Roto Riteup: April 4, 2015
Today marks the return of the daily Roto Riteup. Opening Night isn’t until tomorrow, but the news never stops. As you may now have guessed, I’ll be guiding you through the weekends this year, so buckle up and enjoy the ride.
On today’s agenda:
1. Fun with spring stats
2. Travis Wood locks up a job
3. Nick Ahmed makes the Diamondbacks
4. Jon Gray optioned
Fun with spring stats
All numbers are as of Friday, April 3.
Jose Abreu: 59 ABs, 1 HR, .508 AVG
Dan Uggla: 44 ABs, 2 HR, .273 AVG, 13/9 BB/K
Ryan Howard: 72 ABs, 3 HR, 23 K, .167 AVG
Brandon Belt: 65 ABs, 12/18 BB/K, .369/.468/.662
Odubel Herrera: 66 ABs, .348 AVG, 6 SB (0 CS)
Travis Wood locks up a job
The Cubs have announced that Wood has earned a spot in Chicago’s rotation, SHOCKINGLY beating out Edwin Jackson and his 6.33 ERA last year. After a stellar 2013 campaign, Wood struggled in 2014 thanks to some sub-par control and poor batted ball luck. Wood’s velocity was down a smidgen last year, but he’s never relied on blowing his high-80s fastball by hitters, so it’s nothing to fret over. Wood isn’t a mixed-league option, but he’s worth a shot in NL-only leagues if he’s still available.
Nick Ahmed makes the Diamondbacks
A former second-round pick, Ahmed has won Arizona’s shortstop job, with Chris Owings shifting over to second base and Aaron Hill riding the pine. Ahmed flashed some speed while with the Braves before going to Arizona in the Justin Upton deal, but his running has been much less prolific since. Ahmed hit .312 in AAA last year, striking out just 12.2 percent of the time and stealing 14 bags. Ahmed kept his contact rate up while in the majors last season, but he hit just .200 with three extra-base hits in 70 ABs. Ahmed can really stick it with the glove, so even if his bat doesn’t blossom, he should be able to hold down a job. Ahmed is a fringe NL-only option, useful only in leagues with a MI spot.
Jon Gray optioned
Gray threw well enough to spring to warrant consideration for the big league rotation, but the Rockies have decided to send one of their top prospect back to the minors for some added seasoning. It’s hard for starters to have value in Coors, but Gray’s velocity and slider could put him in rarefied air. Colorado doesn’t have much in the way of above-average starting pitching, so as long as he keeps up the pace in AAA, expect to see Gray no later than the Super-Two cutoff.
Zach is the creator and co-author of RotoGraphs' Roto Riteup series, and RotoGraphs' second-longest tenured writer. You can follow him on twitter.
Should I drop Salazar for R. Montero in deep 16 team H2H? I’m torn….think Mets are going to give Montero a shot right away or very soon, not sure Salazar makes it back quick
I wouldn’t quite yet, but I’m not completely sold on either of them. It’s a toss up.
Is it advisable to attempt to trade Carrasco for Rusney Castillo? It’s a keeper league, but I get a sense that hitter>pitcher for the future stars.
I’d take the Castillo side of that trade! Pitchers are way more fungible than hitters. Now, Castillo is a bit of a wild card since he only has a part of last season under his MLB belt and is beginning this year in the minors, but he projects well by most accounts. Also, while Carrasco is a good pitcher, he did have TJ surgery a few years back and there is some evidence to suggest that TJ repairs hold up for 400 – 600 innings or so and then require another round under the knife.
There’s certainly more risk involved with pitchers, but I’d like to think you could get more for Carrasco.
So, I took Jose Fernandez as a late round flyer figuring that I would stash him in one of my DL spots until he is ready sometime after the All Star break. Problem is, the %#$!@* Marlins haven’t put him on the DL yet!!!! So he is taking up a roster spot 24 hours before the start of the season!!!! Worst run organization in both real and fantasy baseball!!!
If you check MLB official transactions, almost no one on any team is “officially” on the DL.
60 day DL opens a spot on the 40 man roster with all the contractual stuff that goes along with it.
15 day DL doesn’t but it looks as though teams want to do some backdating and are waiting to the last minute to pick the date.
The only owned players in our league who have made the official list are Verlander and Minor.
We had the same problem, but CBS has a setting that allows any injured players in DL slots. That’s the league setting to start the season and get past the ML teams dicking around, but beginning Tuesday that will be changed to only permit players who are officially on the DL.