Roto Riteup: July 2, 2013
Here’s to hoping everyone had a lovely Canada Day yesterday. The lingering question is what exactly does one do on Canada Day?
On today’s agenda:
1. Bad news for Brett Lawrie
2. Third time’s the charm: Adam Eaton edition
3. Trevor Cahill to the disabled list
Bad news for Brett Lawrie
Speaking of Canada, there is good news regarding Brett Lawrie. He should be healthly enough to be activated from the disabled list in the coming days. The bad news is that he will remain in the minors after being activated. The idea is that some time in the minors will allow Lawrie’s bat to heat up. Lawrie’s .209/.268/.374 line in 153 plate appearances is a far cry from what roto owners had hoped for back in March. In shallower re-draft leagues (e.g. 10-team mixed), dropping Lawrie would be acceptable. For 12-team or deeper, Lawrie should be held and stashed on the bench.
Third time’s the charm: Adam Eaton edition
After trumpeting Adam Eaton two separate times already, once again the present author is ready to make himself silly by putting stock into Eaton. Though he’s suffered two setbacks in his rehabing, Eaton is still a tantalizing fantasy option due to his doubles power, speed on the bases, and on-base prowess. Currently DHing, the Arizona Diamondbacks are hopeful that Eaton can play the outfield as soon as Saturday. Given the nature of elbow injuries, hitting and throwing normally in the same game will be a big step for Eaton.
The D-backs outfield is awfully crowed, even after Gerardo Parra may have to miss time after a brutal diving play in the outfield. Thankfully the club believes that Parra doesn’t have a concussion, however he is almost assuredly going to take a day or two off. Despite questionable amounts of playing time, Eaton will have value as a pinch hitter and pinch runner. He is still a couple of weeks away from being activated, but if you are looking for great rate stats plus steals, stashing Eaton now makes sense. Eaton is is available in 73% of Yahoo! leagues, 96% of ESPN leagues, though just 53% of CBS formats.
Trevor Cahill to the disabled list
In other Diamondbacks news, yesterday Trevor Cahill hit the 15-day DL with a right hip contusion. With a 4.66 ERA and a career high 14.9% HR/FB rate, perhaps some time off is just what the doctor ordered. Both April and May went very well for Cahill, but the wheels fell off in June. Through six June starts, Cahill posted a 9.85 ERA/6.34 FIP/4.26 xFIP and didn’t pitch past the sixth inning. A potential injury can surely cause pitching numbers to go awry, Cahill’s .393 June BABIP is probably responsible for his brutal month.
Possibly the leading candidates to take Cahill’s rotation spot is Tyler Skaggs, though D-backs manager Kirk Gibson didn’t commit to Skaggs just yet. Another name in contention is right-hander Charles Brewer. With plenty of time until Cahill’s spot rolls around again, the D-backs won’t need to feel rushed. For now, Skaggs seems to be the safer bet to start Friday for Arizona, but that is still speculation.
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Who is a better stash in a 12 team roto league – Lawrie, arod, or eaton? Looking for the potentially best overall player…
I still kept Eaton despite his the uncertainty of his playing time. Depends on your need of positional needs, I suppose.
Lawrie for me. I feel like Eaton is all but certain to eventually undergo surgery and A-Rod at best is simply average now. As frustrating as Lawrie is, the potential/upside of him getting right in AAA and coming up and hitting the ball well for the last month or two of the season is too tempting.
Eaton, and it’s not even close.
If Eaton can make it through the test of playing OF again, hitting, running and throwing, without incident and get to the majors in the next 2 or 3 weeks I do think he has the edge. That being said, given how the rehab has gone so far, that is far from a certainty. I think Lawrie might be the “safer” choice for the rest of this season – who also posseses great upside. Eaton might offer better average and speed, but Lawrie still offers speed but more pop.
I would keep Lawrie. He will never reach his pre-draft hype #’s, but he is serviceable at a very weak 3B position.
RoS I’ll take Eaton. His steals and AVG/OBP should be the best in that group. Eaton may lack some RBIs and homers that Arod and Lawrie can do, but I still love Eaton.