Waiver Wire: Longoria Replacements
The Rays may be 0-3 and off to the worst start in franchise history, but the biggest concern in the Tampa Bay area revolves around the health of Evan Longoria.
The All-Star third basemen has been put on the 15 day disabled list and will miss a minimum of three weeks. That loss presents a giant hole to fill for both a Rays lineup that already needed help scoring runs, and fantasy owners who grabbed Longoria in the early rounds of their drafts. The third base position isn’t particularly deep this season, so finding a suitable replacement may prove difficult. Lets take a look at a few possibilities…
Sean Rodriguez and Felipe Lopez
These two will be picking up the playing time in Tampa Bay with Longoria out. Rodriguez is owned in nearly 100 percent of ESPN leagues, so he’s not likely to be found on the waiver wire. However, if you have another player on your team that can handle second base or the outfield – Rodriguez’s two eligible positions – he could fill in nicely at the hot corner. One issue facing Rodriguez is the fact that he doesn’t yet qualify at third base. Give it a week or so and he should pick up the minimum amount of starts to qualify. We know what the 25-year-old brings to the table. He hits left handed pitching exceptionally well, and while he struggles a bit against right handed pitching his outstanding defense should allow him more starts against righties.
When Rodriguez is not in the lineup he’ll be replaced by recently recalled Felipe Lopez. A switch hitter, Lopez has better career numbers against righties, but over the last three seasons has hit .297/.350/.413 against southpaws. He already qualifies at third base, as well as second base and shortstop, and that versatility could prove very valuable over the next few weeks. Lopez had a substandard 2010 season, hitting .233/.311/.345 in 441 PA’s, but proved valuable in 2008 and 2009. Marcel projections a .270/.340/.389 line from Lopez this season, and he’s only owned in o.3% of ESPN leagues at the moment. Keep an eye on when he plays, but you could certainly do a lot worse in the shallow pool of third basemen.
It’s rare to find a starter at a shallow position owned in so few leagues (4.1% ESPN), especially one who enjoyed the half season that Danny Valencia did in 2010. In 322 PA’s the rookie put up an impressive line of .311/.351/.448 and even hit seven home runs. Expecting that same type of production is likely foolish, but Valencia is very capable of putting up an average in the .280-.290 range with ~15 home runs. The fact that he’s available in 96% of leagues is frankly shocking to me. You know how many third basemen hit .300 with 15+ home runs last season? Three. Valencia is capable of that. In fact, picking him up only as a replacement for Longoria may be a waste of his abilities. While he might not crack your starting lineup, he’s a very valuable player to stash away on your bench for the entire season.
Erik writes for DraysBay and has also written for Bloomberg Sports. Follow him on Twitter @ehahmann.
S-Rod hit lefties “exceptionally” well?
I know his #s against LHP are better than his #s against RHP, but they’re still nothing to write home about…
In his first extended MLB at bats against LHP in 2010 he had a .360 wOBA. Maybe exceptional was the wrong word, but it’s very good. Before minorleaguesplits.com went down, I remember him having very good minor legaue numbers vs LHP as well.
What about Chase Headley as a viable option as a Longoria replacement for the next 3 weeks?
He’s viable, but I’m always weary of PETCO. He won’t kill you for three weeks, though.
What about in AL only leagues where guys like Valencia & Lopez are 100% owned? Who to pick up? Andy LaRoache?
In those leagues it’s sliiiiiim pickings. Is Morel available? He’s owned in less than 1% of mixed leagues.
Jack Hannahan is gone in my AL-only. stronger league my ass!
I feel your pain brother…in my 20 team league Paul Janish is currently manning the hot corner for me. Rough times.
I’ve got Neil Walker (2B and 3B eligible) currently manning 2B and Alex Gordon filling in at 3B. Would I be better off benching Gordon, moving Walker to 3B, and starting Danny Espinosa at 2B? Standard 5×5 cats.
Alex Gordon is hitting 3rd in, what i feel, is an underrated KC offense. Espinosa hits 7th for the Washington Nationals and is not in the lineup today. While Gordon has disappointed every time up in the majors, he is hitting in a very desirable spot in the lineup and with Butler as his “protection” he will see some good pitches to hit. Ned Yost admits he is very slow to change a lineup so you can expect Gordon to hit third for at least the next 3 – 4 weeks (the length of time Longoria is expected to miss). If it were me, I would roll the dice with Walker and Gordon and hope the all world prospect finally realizes his talents.
I finally got to see a whole Royals game tonight and I must say Gordon looks good at the plate. Forget the results (which were 3/5, 2R HR 2RBI 2doubles) he is showing a good eye on the pitches off the plate and a very compact swing. He also saw about 5 pitches per AB tonight so he is working the count. I don’t want to get excited as we’ve seen these flashes in the pan from him before, but as long as he keeps his walks up this could be the year.
BTW Billy Butler is a beast! One of the best 24 y/o hitters I’ve seen. If Gordon hits in front of him all year… Watch out!
Stick with Walker and Gordon, for sure.
I gots chipper “Bionic” Jones
Jones was an available pickup in all my leagues. Not sure why he didn’t get a mention here.
I was able to get both Chipper and Gordan. It is a smaller league though.
I think Chris Johnson has the higher ceiling, with more potential for power.
At only 14% owned in Yahoo leagues, he might be the better add (than Valencia).
Dan Johnson also might be a nice add. Here are his Bill James projections for 318 ABs
255.18.59 with 365 OBP. Definitely someone you can buy low on.