Archive for NIck Hundley

Negotiating trades in fantasy baseball can always be tough in competitive leagues.  Everyone is trying to gain the upper hand and each time you ask for that better starting pitcher or that more powerful outfielder, you end up taking some kind of grief for over-valuing your own players.  So why not try and get that extra boost in numbers from a low-profile spot like behind the plate?  Negotiate a deal and then try to throw in your over-performing catcher for their under-performing one who you think has the potential to improve.  You just might be able to squeeze some more out from their end.  Looking at early season BABIP and xBABIP, here’s a look at some “throw-ins” you just might want to try out… Read the rest of this entry »

While the tiers we established in our aggregate pre-season rankings gave you a sound foundation for your draft, you knew there was going to be some movement amongst the backstops.  I’m aware that we’re dealing with a small sample size of at bats, but if you’ve got a guy who’s hot, why not use him while you can? Or, if he’s cold, bench him for now and get yourself a temporary replacement.  Let’s look at a few names of backstops that are both rising and falling in current value. Read the rest of this entry »

The 2011 baseball season is almost upon us, so we here at RotoGraphs put our collective heads together to come up with some aggregate positional rankings.  I’ll be taking the lead all year with the catchers, but as a group, here’s what we came up with for now:

Despite last year’s power decline, we know the potential is there so Mauer gets the nod for the top spot.  Welcome to the big time, Buster!

Happy to have any one of these guys on my roster.  Santana is on the rise, but this could be the last chance for Wieters in the fantasy trust department.

Stable group of guys who can just tow the line for your backstop position.  Martin could be a nice sleeper in hitter-friendly Yankee Stadium.

No major investment needs to be made here.  Some will rise, some will fall.  Arencibia’s power potential puts him at the top of the sleeper list.

Maybe a pair of diamonds in the rough in Lucroy and Snyder, but I wouldn’t want to invest more than a buck on the rest of the lot.

You’ve got to be pretty desperate to be living with these guys on your roster.

We’ll all be chiming in throughout the week with more detailed thoughts on some of the backstops and the overall rankings will be updated on a monthly basis, so stay tuned for more!

Here are three players with low ownership rates who could pay immediate dividends in fantasy leagues:

Eric Hinske, Atlanta Braves (owned in 6% of Yahoo! leagues)

Anyone in a league with daily transactions should have Hinske on their roster. He may only be a platoon player, but he is destroying RHP this season. He has a .974 OPS versus righties, including a .326 AVG with 4 HR in 89 ABs this season. Yes, that comes with a BABIP of .379 versus RHP. It may not last the whole season. But there is no reason not to pick him up and ride him while he is hot.

Nick Hundley, San Diego Padres (owned in 5% of Yahoo! leagues)

In his last seven games, Hundley is batting .522 with 2 HR and 8 RBIs. Hundley most likely will not keep his current .306 AVG but he does have pretty good power and currently has an 11.8 HR/FB rate. (U) ZiPS forecasts him to finish with 11 HR and even 15 would not be a surprise for the 26-year old. Hundley splits time with Yorvit Torrealba although no strong patterns have emerged. Hundley catches Mat Latos for the most part while Torreabla has a similar relationship with Kevin Correia. If Hundley breaks away to become the primary catcher for the Padres, he could be a boon to fantasy owners.

Ronny Paulino, Florida Marlins (owned in 5% of Yahoo! leagues)

Since John Baker went on the disabled list on May 15th, Paulino has a .308 AVG with 8 R and 13 RBIs in 18 games and 16 starts. Baker is still several weeks away from returning and even when he does come back, Paulino should still see the bulk of the playing time versus LHP. Versus southpaws, Paulino has a .377 AVG with 2 HR and 14 RBIs in 61 ABs this year. Lifetime versus lefties Paulino has a .339/.393/.494 mark in 494 PA.