Scott Sizemore and Chris Nelson: Deep League Waiver Wire

Today’s Deep League Waiver Wire focuses on two players that are eligible at second base.

Scott Sizemore | 2% Owned (Y!) | 1% Owned (ESPN)
After being shunned by the Tigers for most of 2010 and 2011, Sizemore has found himself a nice, cozy little fixer-upper in Oakland. The A’s acquired Sizemore in late May with the intention of playing him at third base, as their internal options weren’t exactly inspiring. After a little time with Oakland’s Triple-A affiliate, Sizemore is back in the big leagues and playing every day at the hot corner.

Throughout his minor and major league careers, Sizemore has shown a willingness to take walks, and he started to flash his ability to hit for power at age 24 while in Double-A. Unfortunately, Sizemore has also consistently shown a propensity to strike out, and his K-rate effectively neutralizes what his BB% could do for his OBP. Case in point: despite a big league BB% of just under 11% and an above-average BABIP, Sizemore’s MLB OBP sits below the .330 mark.

The A’s seem intent on giving Sizemore a chance to show them what he’s all about, and they’d probably like it if he turned out to be their future third baseman. Oakland’s home ballpark isn’t going to be good for Sizemore’s power numbers, but he’ll still take walks and bash the occasional homer. Sizemore may not be ready to start for your team, but his dual 2B/3B eligibility and walk rate are just too much to pass up. Add him to your bench and see what happens if your in a league that counts walks or OBP.

Chris Nelson | 1% | 1%
We have less than 100 MLB plate appearances with which to grade Nelson, but one thing does stand out to me: In the minors, Nelson would sport a walk rate the was at or above league average, but in the majors Nelson has been unwilling to take a walk. Luckily for you, I have a theory! The theory is technically that of small sample size, but I think that we need to wait and see with Nelson after he gets a chance to play a bit more and adjust to big league pitching. Hitting in the majors is hard, so trying to work on making good contact as well as taking pitchers deep into counts is no easy task.

Nelson may never end up giving you counting stats but he should hit for a high average thanks to a low strikeout rate. Depending on how the Rockies decide to use him, it’s very possible that Nelson could have 2B/3B eligibility sometime this week, further increasing his value. If you’re looking for a relatively low risk proposition in non-OBP leagues, go with Nelson.