It’s time again to jump back into Zach Sander’s Outfield End of Season Rankings and pull out another gem for us to discuss. And since I live in the Bay Area and have a hankering to “poke the bear in the zoo” and have my house egged next Halloween for blasphemy, it’s time to fire up all you Giants fans and dissect one of your darling World Champions. So let’s scroll on down to good ol’ number 29 and talk about Hunter Pence. Read the rest of this entry »
C’mon readers of RotoGraphs, you didn’t really think I was going to let the year end without another piece on Adam Jones from me, did you? I was just waiting for the appropriate time and with the release of Zach Sanders’ Outfielder End of Season Rankings, that time is now. So scroll on down to number six, check out those numbers and $21 value and let’s talk about Baltimore’s number one outfielder. Read the rest of this entry »
As I sit here 30 pounds heavier and still feeling the effects of slipping into a pumpkin pie-induced coma, I am reminded by Zach Sanders’ End of Season Outfielder Rankings that we’re still doing our player evaluations from 2012 and it’s now time to get back to baseball. Obviously, there are plenty of interesting players in the outfield to sift through and discuss, but as I scrolled through, something that caught my eye and had me pleasantly surprised, was that Michael Bourn was sitting at number 16. While most head to head leagues and most of the ottoneu universe dismiss the importance of a burner like Bourn, roto league owners should be looking to grab him in 2013 and gain that much-needed edge in the stolen base and runs scored categories. Read the rest of this entry »
Let’s face it. Sifting through the waiver wire at this point can be an exercise in futility. I mean, if the guy is just sitting out there waiting to be snatched up by anyone desperate enough to have to employ his services for the final month of the season, how good can he really be? There is no “long term” anymore, so it’s time to turn that roster spot into a revolving door and start playing the hot bat. They’re certainly not the be-all, end-all, but here are two that just might be of service for the home stretch. Read the rest of this entry »
Monday is the first day of the work week, and while we all have our jobs to take care of, more importantly, we have fantasy baseball to discuss! It’s what the player has done for the entirety of the season, his past recent performance and then what I personally think each player will do (or is most likely to do) for the remainder of the season.
Bullish:
Adrian Gonzalez – I don’t much care for first and second half splits, but this season has been pretty wild for him. After hitting just two home runs each in April, May and June, many owners began to panic and trade A-Gon. If you were smart enough to hang on to him, you’ve been handsomely rewarded in the second half of the season. He picked up his power stroke a bit by hitting four dingers in July and already had four halfway through August. His month-by-month fantasy numbers have seen a massive uptick as well. The table below spells it out much clearer than my words ever could.
| Runs | HR | RBI’s | SB | AVG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April | 12 | 2 | 15 | 0 | .271 |
| May | 15 | 2 | 12 | 0 | .265 |
| June | 11 | 2 | 16 | 0 | .286 |
| July | 14 | 4 | 19 | 0 | .372 |
| August* | 10 | 4 | 22 | 0 | .375 |
*August is of course still not finished yet. The rate stats will float and the counting stats should increase.
Other than stolen bases (which no one drafted him for anyways), Gonzalez has been doing it all for the past month and a half. Kudos to those of you who either didn’t sell low or managed to trade for him on the cheap. This is the Gonzalez that a lot of imagined when envisioning him in Fenway.
Per usual, here are the Monday American League outfield stock watch updates.
Bullish:
Alex Rios – Since July 30, the 3rd best AL outfielder has been none other than Alex Rios. Commenter db thought that I should have ranked Rios higher in my last AL Tiered OF Rankings Update, and I may be inclined to agree more now than I was then. I still don’t love his projection, but a lot of his ZiPS is being influenced by his less-than-impressive 2009 and 2011 campaigns. To see this resurgency in Rios shouldn’t be taken lightly at this point. He is a five full category producer in standard roto leagues and barring a major collapse, should easily notch his second 20-20 season, but his first with a .300+ average.
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Today brings you the August American League outfield rankings. With only about eight weeks left in the season, these rankings reflect what I see each player being worth over the course of said eight weeks.
Tier One:
Mike Trout
Jose Bautista
Curtis Granderson
It shouldn’t be much of a surprise to see the first three names listed here. Trout has surpassed everyone’s wildest dreams so far. Bautista continues to hit have questions surrounding his wrist, but even with a second MRI on the way, I am caustiously (perhaps naively) optimistic. Granderson is tied for second in the AL in home runs and hits in a very friendly park for him. Granderson should continue to prove to be an incredibly valuable player despite his relatively low batting average.
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With the heavy influx of minor league talent being called up, there are likely a number of players on the waiver wire that are being overlooked because they just don’t have that “new player smell” anymore. Not just veterans, but some youngsters as well who have been around for a couple of months or so that didn’t quite catch fire when they first arrived, but have recently caught fire. Here are two outfielders that just might fit the bill as their roles have recently increased. Read the rest of this entry »
Between the rash of injuries and the flurry of trades we’re seeing right now, your league’s waiver wire should be a hotbed of action. It may or may not be depending on how many owners in your league have given up and turned their attention to the upcoming fantasy football season, but if you’re in a heated competition with just the two months remaining on the baseball season, then you should be keeping up to date with any player that is starting to sniff some regular playing time and can contribute to your cause. Here are two that may help you out…
Casper Wells, SEA |OF| Ownership: ESPN – 14.5% Yahoo – 5.0%
In the wake of the Ichiro Suzuki trade and the demotion of Justin Smoak, the Mariners appear to be going with Wells and Carlos Peguero in the corner outfield spots with recent call-up Mike Carp likely taking over first base duties. All three are in line to receive major increases in playing time, but Wells, seems to be the most seasoned of the three and likely the one to play with the most consistency. Sure, people will talk about Peguero’s power potential, but I look at his strikeouts and see a guy who could do more harm than good to your team. Carp has some promise, but given the shoulder concerns and the weak numbers he showed in Triple-A this season, Wells might just be the safer bet here for some added power.
There are definitely some flaws in Wells’ game right now between the low contact rates and the excessively high SwStr%, but he’s never had a full-time job before and a lot of his impatience at the plate could be him trying to do too much because he feels like he has a limited number of at-bats to prove his worth. That’s likely true to some extent, but now, in a situation like this where the Mariners are folding up their tents for the season, there’s little or no reason for him to put excessive pressure on himself. It’s not that he can just coast the rest of the way, but he can certainly take some time to relax at the plate and get back to the basics. With ISO numbers so strong at every level, there’s no question that the power is for real. With a full-time job for two months and little or no pressure, Wells finally has the opportunity to blossom and show what he can do.
Josh Rutledge, COL |SS| Ownership: ESPN – 13.4% Yahoo – 8.0%
With so much still up in the air regarding Troy Tulowitzki’s return, Rutledge is looking like a solid pick-up if you need help in your middle infield. Tulo insists that he will be back at some point in August, but as it stands right now, he hasn’t even picked up a bat yet. Rutledge has filled in admirably recently and over a quick 10-game span, has his .368 with six runs scored, one home run, six RBI and three stolen bases. His .382 BABIP is pretty inflated, but in looking at his recent minor league totals, he’s routinely posted high BABIP totals. If he can continue to make strong contact and keep the ball in play like this, the hits should continue to fall. True the sample size is small, but we’re also now dealing with a two month long season not six. Short-term help can be quite beneficial, especially if the guy can get on-base regularly and can kick in with some speed.
But there’s also the chance that Rutledge sticks even when Tulo makes it back, so long as he’s playing well. It’s not like Jordan Pacheco is tearing it up at the plate and the Rockies have made the rest of the league well aware that Marco Scutaro is available. If Scutaro goes, then Rutledge can slide over to the keystone once Tulo returns or, if he doesn’t, then perhaps he gets a chance to play some third. He’s an interesting choice for the short term and could easily pan out to be a full-time guy over the next two months.
Today brings yet another installment of the American League Outfield Stock Watch.
Bullish:
Brennan Boesch – I touched on Boesch in a recent Roto Riteup, and since that he has done nothing but continue to hit. After last night’s 2-3 performance (plus a walk) that included a homer, he is looking more and more like the outfielder that the Tigers had hoped he’d become. He now has a home run in back to back games and seven RBI’s in his past five games. By all accounts he is as hot as he’ll ever be. He is still freely available to pick up in 30% of Yahoo! leagues and 28% of ESPN formats. I’d act now before someone else does.
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