Archive for scott sizemore

Considering I just covered the A’s infield earlier this month when the team acquired infielder Jed Lowrie in exchange for Brad Peacock and Chris Carter, this one will actually be short and sweet. There hasn’t been any change in the two weeks since that last article was published. What I did do was a little more studying of the team and consulted with those who follow the A’s much more closely than I do and whose opinions I trust and respect. Read the rest of this entry »

You can tell we’re all itching for pitchers and catchers to report when multiple RotoGraphs writers start jumping all over a trade between the A’s and the Astros that doesn’t really have any marquee talent to discuss. But hey, we’re almost there. Just days away, in fact. But while others handle the power bat of Chris Carter, the potential of Brad Peacock and the dregs of what’s left in Houston, I’m going to take a look at how Jed Lowrie’s arrival in Oakland is going to impact the A’s, and how, for fantasy purposes, the outlook isn’t so good. Read the rest of this entry »

For those that love to follow industry leagues, the Tout Wars drafts took place this past weekend in New York City.  In addition to their usual rundown, this year introduced a brand new Mixed League and as I was looking over some of the rosters, Josh Donaldson’s name stuck out to me.  He went for $4 to Rotowire’s Derek Van Riper who went with a “stars and scrubs” approach, but considering some of the other names that went for a buck, along with RotoGraphs’ reader Jeff’s question in the Catcher Tiers piece, it seems that Donaldson is on quite a few people’s fantasy radar these days.  Now the question remains, is he worth a look?

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There are a few hot hands at the hot corner worth mentioning, and for anyone without a dead team, you know that third base hasn’t exactly been the deepest position in 2011. I’m not going to take a stab at what these gentlemen may produce from here on out, leaving that to the rest-of-the-season-machines, but I wanted to shed light on a few emerging developments over at the five.

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

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Unless you’re sitting on one of the top five or six guys that are out there, chances are you’re struggling with production at second base and are looking desperately to find someone to plug that hole for the rest of the year.  Well, based on these ownership percentages, you might just have that help right in front of you.  Here’s a pair of guys you might want consider using right now… Read the rest of this entry »

The Detroit Tigers traded INF Scott Sizemore to the Oakland Athletics for LHP David Purcey.

Sizemore, 26, holds a career .315/.392/.487 line in 764 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. The Virginia Commonwealth product has shown pretty good patience (9.4% walk rate) and power (.172 Isolated Power) in the International League. He was never considered a premium prospect — Baseball America ranked him tenth in the Tigers’ system prior to last season — but BA did say he possessed a “compact swing and a knack for putting the barrel on the ball.”

Detroit didn’t give Sizemore much time to translate that swing to major league success, though, making him the starter at second base for brief periods of time over the past two seasons and then abandoning ship after he didn’t hit in small sample sizes. In 237 career major league plate appearances, the righty batter has a .223/.306/.306 triple-slash. Sizemore has managed a 10.5% walk rate, but he has struck out in 28.6% of his at-bats while rarely ripping the ball into the gaps or over the fence (.083 ISO, 3 HR).

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Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Max Scherzer was demoted to Triple-A Toledo today, along with second baseman Scott Sizemore.

Scherzer, who was acquired from the D’Backs by the Tigers this offseason as part of the Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson deal, did not impress in his brief time in the AL. Scherzer struck out 9.19 batters per nine innings last year, but is down to a 5.57 K/9 through his eight starts in 2010.

He has seen a touch of bad luck, with a .327 BABIP agaisnt and 58% LOB%. However, Scherzer has had trouble with balls in play for his short MLB career, with a .323 BABIP against in over 268 innings.

While his ERA is 7.29, his xFIP is only 5.04. Our updated ZiPS projections have Scherzer finishing the year with a 5.16 ERA. MLB.com’s Jason Beck says that Scherzer has had problems with his mechanics, so hopefully he can work things out in the minors and return relatively shortly. If you have Scherzer in a keeper league, you might as well hold on to him during this stretch, otherwise it is safe to drop him.

As far as Sizemore goes, his demotion isn’t even the biggest news surrounding the Tigers 2B job. The team says that Carlos Guillen will be the everyday second baseman when he returns from the DL in the next week or two.

Guillen hasn’t played 2B since 1999 (when he was with the Mariners), but he did play 132 games at SS back in 2007, so he isn’t that far removed from the middle infield. In real life, UZR was not kind to Guillen at SS in ’07, or at 3B in ’08, so we’ll see how long Guillen can hold down the job at 2B. For fantasy owners, as long as he plays enough games to gain eligibility, it doesn’t matter how long he sticks. ZiPS has Guillen hitting .280 the rest of the season, and adding in 10 homers and 5 steals. Getting those numbers out of your second baseman is not the worst thing in the world.

Focusing on Sizemore, a .268 BABIP and 3.6% HR/FB rate hurt his value and he ended up with awRC+ of only 60. He should be able to return to AAA and hit very well once again, forcing the Tigers to consider bringing him back up later on in the season. But, if Guillen plays well at 2B, there may not be room from him.

Every Thursday throughout the season, Minor Impacts takes a look at some of the hottest minor league players that could have impacts at the Major League Level in the near future.

Tim Alderson: We hear a lot about Madison Bumgarner and deservedly so, but Alderson could very well beat the big left-hander to the Majors. Like Bumgarner, Alderson was drafted out of high school in the 2007 draft. Although his stuff is not as electric, he has better overall command and control. In fact, Alderson, 20, has walked just five batters all season (58.2 innings), including two in six double-A starts. If a spot is not open in the starting rotation for the right-hander, he could initially slide into the bullpen to offer some long relief.

Blake Parker: It’s been an interesting ride through the minors for the Cubs prospects, but he’s finally nearing his shot. Originally a 16th round selection in 2006 out of the University of Arkansas, Parker started out his pro career as a third base, but did not hit very well. With a strong arm, the club moved him to the mound and his career took off. The right-hander features a good sinker that can touch 95 mph and his secondary stuff, a slider and changeup, is improving rapidly. So far this season, he has yet to allow a home run in 24.1 innings and he’s striking out more than 11 batters per nine innings. His control (13 walks) still needs a little work.

Luis Perez: The Jays took a gamble on aggressively promoting Perez from low-A to double-A to begin the 2009 season. The southpaw was older (22) than the traditional Latin player when he came over to North America in 2007. He throws harder than most left-handers and he gets an incredible amount of ground balls to go along with a healthy dose of strikeouts. He has a ground-ball rate of 57.2% in 2009 despite the two-level jump and it was 60.6% in 2008. If he can sharpen his command just a bit more, he has the makings of a No. 3 or 4 starter. Worst case scenario, he could be a loogy, with left-handed batters hitting just .188 against him at double-A.

Chris Heisey: Everyone just keeps waiting for Heisey’s hot streak to come to an end. Cincinnati’s double-A outfielder, though, just keeps getting stronger with a line of .370/.446/.621 in 219 at-bats. He also has 11 home runs and 11 stolen bases and has walked more than he’s struck out (1.17 BB/K). Heisey hit .338 in April, .404 in May, and he’s well above .300 in June so far. It’s about time for Cincinnati to find room in triple-A for the 24-year-old prospect.

Michael Brantley: One of the pieces that Cleveland acquired for C.C. Sabathia, Brantley just keeps doing what he does best: Hit. Only 22, he’s already playing in triple-A and has a line of .275/.354/.381 with 19 steals in 218 at-bats. The left-handed hitter has a career .306 average and he has stolen 123 bases in 154 attempts (80%). He’s also walked 50 times more than he’s struck out in his career, which bodes extremely well for a top-of-the-order hitter. Brantley’s biggest weakness is his below-average defense in the outfield.

Scott Sizemore: Detroit desperately needs depth in the minor league system, so it’s nice to see a prospect improving his value in the upper levels of the minor league system. Sizemore has advanced through the system rather slowly for a college-drafted player but he’s almost MLB ready now. The second baseman has shown improved numbers in 2009 with a line of .306/.403/.532 and nine homers in 216 at-bats. The 24-year-old infielder has the potential to produce at least a few above-average offensive seasons, especially with his increased power numbers (perhaps stemming from being healthy after a hand injury in 2008).

Gaby Sanchez: The Florida Marlins team has had a tough year and the club has quickly slid down the standings in the National League East. If the team continues to struggle, current first baseman Jorge Cantu could find himself on the way out of town in return for some cheaper talent. If that happens, Sanchez could earn a shot as the everyday first baseman. He almost earned the opening day assignment (with Cantu manning third), but a poor spring doomed him to triple-A and then he was sidelined with an injury. Now healthy, he’s hitting .337/.409/.515 in 21 games.