Roto Riteup: May 26, 2013
Apologies in advance for the lateness answering/addressing comments today. After all, Arrested Development is on!
On today’s agenda:
1. Brandon Beachy in Triple-A
2. Two Houston Astros hit two homers each
3. Cameron Maybin injury update
4. Back to the disabled list for Curtis Granderson
Brandon Beachy in Triple-A
After undergoing Tommy John surgery almost a year ago, Brandon Beachy has made his first start en route to his road back to the majors. Beachy threw 70 pitches in four innings of two run ball in Triple-A Friday evening. He allowed just two hits — although one was a home run — though he did uncork a wild pitch. This start represents the first of several Triple-A starts to come, assuming no setbacks. If Beachy stays on course, one should expect him to make his seasonal debut in the next two to three weeks. Beachy is owned in 65% of CBS leagues, but just 36% of Yahoo! and 20% of ESPN formats.
Two Houston Astros hit two homers each
Both Jason Castro and Matt Dominguez cracked two home runs each yesterday against the Oakland A’s. Castro now has six home runs on the year as well as a .265 batting average. For those in two-catcher formats, Castro has earned himself a roster spot for now. He doesn’t project for much power going forward, however as long as he is connecting with the long ball — not to mention sporting a .333 BABIP — he should be owned, at least until he cools off. Castro should be available in at least 75% of leagues in CBS, Yahoo!, and ESPN formats.
Dominguez is up to seven home runs and is now on pace to hit 23 home runs on the year. He powered five home runs in just 113 major league plate appearances last season and given how shallow third base is, owners should be giving Dominguez a closer look. He’ll hurt you the most in OBP leagues, but as long as he maintains even a .250 batting average, the counting stats in addition to position scarcity make him worthy of ownership in deep leagues. This was his second multi-home run game of the year already, so the power may be legit. Dominguez is owned in less than 20% of all three major fantasy sites.
Cameron Maybin injury update
Given that Cameron Maybin has been out of action since April 17, the San Diego Padres would like to see him receive around 30 PA’s in Triple-A before they make a decision when to activate him. Maybin made his Triple-A debut yesterday and went 1-for-3 with a single. Once upon a time a bright-up-and-coming star, Maybin’s bat hasn’t progressed as well as hoped. He still offers fantasy value with his legs, stealing a combined 66 bases against 15 times caught stealing over the past two seasons. If one happens to be in need of steals or drastically in need of help in the outfield, Maybin is a decent option. His legs and whatever runs he can muster will be the only real value, so caveat emptor.
Back to the disabled list for Curtis Granderson
A pessimist would say that Curtis Granderson has played just eight games all season for the New York Yankees. And an optimist would agree, because that is a fact. After being struck in the wrist, X-rays found a broken wrist — specifically a fractured fifth metacarpal — and Granderson will miss at least four weeks recovering. Now that he will miss another month of the season, 2013 is beginning to look a bit like a lost year for Granderson. He should be back by All-star break, and hopefully that is the last time that the words “Granderson “and “break” are in the same sentence this season. For those of you considering trading for Granderson, his price just got a lot lower. Grabbing him and stashing him might not be the worst idea, assuming you pay something like 50 cents on the dollar.
Let us not discuss the goings on of one Andrew Cashner’s start yesterday evening. Or, if we must discuss it, focus on the five strikeouts and zero walks.
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Any fast SS coming off the DL or about to be called up? I could use some help with runs and stolen bases.
Ive been starting Dee Gordon but he’s had a rough two weeks or so.
Only thing I can think of right now is to check if Billy Hamilton is on the wire. Otherwise I can’t help you much, I am not familiar with other top SS prospects. Profar was called up but he might not have SS eligibility, Triunfel is also up but I’d stay away. There’s always guys like Marwin Gonzalez and Pedro Florimon sitting on the wire but besides the steals they’ll hurt you just like Dee Gordon has over the last two weeks.
Don’t know much about him but Nakajima from the A’s might be worth a speculatory add.. He’s currently rehabbing in triple-A.
Nothing too great that I am aware of. The prospect guys would have a better grasp on the minors though.
Nick Franklin, I wouldn’t call him fast, but anything is better then Dee Gordon at the moment.
So you mention those that might target Granderson… I just traded for Granderson. On Wednesday.
I now have a problem, with Stanton, Granderson, Kinsler, Teixeira, Beachy, and Henderson on the DL. I’m one batter shy of filling my active lineup, so I need to cut one of injured Teixeira, Gausman, injured Jim Henderson, or Heath Bell. Readers and/or writers of FanGraphs… who gets the axe?
And who should the lucky addition be? Dom Brown? Matt Joyce? Chris Young? Angel Pagan?
I’d go with cutting Henderson and adding Brown, or Pagan if you need speed. Gausman and Bell have legit value. Hendy won’t be back for a few weeks.
If it’s a ~12 team redraft, I’d drop Gausman. I know there’s hype, but aside from K rate, he didn’t do much in his first game, and are you really going to run him out there for all those starts against the Jays, Sox, and Yankees? This may or may not be relevant, but I can’t name one recent AL East pitching prospect who consistently pitched well right out of the gate. (Maybe Matt Moore, but it looks like he’s pitching way over his head.)
but he gets starts against the rays and they suck! lol
matt moore, the former consensus top 3 prospect in baseball, is definitely pitching over his head but not sure why the calls for regression expect him to crater out?? he has outstanding K abilities, the only regression i expect is his LOB% to come back down and strand less runners. nothing else is fluky except his lower velo.
I’d drop Henderson or Gausman and add Angel Pagan or, if you have platooning (judging from being one hitter shy of active lineup, doubtful) Matt Joyce.
For me ,it would be Bell . Closers are hugely over-rated and subject to losing political favor quickly ,plus Bell hasn’t been an effective pitcher for a couple of years now .
Holy DL action batman! I’d probably drop Henderson. He has been very good, but relievers grow on trees.
I would grab Young, Pagan, Brown, Joyce in that order.
As an owner, I’m likely biased–but is this a little rough on Maybin? He had a terrible first few weeks. But last year’s 2nd half had people thinking big things, and all the projections had him producing like Coco Crisp.
I don’t think it’s rough on Maybin to be honest. He might give you 20 steals the rest of the way but the power won’t be there. Maybe 5-10 homeruns at best
Maybin had a pretty nice second half last year . It looked like he had finally started to figure it out . then he gets hurt almost immediately this year .
I think it’s accurate of his skill set. He doesn’t offer much power and the steals are his primary asset. You know he won’t hit .300, so what is left? RBI’s? Probably not too many of those, either.
A little rough on Maybin? If anything it’s far too generous.
I have a standing offer: My Gardner+Gallardo for Bourn+Liriano. I was going to do it because Gardner seemed to be part of an OF shuffle… but now the Granderson injury helps him out. Is it still worth pulling the trigger?
Close one there on talent . I would probably lean toward Gallardo over Liriano because of reliability and better health record .
No. Stick with Gardner and YoGa.
So, I have Josh Rutlege on my roster. His demotion is really hurting my roster flexibility. Is he worth holding on to?
no
I’d let him go.
Who should I cut: Colon or Tazawa. I have to activate Greinke tomorrow. I have K. Jansen, Holland, and Gregg as my closers. Love Colon’s whip but few Ks. I am convinced that Tazawa will close when Bailey gets injured but he doesn’t have the job but he does have decent Ks. Need both saves and Ks. Really stuck.
Colon is basically a waiver wire guy if it’s a mixed league, even 14 team.
Wach Scratched. To be called up?
Who has better chance to be helpful…Wacha or Gausman?
I’d go with Wacha over Gausman. Wacha’s stuff is not as great as Gausman’s, but the difference between pitching in the NL Central and the AL East is vast.
In a keeper league , Gausman by a mile . For this year pretty close ,but I still prefer Gausman .
Gausman for me.
Should I pick up M.Dominguez or E.Chavez to fill my hole at 3rd? And who gets the axe: M.Prado or K.Seager? I’ve been using Prado at 2nd (since K.Johnson gets every third day off it seems) and as a super sub, but his spot in the line-up is killing his useful numbers. 3/4 with no runs or rbis? come on, man.
Seager and Prado are both better than either Dominguez or Chavez . Don’t get blinded by a current hot or cold streak .
I agree with Dirck below. Keep hanging on to Prado and Seager.
Prado rewarded me with a nice 4/4, 1R 1RBI performance today. I hope he gets moved higher in the order than 7th so he can start getting better counting stats. Seager still leaves much to be desired though. I still wish I could go back to the day he and Donaldson were on the wire and I did a Mr. Burns ketchup-catsup routine with the two.
Should I start Lackey over Cobb(The tribe) or Lackey over Hamels(Brew crew)?
I would start him over Hamels . Hamels has been pathetic and the Phillies without Utley are pretty weak ,while the Brewers have a good offense
I’d roll with Lackey and Cobb. I still really like Hamels, but it might be a good team to sit him against.
Do any of the following second baseman appeal to you more ROS than Danny Espinosa?
David Adams, Alexi Amarista, DJ LeMahieu, Rickie Weeks
Weeks is the wild card . He seems to be either very good or very bad and you never know which one you will get or when .
Like Dirck said, I think Weeks has a great shot at being more valuable RoS than Espinosa. I don’t know if that will happen, but Weeks will come the closest to beating Espinosa.
Drop Juan Francisco or L. Valbuena for Matt Dominguez?
Can you give some more detailed information as to what type of league you’re in? I’m guessing it’s pretty deep if you’re considering this.
They’re all pretty awful. Dominguez is at least a full time player. Not sure if he’s worth the pain though.
Dominguez, and when compared to those other two, it isn’t really close.
Hah, I somehow had no idea that Dominguez was a tear. Maybe adding him won’t be so painful after all.
Sorry, yeah it’s a 5×5 20-team league, so that’s why…
I’ll go on and pick up Dominguez now. Hopefully Youkilis comes back soon (on my DL)…
Do you think Castro is a better option than Doumit for the rest of the season?
No, stick with Doumit.
Not related to the article’s content, but I have a fantasy morality question for you all. I was shopping Jaime Garcia before he got injured (because he was going to get injured at some point), and got offered Martin Prado straight-up. I didn’t notice the offer until after Garcia’s injury, but the trade didn’t get taken down. Do I accept the deal?
This is a long-term 14-team keeper league, and the owner in question has indicated that he won’t stay in the league after this year.
Don’t accept the deal. It will (or would in any of my competitive leagues) cause a big storm that is pretty easily avoided.
Decline it.
Which pitcher do I cut when Beachy makes his debut- Pettite, Medlin or Miller? I’m going to attempt to trade one of them, but depth is deep at SP.
I’d rather hang on to all four, but Pettite gets the ax for me.
Should I drop Doumit for Lucroy?
Not yet, no. Grandal just came back though, so you could consider him as well.