Archive for Outfielders

The fantasy season is coming down to the wire, so let’s focus on two waiver guys that will help boost your stolen base total down the stretch…

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Whether it’s beefing up for your head to head playoffs or just looking to boost yourself in a particular category as your roto season winds down, there are still guys out there on your waiver wire that can be of service to you if you dig deep enough.  We usually differentiate here between regular waiver wire pieces and deep league waiver wire pieces based on ownership percentages, but at this stage of the game, the depth of your league shouldn’t matter much.  If a guy can help, he can help.  Here’s two to consider…

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At this stage of the game, every single point matters. So much so, in fact, that the numbers become more important than the names. By that, I mean, it’s not as much about the players in your lineup as it is about the statistics on your league’s standings page.

Find the categories that are most essential to your chances at gaining ground and focus on adding players who will address those areas. This applies more to rotisserie leagues than head-to-head ones (since matchups and scoring in the latter change each week), but the point remains the same: Numbers over names.

With that in mind, here are three American League outfielders owned in less than 50% of leagues, each of whom has the ability to help your team in a specific category down the stretch.

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It’s time to avoid the puns and get right to it: Does Jayson Werth deserve a lineup spot in shallower leagues right now?

We know that some of Werth’s problem is luck. He’s showing a .282 BABIP right now and his xBABIP, based on his unique mix of batted balls, is .303. Since earlier in the season, he’s hitting more line drives and fewer infield fly balls. Both good things, they also lead to a better batting average. That’s probably why he’s hitting .261 since the All-Star break.

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We’re getting down to that time of year where, unless you’re talking keeper league, it’s all about picking up the guy swinging the hot bat with a relative disregard for the long term.  If he keeps it up for a couple of weeks, then great, but no more worrying about small sample sizes or potential in the second half.  This is it.  So if you’re looking for some quick-fix help in your outfield, these guys just might fit the bill… Read the rest of this entry »

If you are still in the hunt for the cash, congratulations. If not, treat these waiver wire considerations as auditioners (not a word, but it should be) for your 2012 fantasy team. Unfortunately, these two hitters play on crappy teams, but hey, we cannot be picky with our pick ups at this point.

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Over the weekend, two Pittsburgh outfielders started their rehab assignments at the same time. Since they’ve been injured, much has changed on their major league team. At one point, the Pirates were in first place. Now they are in fourth. They were above five hundred, now they’re seven games under. They were buyers, and now they are 13 games out of first and might already be looking to next year.

But, most importantly for fantasy baseball addicts, the two jobs that were theirs have been distilled down into one starting spot. Yup, Jose Tabata and Alex Presley will return soon and they may find themselves in a battle for playing time.

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Good things come to those who wait. But if you were one of the many fantasy owners depending on Jason Bay, no one would have blamed you for cutting bait on the 32-year-old outfielder earlier this season. Expected to be fully recovered from a concussion suffered last season, Bay was a sleeper candidate entering 2011. Unfortunately, Bay’s struggles at Citi Field continued, and he never appeared fully recovered from his concussion. After an 0-5 performance on July 26th, Bay’s slash line fell to a putrid .227/.314/.319. At that point, no one would have blinked an eye if you had cut bait. Since then, however, Bay has experienced a bit of a rebound. Though it’s an incredibly small sample, Bay may be inching back towards respectability.
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Dexter Fowler (Yahoo: 24 percent owned, ESPN: 38 percent owned)

We all have our fantasy vices, guys we draft too early or hold on to too long in a vague hope they’ll fulfill their promise. Fowler is one of mine, but he finally seems to be making good on his potential. Since the All-Star break, Fowler has hit .322/.426/.522 and, seeming to answer one of the biggest knocks against him, has stolen six bases. His season line is propped up by a .377 BABIP, which would seem to scream regression, but Fowler’s career average is an already-elevated .345. So while he may still regress, the drop isn’t likely to be as steep as it may seem at first blush. Fowler is still available in most leagues and is definitely an option in NL-Only or even deep mixed.

Trayvon Robinson (Yahoo: 0 percent owned, ESPN: 1 percent owned)

Robinson is getting a lot of press lately, for being a coup for Mariners’ GM Jack Zduriencik as well as for his defensive prowess, but don’t get caught up in the buzz. The problem that Jeff Sullivan highlighted — Robinson’s high strikeout rate — looks as though it isn’t going away any time soon, as he has struck out in five of his 12 plate appearances. It’s a perilously small sample, I don’t expect him to strike out in 42 percent of his PAs going forward, but as he continues to impress in the field and hit the odd home run, consider this a call to patience. Late-round sleeper next year? Quite possibly. Good option for the last two months of this season? Unlikely.

Denard Span (Yahoo: 32 percent owned, ESPN: 32 percent owned)

This time last week, Span was breathing a sigh of relief, having survived swirling deadline rumors that had him all but signed, sealed, and delivered to the Nationals. Span came off the disabled list last Tuesday for the first time since sustaining a concussion on June 6, when he was hitting .294/.361/.385 with four steals. In his week back in the land of the healthy, Span hasn’t exactly set the world on fire with a line of .042/.080/.042 in his six games. What has been interesting is that, despite almost never having the opportunity to do so, Span swiped a pair of bases, raising his season total to six.

I can’t recommend picking up Span right now in any format; he just doesn’t yet look fully recovered at the plate. However, if the Twins are committed to giving him the green light as often as they did with Ben Revere, Span could rack up solid stolen base numbers the rest of the way — provided he can start getting on base. It should be noted that even when he’s fully healthy, Span holds far more value in OBP leagues than traditional AVG leagues.

Chase Headley (Yahoo: 26 percent owned, ESPN: 47 percent owned)

Headley looks like he’s going to miss the majority of the rest of the season with the broken left pinkie he sustained on Aug. 7. Viable replacement include Justin Turner (owned in 13 percent of Yahoo! leagues and 20 percent of ESPN leagues), Ty Wigginton (40 percent of Yahoo! leagues and 39 percent of ESPN leagues), and Danny Valencia (29 percent of Yahoo! leagues and 50 percent of ESPN leagues). Valencia had a strong month of July (.303/.336/.468 with 4 HR), but has just six singles so far in August. Wigginton is hitting well so far, .316/.418/.439 since the break and .412/.545/.588 in August, and may be the best short-term option to replace Headley if he’s available to you.

With the trade deadline firmly in the rear view mirror, it’s time to quantify the fantasy fallout from all the dealing and wheeling, goings and comings, thither and hither. Strike that, reverse it. In other words: Rankings!

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