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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When we broke down the Padres’ outfield in this space just two weeks ago, it was in response to a recent callup — Jaff Decker — and yet we found that that the outfield was mostly set in the present and the future. And so Jaff Decker hasn’t played like a regular (31 plate appearances over 11 team games), and hasn’t made much of an impact. There are many reasons to be a little bit more optimistic about this week’s callup.

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This is it. We’re getting real close to the end here. August is nearly finished and then we’re into the home stretch. The waiver wire will start to fill up a little more once we hit September and MLB rosters expand, but for right now it’s a matter of sifting through the rubble and seeing if there’s anyone out there who can help you in some way. There’s really no more time to sit and wait for someone to turn things around. They’re either producing or they’re not and if they aren’t, you need to make a switch fast. Time is running out. Maybe these two can be of some help… Read the rest of this entry »

It’s time to dive into the free agent pool to make that last push into a money spot in your deep league. September is fast approaching and that’s when a ton of new options will pop up and make a case for significant playing time.

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With B.J. Upton’s struggles and Jordan Schafer returning from the disabled list a few weeks ago, the Braves have quietly moved to a platoon in centerfield. This obviously destroys almost all of B.J. Upton’s fantasy value for any owner who was holding onto him down the stretch, and makes Schafer an ownable asset for teams in need of some steals.
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The Nationals made a move that could leave fantasy owners mildly perturbed, acquiring David DeJesus from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for a player to be named later. DeJesus was batting .250 with a .330 OBP while playing a well-regarded centerfield before being traded.

When you boil it down, this is a deal involving a newly minted fourth outfielder, but there are many players whose values could be altered with this simple deal. Let’s examine each and every one of them, shall we?

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Per usual, this is the rest-of-season thoughts on the American League outfield. All stats cited are through August 12, 2013.

Tier One
Mike Trout

We’ll be telling our children and grandchildren about how we remember Mike Trout’s first two seasons and hopefully his entire career. Right now he is simply in a class by himself. Trout fills up the stat line and is the ideal fantasy player. He does it all.
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