasing the efficiency of a roster spot by maximizing the rates of thievery of that brand of one-category contributor in games, series or weeks in which he has advantageous matchups and then using a different type of player (power hitter, an all-around player, a fringe regular) in place of them at other times.

I don’t think I’d take that approach for a full season. But for a particular period, especially at this point, when there are only about four and a half weeks remaining in the regular season, it could certainly, conceivably be helpful. You want to make up ground in steals, and you can afford to use this kind of method to do it. Someone else is more qualified than me to study whether it would prove to be advantageous for an entire campaign. Read the rest of this entry »

There comes a time in a season when you’re willing to give run to some players whom you wouldn’t, ordinarily. This is probably that time. You take a stab at help in a category in which a couple of them might make a world of difference. You pick up a player who has had a negative fantasy impact since he made his debut. Either of those kinds of plays isn’t your first choice, but it doesn’t make it a bad choice. You’re just open to ideas and possibilities, and you’ll take a win however you can get it. Read the rest of this entry »

Episode 159

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is now live!

Eno Sarris and Nicholas Minnix discuss, among other items, the exciting arrival of Kiley McDaniel to FanGraphs; Jorge Soler; David Wright; Gregory Polanco; Oscar Taveras; Eric O’Flaherty as Sean Doolittle’s replacement; the what-ifs of a Chad Qualls trade to the Detroit Tigers; Koji Uehara; Derek Holland; and, by request, some thoughts on evaluations of “power outages” of players like Yasiel Puig, along with how to play matchups for stolen bases.

As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us or comment with fantasy questions so that we may answer them on our next episode. Read the rest of this entry »

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It’s no surprise that the Texas Rangers found a taker for and traded Geovany Soto. Prior to this year, which is hardly a fair period on which to judge him, he’d been a plus defensively, including some mildly influential work as a pitch-framer. He’s also on a one-year deal, so there was no reason for the Texas Rangers to keep him around.

The Rangers are in the mode, and mood, to evaluate their pair of active receivers for next season. They have already had a decent look at Robinson Chirinos. Jon Daniels said that he wants to see if the 30-year-old backstop can be more than a backup. The club also called up Tomas Telis from Triple-A Round Rock to fill Soto’s spot on the roster. The organization must apparently decide this winter whether it’ll protect the 23-year-old on the 40-man. Ron Washington says his plan to have the two split time, although he’s not sure how yet. Read the rest of this entry »

Episode 158

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Jason Collette and Nicholas Minnix discuss, among other items, Rusney Castillo and his impact on the Boston Red Sox’s roster; the Arizona Diamondbacks’ infield; the Oakland Athletics’ recent bevy of transactions, including the acquisition of Geovany Soto and deactivation of Sean Doolittle; Mike Fiers; Justin Verlander, as well as the mess at the back end of the Detroit Tigers’ rotation; Tim Lincecum; Jacob Turner; Manny Machado; and, of course, a few two-turn pitchers.

As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us or comment with fantasy questions so that we may answer them on our next episode. Read the rest of this entry »

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Episode 157

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is now live!

Eno Sarris and Nicholas Minnix discuss Avisail Garcia, Rusney Castillo, Gerrit Cole, Jason Hammel, the Los Angeles Angels’ options to replace Gerrit Richards, Jesse Hahn, the Chicago Cubs’ options in place of Edwin Jackson, Kevin Quackenbush, Justin Verlander, and Jacob deGrom.

As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us or comment with fantasy questions so that we may answer them on our next episode. Read the rest of this entry »

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We have been asked about Jarred Cosart once or twice for the podcast, and I have fielded a question or two about him in chats. At the time Eno addressed him on the podcast, he basically called Cossart a hurler about whom he’d have trouble becoming excited, because command and control have so persistently been problems for the right-hander. I have harbored some fascination with the right-hander for a few years, but I couldn’t really disagree.

I’ve become a tad more interested, again, now that he’s back with a Senior Circuit organization. Cosart’s “stuff” just intrigues me, as it does many; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been at least somewhat well-regarded by multiple organizations at one time or another. The issues he’s had with command threaten to be of the career-long variety because they’re rooted in that stuff. But I wonder a little about how crazy the stuff might be, perhaps unlike any others’ stuff, and if that isn’t the beauty of Cosart. It’s a catch-22, with insanity the only likely outcome, surely.

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2B/SS/OF Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox

Ownership: CBS 25% | Yahoo! 8% | ESPN 1.3%

The BoSox have called up Betts for the third time in 2014. This time, seriously, says the team’s official site, he’ll have a regular job. Apparently, a defined role wasn’t part of the deal the first time or two the club summoned their top-10 prospect.

OK, it’s a little less cynical than that. And there’s nothing in Betts’ major league, 52-plate appearance sample to suggest that the right-handed hitter won’t be as good as his minor league numbers seem to indicate. That .250/.294/.375 slash line shouldn’t discourage you. If anything, the swinging-strike rate (3.3%) and strikeout rate (11.5%) would be rather encouraging.

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Episode 156

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is now live!

Eno Sarris and Nicholas Minnix discuss Byron Buxton; Jay Bruce; Josh Hamilton; Mookie Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr; Alex Rodriguez; Rusney Castillo; Mike Minor; Chris Capuano (by request); C.J. Wilson; and a rundown of injured players in the news.

As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us or comment with fantasy questions so that we may answer them on our next episode.

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