This week’s column is about a surprisingly good change-up. Because as Kyle Gibson ascended the ranks in Minnesota’s farm system, there were questions about his change piece. He’s thrown over 300 of them now, and it looks good, and now the questions have changed. The new question may be harder to answer.
If you’d like to check out my tiered second-base rankings from last month, click here.
TIER ONE
Jose Altuve
Anthony Rendon
Robinson Cano
Rendon’s awful month of May sure does feel like it happened ages ago. Since the calendar turned over to June, Rendon has hit eight homers and stolen eight bases, with a .294/.353/.498 slash. He also leads the entire National League in runs scored for the season. Rendon is a true five-category fantasy stud, and moves up from Tier Two into Tier One this month.
With about two months left in the season, we all know what our team’s strengths and weaknesses are and where we could gain and lose points in each of the standings categories. I’ve said this in the past and will say it again — your place in the various categories is much more important when deciding on your weekly active roster then what a player’s overall value is in a vacuum. It’s rather obvious, but it bears repeating. If you’re first in homers and RBIs by a substantial margin, benching the likes of Brandon Moss or Chris Carter are easily justifiable. If you need speed, these four guys are available in the majority of leagues, and more than 50% of those on CBS.
Episode 149
The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is now live!
Jason Collette and Nicholas Minnix discuss Rajai Davis now that Austin Jackson is out of the picture; Josh Harrison’s move on Pedro Alvarez’s PT; Gerardo Parra’s similar deal with Khris Davis; and Grady Sizemore’s recent PT, which has come at the expense of Domonic Brown’s.
In addition, Collette and Minnix talk the Boston Red Sox’s continued roster shuffling; Kennys Vargas; Jesse Chavez; Mike Minor; Brandon Morrow; some players returning from injuries, plus a sidebar on Gerrit Cole; and some players who are now out with injuries.
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Yesterday morning, the Twins dealt Sam Fuld to Oakland for Tommy Milone, in a trade that I feel is getting somewhat unwarranted criticism. I’ve seen the term “highway robbery” thrown around, often with the addendum that the Twins “won the trade.”
In a vacuum, yes, Tommy Milone for Sam Fuld is kind of ridiculous. Milone is a 27-year-old lefty with a career 3.84 earned run average who could anchor the back end of the Twins rotation for years. Fuld is a 32-year-old fourth outfielder with a career .240/.323/.337 slash. However, Milone didn’t really have any value to Oakland as their No. 8 starter, and Fuld fills an immediate need as a platoon partner for Jonny Gomes.
As the sun sets on one of the busiest non-waiver trade deadlines in recent memory, it’s somewhat surprising that not many of the deals involved relief arms. This is partly due to the fact that Joakim Soria, Jason Frasor, Huston Street and Joe Thatcher switched uniforms already, but players like Joaquin Benoit, Chad Qualls and Addison Reed that have recently been rumored to be on the move, actually stayed put.
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Episode 148
The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is now live! Eno Sarris and Nicholas Minnix discuss trades, trades, and more trades! MLB’s 2014 non-waiver trade deadline was heated, heavy, and dramatic. Plenty of reaction to and thoughts on the fallout of the swaps of David Price and Austin Jackson; Jon Lester and Yoenis Cespedes; John Lackey; Justin Masterson; Asdrubal Cabrera; Jarred Cosart; and a host of other deals, such as involving Martin Prado or Chris Denorfia.
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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The Washington Nationals have acquired Asdrubal Cabrera from the Cleveland Indians, sending shortstop Zach Walters back as compensation.
Asdrubal still has great name recognition for fantasy owners, but that’s his biggest selling point anymore. Asdrubal hit .242 last season with a .307 wOBA, and he’s in the midst of repeating it with .246/.306 marks as a member of the Indians. Asdrubal has brought a touch of power to the middle infield — hitting 25 dongs in 2011 — but those numbers have faded each year since, with ZiPS thinking he ends the year with 14, just as he did in 2013. Asdrubal is going to play second base in Washington, which will make him eligible at both middle infield positions for the first time since 2010. Not having to face the Tigers pitching staff will be a boost, and he should get a minor jump in HR potential due to his new ballpark, but Cabrera’s value doesn’t change much with the move.
Thanks to both of you for caring enough about injuries on the trade deadline day to read my article. Well, I here is the latest injury information. Now I need to get back to reading about potential trades.
• James Paxton is an interesting pitcher who should be coming off the DL soon, possibly on Saturday. Before going on the DL, he was putting up some good numbers: 30% K%, 5% BB%, 56% GB% in two starts. According to recent reports from his minor league rehab appearances, his velocity may be down ~2 mph from his early average of 94 mph.
In Boston’s second big deal of the day, John Lackey is headed to the Cardinals in exchange for starter Joe Kelly and “outfielder” Allen Craig.
Lackey will see a sweet boost in his value in August and September, as he’ll get to avoid the DH and move into baseball’s best pitcher’s parks. Throughout his career, Lackey has feasted on the NL in interleague play, earning a 3.07 ERA in 246 innings. Lackey has stuck out 219 in those innings, leading to a WHIP of 1.18. Lackey won’t necessarily see much of a defensive boost with his new club, especially because he’s induces neither grounders nor flies at a special rate. If you’re in an NL-only league, go bid big on Lackey right now and use this unique chance to add an impact starter over the roto stretch run.
