Every season there are a handful of hitters who experience power breakouts. As much as a fantasy owner would love to take credit for predicting such a surge, it seems more like a crapshoot to me. Sure, you could use 20/20 hindsight to find clues for some of these hitters, but those same clues likely failed to lead to home run increases for many others. Let’s see if we could figure out what to expect in 2013 from three surprises from this year.

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With just three and a half weeks to go in the season, you should be targeting specific categories in which you can move most easily. Even if it’s just a couple of points, if you can take them, take them now.  In looking at the standings of my roto leagues, stolen bases still looks like the easiest category in which a move can be made in a short period of time, so here are readily available two guys who you might consider picking up to get a quick speed boost. Read the rest of this entry »

When scouting we get a snapshot of a player. The hope is, the player we see today evolves into the player we envision him to be. Ideally, we can watch this progression and alter our perspectives as time passes. That brings me to today’s prospect, Oakland’s Addison Russell. Twice this year I’ve had the chance to see Russell with the Vermont Lake Monsters of the New York – Penn League. But, a year before I was able to see him live, my Bullpen Banter colleague Steve Fiorindo scouted Russell at the Perfect Game Showcase in San Diego. After several weeks and a promotion, Stephen Kuperman was able to see him against more advanced pitching in the Midwest League. It is my hope that these three individual looks at Russell demonstrates that prospects evolve over time and while we can learn a lot in a single look at a player, scouting in small sample sizes can be problematic if we aren’t open to new information and making adjustments. Of course, I’ll also talk about his fantasy outlook, but you’ll have to humor me for just a moment.

Before I begin, take a brief look at Steve’s video of Russell at the Perfect Game Showcase. Read the rest of this entry »

September is right around the corner, which means it’s time to really start preparing for the fantasy playoffs. Here are a pair of AL East youngsters who can boost your roster for the stretch drive…

Pedro Ciriaco | 2B, SS, 3B | Red Sox | Owned: 21% Yahoo! and 29.9% ESPN

Ciriaco, 26, got his shot with the Red Sox early last month due to various injuries and has quickly established himself as a pesky, “this guy shouldn’t be killing us” type of player for whoever happens to be playing Boston on a given day. The infielder is hitting .360/.374/.500 (145 wRC+) with two homers and nine steals (in nine chances) in 141 plate appearances for the Red Sox, and now he’s playing third base pretty much everyday with Will Middlebrooks on the shelf. He managed to pick up both second base and shortstop eligibility along the way.

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The Reds’ Billy Hamilton has been one of the biggest stories of the minor league season this year. You are probably well aware by now that the 21-year old broke Vince Coleman’s minor league stolen base record of 145 set in 1983. The Reds front office has obviously been paying attention and are considering calling him up when rosters expand on Saturday. Talking about Hamilton, GM Walt Jocketty said:

“We obviously are having very serious discussions about it. “I don’t think he’s ready to play at this level but he certainly could run the bases.”

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The trade, as it stands now, is Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto to the Dodgers for Jerry Sands, James Loney, Ivan DeJesus, Allen Webster and Rubby De La Rosa. We’ll have plenty of in-depth analysis over the coming days, but fantasy is often about speed, so let’s try to break down the “blink” style fantasy implications.

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Andrelton Simmons is slated to return to the Braves within the first week or so of September, which should be a big boost for the team down the stretch run but likely will not be that big of a boost to your fantasy team during that same stretch. Simmons is an extremely talented player, but expecting him to perform for the final three weeks of the season as he did during his first 33 games in the majors is unwise.
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The future position of Xander Bogaerts has become a hot button issue this season. Baseball Prospectus’ prospect guru Kevin Goldstein cited a potential move down the defensive spectrum, possibly even out of the infield, as a reason the 19-year-old didn’t make his mid-season top 50 prospect list.* Goldstein’s rationale drew the ire of many despite the commonly overlooked fact that Kevin is far more connected and knowledgeable than just about everyone who hurled accusations at him. Why does Boegarts’s future position rile up so many? Rabid Red Sox fans and the fantasy implications. Read the rest of this entry »

There is one huge flaw that is keeping Danny Espinosa from reaching the upper echelon of middle infielders in fantasy baseball, an enormous strikeout rate. While the strikeout rate is unlikely to come down, Espinosa can still be a rather useful fantasy player. His dual eligibility at both middle infield spots makes him extra valuable, but it is nice to see that we can pretty much expect what type of player he is for the foreseeable future.

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It’s never fun when your starting middle infielder goes down and you’re choosing from the crap heap of those no-power, limited speed leftovers. If this has happened to you, it’s your lucky day. Here are a pair of middle infielders who might actually contribute.

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