Ottoneu Most Wanted: June 13, 2018

It’s been entirely too long since my last post, as I was hit with a double whammy of a death in the family and an emergency appendectomy for yours truly, but I’m back in the saddle!

Before I get into the meat of this article, I’d just like to give an update on the status of the ottoneu power rankings. I had some issues with the scripts when I tried to run the rankings for April, and my intention was to post May rankings last week, but obviously life got in the way. At this point I think it makes the most sense to just wait until June is over, so expect the first power rankings to be published the first week in July. Thanks for your patience!

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the most added players in ottoneu over the past week.

Must Adds (the players that you should be adding if they’re still available)

Max Muncy– What in the world has gotten into Muncy? He’s long showed an above average bat with good patience and fair power dating back to his time in the Athletics system, but he currently has a .354 ISO and a 15.9% walk rate that is fueling his .424 wOBA (175 wRC+). The projections view him more as a league average hitter, but sometimes you need to ignore those if you’re hoping to catch lightning in a bottle.

Jung-Ho Kang- I get it, there are a host of ethical issues some owners may want to avoid with Kang, but ultimately this is a silly game and if you don’t roster him someone else will. The bottom line is Kang carries a career .362 wOBA, and is currently raking across AA and AAA (.472 wOBA and .344 ISO) in his return to the States. Even as a 3B-only he projects to be valuable, with a chance he can play enough to earn 2B eligibility in relief of Josh Harrison.

Joc Pederson– Joc’s biggest flaw is that he just can’t hit LHP (.258 career wOBA), but he has a .362 career wOBA against RHP and is hitting as well this year as he ever has. Sure, he’s a platoon OF, but given ottoneu’s deep roster/lineup requirements and daily lineups that’s a net positive.

Speculative Adds (the players that are worth adding, depending on roster needs)

Robert Gsellman– Gsellman notched a couple saves for the Mets at the end of May, and with Jeurys Familia on the disabled list he’s in the mix at closer, but pitched in the 7th and 8th innings of a close contest on Sunday and the 9th inning while trailing Saturday. I’d probably only take a chance on him in 5×5 leagues, as I think he’ll be kept in a relief ace/bridge role, and his 3.72 xFIP portends rockier results going forward.

Francellis Montas- Working in his favor is his prospect pedigree and his results so far in three starts (1.25 ERA/3.10 FIP). Working against is his 4.07 xFIP and 4.12 ERA/4.17 FIP projection. He’s still worth adding even if he pitches to his projection, but he might cost more than I would pay if you’re looking to add him now.

Dylan Covey– Covey is a ground ball machine, so even if he struggles a bit with his command/control he can continue to limit the long ball (zero HR allowed so far in 28.1 IP, owing partly to a 61.7% GB rate). He’s not exciting, but he should continue to have a place in the White Sox rotation, and he should be good enough to be worth spot starting on an ottoneu roster.

Justin Miller– It’s hard to ignore what Miller has done in 13.2 IP in AAA (0.00 ERA/ 0.62 FIP/ 1.27 xFIP) and 9 IP in MLB (0.00 ERA/ -0.68 FIP/ 0.58 xFIP) for the Nationals, but relievers are notorious for turning back into a pumpkin at the drop of a hat. I’d only take a chance on him as a $1 or $2 bullpen piece in ottoneu, unless he rises in the pecking order behind Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson.

Chris Paddack– Paddack has been lights out in the minors for the Padres (70/3 strikeout to walk ratio in 42.1 IP), but he’s also a 22 year old pitching in A+. He lost time due to injuries, which explains his age/level pairing, but there’s a big difference between doing what he’s done in high-A versus AA or AAA. He’s worth adding on rebuilding squads, but I doubt we see him in MLB until end of ’19, and the performance uncertainty is very high.

Pass (the players I don’t think are worth adding)

Clay Buchholz– All apologies to Buchholz, but even with the humidor in Arizona I don’t see his performance mattering for ottoneu. It’s a fun comeback story, but I’m not a buyer.

 

I might take a chance on Dexter Fowler and Neil Walker bouncing back over the summer, depending on their cost to acquire, but I’m not too interested in the rest of this group.