Kicking Rocks: September Stash Busts
Whether you like it or not, it’s time again for me to throw a tantrum reminiscent of a nine-year old sore loser, stomp my feet, and threaten to take my ball home as the real baseball world, once again, ignores my fantasy needs this season. It is the savvy fantasy player that does the necessary research and scouting to put together a strong list of potential September call-ups to supplement their fantasy roster in an effort to either stave off challengers for first place or to make a strong late-season push for a championship run. You not only look for talent but opportunity as well and assuming it’s the MLB bottom-feeders that will likely turn to their youth late in the year, you select a strong group of young up-and-comers. But apparently an organization’s desire to win a minor-league championship trumps their desire to see their youth face big-league competition and now my bench is littered with promising names that may never see any action at the major league level this year, thus rendering my list of September stashes useless to me in a fight for a title.
While I firmly believe in the young talent that adorns the Kansas City Royals roster, I don’t see them really becoming relevant to the playoff discussion for another three years. Players like Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez and Mike Moustakas are all future all-stars, but without the necessary pitching, this team isn’t going anywhere. So when you see a group of prospects as talented as Wil Myers, Jake Odorizzi and Ryan Verdugo, you expect the team to bring them up when rosters expand in September and give them a legitimate opportunity to play and compete at the big-league level. With a month’s worth of playing time, all three stood a chance to positively contribute to a fantasy roster. However, with the Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers clinching a spot in the Pacific Coast League playoffs, the organization has said that all three will remain in the minors until the title run is concluded.
Now I’ll be honest and say that I don’t know exactly how much a PCL championship brings to an organization, but I can’t imagine that it is so substantial that a team would prefer a minor league title to a legitimate test of their youth’s talent on the big league stage. After all, what is the organization’s ultimate goal — a Triple-A championship or an MLB World Series title? Wouldn’t you rather see what your team of the future needs to work on in an effort to compete in MLB rather than have them beat up on inferior competition that they’ve whupped all season long? I know I would.
And what do I do with a guy like Myers now who has been stashed away and taking up a roster spot for over a month now? The Royals couldn’t unload Jeff Francoeur and open up a spot for Myers and now that they don’t even have to, they’re still not bringing him up so he can help bring a title to Omaha? What is that? With catcher eligibility in most leagues, imagine the hole he could have filled on fantasy rosters nation-wide.
And it’s not just the Royals here either. Apparently, you now have to go and look at the Triple-A standings to figure out who else you might not see come Saturday morning. Will the Diamondbacks leave Trevor Bauer in the minors because the Reno Aces are in first in the PCL Pacific division? How about Adam Eaton or A.J. Pollock? Will Houston bring back J.D. Martinez with the potential of Oklahoma City making the playoffs? There are plenty of names that could make a short-term impact for fantasy teams this season but apparently that’s not important enough for certain organizations to give up reaching for the brass ring that hangs just above a much shorter step-ladder.
Howard Bender has been covering fantasy sports for over 10 years on a variety of websites. In addition to his work here, you can also find him at his site, RotobuzzGuy.com, Fantasy Alarm, RotoWire and Mock Draft Central. Follow him on Twitter at @rotobuzzguy or for more direct questions or comments, email him at rotobuzzguy@gmail.com
I’m not going to say that AAA is more important than MLB experience, but I would imagine that in the title run these players will continue to play every day. That most certainly would not happen during the September callup.
I think you already wrote this article:
http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/index.php/kicking-rocks-free-my-rookies/
No matter how many times I remind myself it’s not the same person seeing Adam Eaton’s name makes me want to get in the fetal position and cry
It’s not just about the organization wanting a minor league title. It’s about developing an organization-wide mentality of winning. They want their players to get used to playing winning baseball, to playoff games and championship atmosphere.
Fantasy players don’t give a crap about that, Mike; they care only about their teams. Anything an organization does in the name of development is wrong if it undermines the fantasy owner’s title chase.
Yes, Howard, the Diamondbacks have said that Bauer witll stay in AAA for the duration of the playoffs, should they clinch a spot. I think we can safely assume that the same will apply to Eaton and Pollack.
This was going to be my point. Get the kids a taste of championship baseball, at any level. That experience has value too, clearly they think more than experience in the majors this year.
The Astros management has already gone on record saying that they want to instill their young players with a winning mentality, hence the emphasis on maintaining a competitive roster during the last couple of months of the minor league season.
Excuse me, is this this “I stashed Wil Myers” support group? I feel like “the other woman” here. He’s never gonna get called up is he?
If you need a sept call up to produce for your fantasy team you have little chance of winning and probably not making the playoffs anyway. What would a guy like Myers bring your team? Platoon starts at best with unreliable results. Grasping at straws.