Although most of the attention in Anaheim surrounds Mike Trout, there’s another young outfielder who is beginning to dot the fantasy radar.

Most scouts slapped a “fourth outfielder” label on Kole Calhoun since the Angels drafted him in the 8th round of the 2010 Draft. After all, he’s only 5-foot-10 and possesses a corner outfield defensive profile. That places a lot of pressure on his bat to carry that profile, and it’s understandably difficult for shorter players to hit for enough power to do so. However, his mature, well-rounded approach at the plate makes him an attractive bench outfielder who can handle both left and right field (and even a little first base).

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While it seems like time is rapidly running out, there are still roughly three weeks to go in the regular season and that’s still enough time to make a move in a few of the categories involving counting stats. Runs scored and stolen bases are still available on your waiver wire and while it might take the full three weeks to see some results, an impact can still be made…hopefully. With such little time left, you’ve got to pull out all the stops and every bit of help counts. Here are two guys who can probably help in those categories. Read the rest of this entry »

Only one more deep league wire piece this season after today’s! ::sad face:: We’re going with a Blue Jays theme as the team has been killed by injuries, allowing some of their younger players an opportunity to garner significant playing time.

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We still haven’t even completed the 2013 season yet, but there’s no doubt that some owners are already looking toward 2014 (or, this other sport called “football”). Whether your team has been torpedoed by injuries to Matt Kemp, Albert Pujols and Derek Jeter or you have considered jumping out your window as the owner of BJ Upton and Starlin Castro, it is never too early to start preparing for next year. Every season, there are breakouts and disappointments, some more surprising than others. Unfortunately, human nature is prone to recency bias, the tendency to weight recent events more than earlier events. This causes players coming off breakout/career years to typically become overvalued in drafts the following season. With that in mind, here are three hitters who will potentially be overvalued in your draft next year.

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As mentioned last week and around this time every year, with such little time left in the season, you’re simply looking for guys who are contributing now. Worrying about a guy’s ROS stats here on September 4 is a bit silly as few guys available are going to have numbers so enticing that they become a “must-have.” September call-ups are here and eating into a lot of veteran time, so the obvious trick is to find guys who will continue playing regardless of who the team brings up. Here are two guys you may want to consider… Read the rest of this entry »

We’re going real deep this week in an exciting all Twins outfield edition of the deep league waiver wire. My apologies to NL-Only league owners, these guys will be incapable of helping you.

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It seems so long ago now, but Diamondbacks outfielder Adam Eaton was hyped as a pretty nice sleeper headed into the season. Eaton collected 198 hits and 44 steals to go with a .456 OBP between Double-A and Triple-A in 2012, then made a solid impression with a .382 OBP in just over 100 plate appearances for the big club. Though he didn’t add a lot of pop, that kind of potential for on-base skills, steals, and enough speed to stretch singles into doubles set him up to be a nice under-the-radar choice. With Justin Upton & Chris Young traded, Eaton would man center while Kubel & Cody Ross would handle the corners, and Gerardo Parra would spot all over.

But that situation never really came to fruition, since Eaton injured his left elbow in the spring. He didn’t get into minor league games until May, suffered a setback, and finally returned to the Diamondbacks in July. Now Kubel has been DFA’d, Ross is out for the season, and Eaton finds himself playing left field as much as center, with Tony Campana & A.J. Pollock filling in up the middle.

He’s also hitting .306/.372/.459 in August, and it’s time to see if he can be the asset that everyone hoped he’d might be entering the season. Read the rest of this entry »

When making waiver wire moves at this point in the year, you like to have some sort of comforting reassurance that you know what you’re getting when you pick a guy up. With all the unproven commodities arriving in September, sifting through the names can be aggravating at times because you aren’t quite sure how they’ll perform or how much playing time they’ll even get. That’s why I like to stick with what I know and one of the things I know is that you’re simply not going to find that five-tool fantasy dreamboat that you and everyone else craves. Could you catch lightning in a bottle with a random pick-up? Sure. But your odds of that are probably as good as hitting a lotto jackpot and being able to move out of your mom’s basement and into a command center of your own. Most players that you find available right now have some sort of flaw but are more than capable of contributing in some fashion because they are seeing consistent playing time and have proven where they are most capable. Like these, for example… Read the rest of this entry »

Marlon Byrd was just traded yesterday from the Mets to the Pirates. The 35-year-old is having a resurgent season which may end up being a career best. He has made some swing changes to help maintain some consistency for the rest of 2013 and hopefully into 2014.

I am not going to even try to guess if he is taking some form of PEDs, even though he was caught with them in 2012. He served a 50-game suspension and is being tested more since he is an offender. He will have a cloud over him, but I will base my analysis with the assumption he is clean.

Marlon Byrd has completely changed his approach in 2013 with good results. He believes he has a good swing at times, but lost focus in the past. Here are some quotes on the turnaround.

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September is almost upon us, which is when my job gets infinitely easier. Luckily, a trade and poor performance from an incumbent has given these interesting lads an opportunity. Hopefully the opportunity is used to perform well and earn some Only league value.

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