Ring, Ring! Answer That Souza Phone!

If opportunity knocks, then Steven Souza is pounding on your door while calling your phone and blowing up your email inbox. I almost included Souza in my 10 bold predictions, but I believe he warrants more than just a quick blurb there.

Traded to the Tampa Bay Rays from the blocked off outfield of the Washington Nationals this off-season, Souza figures to be a staple in either corner for his new club. Now entering his age-26 season, Souza appears to be poised for an under-the-radar impact fantasy season. His skill set — plus playing time — make him a likely four category player. For two consecutive seasons he has nabbed at least 25 steals without being caught more than seven times and hit for at least 15 home runs.

While he had just three hits in 26 PA’s in his cup of coffee with the Nats last year, the power shone through as he cracked two home runs. Souza flashed his batting eye as he drew a trio of walks as well, no surprise given his minor league track record. In both Double and Triple-A, he owns an excellent walk rate north of 12% and on-base percentages near or above the .400 mark. His power should be enough to play in either the fourth or fifth spot and he has one start in spring training at each of those batting slots. Souza has hit seventh once, but has hit sixth four times in seven games, so the running game should be just fine if he is comfortable hitting a touch lower than his power warrants. The Rays ranked tied for 25th in baseball with just 63 steals last year, but with a change in the front office, manager and new personnel, perhaps the club revert to their 2010-12 philosophy when they finished in the top six of the league for steals.

Since March Madness is upon us, here is a side-by-side blind resume of the Steam 600 projections (so grain of salt, etc.) of two players:

	AVG	OBP	SLG	HR	SB	RBIs	R	BB
Player A	.270	.344	.441	16	8	68	71	55
Player B	.246	.313	.420	22	22	72	67	50

Ready for the big reveal? With apologies to mobile readers, computer readers can simply hover over “Player A” anywhere below to find out!

Player B is Souza which just leaves the mystery Player A. Player A is being drafted as a top 30 outfielder and Souza is outside the top 60. The difference in average and OBP is not to be overlooked, but the counting stats for Souza are either nearly identical or better. Currently Player A is about the 108th overall pick whereas Souza is sitting as the 250ish pick. It wouldn’t be an absolute stunner to see Souza finish as a superior 5×5 player over Player A at the season’s end. Let others knock themselves out with mid round picks on outfielders while you bide your time and wait for Souza.

He’ll probably never hit .300 in a full season, however he doesn’t have to in order to bring a bundle of value —especially considering his current ADP. Souza should absolutely be penciled in as a 20-20 guy with solid counting numbers, just beware of an average hovering near .250 due to the strikeouts. Even if you reach a round (or two rounds) early on Souza, he should still bring tremendous bang for the buck.