Roto Riteup: May 20, 2013
Today’s Roto Riteup aims to start your week off with magic and general deliciousness.
On today’s agenda:
1. Jake Odorizzi gets the call
2. Chris Archer, Alex Torres stuck in Triple-A
3. Here comes Jurickson Profar
4. Minor injury notes
Jake Odorizzi gets the call
With David Price landing on the DL, the Rays had three viable options to fill his spot in the big league rotation. Odorizzi got the nod for the DRays, beating out fellow prospects Chris Archer and Alex Torres. Acquired from the Royals as a large part of the James Shields trade, Odorizzi has been cruising along in Triple-A, but the right-hander has still displayed problems with the home run ball, allowing seven in eight starts. Price is out indefinitely, but it sounds as if he may only miss three turns through the rotation. Odorizzi is worth grabbing in deep or dynasty leagues if he’s not already owned, but he’s not worth the transaction in standard mixed leagues.
Chris Archer, Alex Torres stuck in Triple-A
Torres and Archer were both passed over in favor of Odorizzi, but Torres’ situation is even more heartbreaking. Torres was already in the bigs prior to Odorizzi’s promotion, pitching twice out of the bullpen before being sent down to the minors to make room. Archer, on the other hand, was pitching in Triple-A, but may have been looked over due to a calf injury that caused him to miss a start and has appeared to alter his performance. Of the two, Archer is the much better fantasy prospect due to the likelihood of pitching in the rotation while the Rays likely see Torres as an MLB reliever.
Here comes Jurickson Profar
Profar is being recalled from Triple-A Round Rock to take the spot of Ian Kinsler, who is headed to the DL after suffering a rib injury earlier last week. Profar, widely considered the best prospect in all of baseball, will be playing every day at second base in Kinsler’s absence. Profar is a mere 20 years old, but he brings a great approach from both sides of the plate, terrific defense, and moderate power that should only improve over time. Profar’s only negative would be his low BABIPs across the minor leagues, as top hitting prospects usually have much higher BABIPs than Profar’s traditional .305 mark. He may not hit right away, but Profar is a guy you want on your fantasy roster in pretty much all formats.
Minor injury notes
• Carlos Ruiz strained a hammy while roaming the basepaths yesterday. Ruiz missed the start of the year due to a drug suspension, so this setback means even more time lost for owners.
• Michael Cuddyer expects to be back on Friday, which is much earlier than I expected. Cuddyer hit the DL due to a issue with a disc in his neck, but an epidural appears to have made his child birthing experience more comfortable.
Zach is the creator and co-author of RotoGraphs' Roto Riteup series, and RotoGraphs' second-longest tenured writer. You can follow him on twitter.
The statement, “he may not hit right away, but Profar is a guy you want on your fantasy team in pretty much all formats”, confuses me. Arent the offensive cats in fantasy based on how good a guy hits?
But lets say he does hit right away, isn’t he gonna be sent back down anyway as soon as Kinsler comes back, in say 2-3 weeks? And for the first week of that he doesn’t even qualify at any position except UTIL.
Im a big fan of picking up prospects, heck, I drafted Wheeler and Taveras in a re-draft this year. But Im passing on Profar. I don’t have guys Im willing to drop for a 20 year old that was hitting .278 in the PCL, doesn’t have a position, and will be gone as fast as he came. No matter how good he will be in his prime.
In many leagues he qualifies at more than just utility. I’m not actually sure how a league can justify that he doesn’t qualify at either the position he played in last year, or the one he’s playing in the minors currently. That’s a stupid league.
Secondly, if profar does well they might not bother sending him down. He’s maybe the best prospect in baseball. They want him up eventually.
Its all Y! leagues. He had a cameo in the bigs last year but didn’t get 5 starts or 10 appearances at any position, therefore he doesn’t qualify at any position. Its ridiculous and I view it as a glitch in the system that should be fixed, but im sure it wont be.
And I may be wrong, but I really don’t think it matters how good he hits. They’re not moving Kinsler to take Moreland’s spot, Beltre and Andrus are fixtures. And they’re not moving him to the OF unless they send him back down to learn the position first, which they could have been doing in the meantime if they had wanted to.
The Rangers are going to be battling to win the division with or without him, so unfortunately for him and us, he’s blocked. The best hope is either a Profar or an Andrus trade, but that’s also a huge longshot.
so what eligibility does he have? UTIL? That’s it? And I simply don’t see why they cant have the following lineup:
C: AJP
1B: Kinsler
2B: Profar
SS: Andrus
3B: Beltre
LF: Cruz
CF: Martin/Gentry
RF: Berkman/Murphy
DH: Moreland/Berkman
Moreland is much better against righties, and Berkman can hit lefties. And they could essentially rotate Cruz, Murphy, Berkman, and Moreland in the 2 OF spots and DH spot. Not like that’s the youngest bunch around. Berkman would likely be better served only playing 3-4 times a week anyway. Lets be honest, does anyone really think Mitch Moreland will keep up his recent hot streak? Not like we haven’t seen this before.
Yes, only UTIL in Y! leagues right now. When he gets 5 starts at 2B, he’ll qualify there and only there, not SS.
Ya, that lineup looks great to me, but now you have Kinsler AND Profar at their unnatural positions. And you’re changing the role of at least 3 other guys to do it. The Rangers are pretty conservative that way. And don’t forget that Kinsler doesn’t want to move to 1B, which probably shouldn’t matter, but on that team, with that player, it probably does.
I just don’t see the Rangers, being one of the best teams in the league, making all these moves, risking the chemistry of the team to rush a very young prospect, its not like them.
Im kind of buying Moreland. Obviously he’ll regress, but he can absolutely hit .280 with about 27-30 HR’s. And although its a small sample, he’s hitting lefties. Only time will tell but don’t you have to let him ride it out? Can you take away the job while he’s in the midst of doing exactly what you need him to do? Maybe he’ll burn out, but for now you could argue that he’s been their best hitter.
He has 2B eligibility in ESPN leagues.
He has MI elig in my yahoo leagues, guess you don’t play MI.
in more serious leagues, he does have MI eligibility in Yahoo. I do think its ridiculous though.
I was thinking the same thing. I picked him up but I want to know if he is starting every day for sure