Who is Being Dropped & Why

This past week’s Sunday night’s FAAB bidding was fairly calm after FAAB-ageddon. Even with else action, I find some of the drops interesting.

Note: Normally, I focus on players dropped in 10 or more leagues of the 38 but the five players dropped in nine leagues are the most interesting so I included them.

Injured

• Wilmer Flores (27): Fractured foot means bye-bye.
• Andrelton Simmons (20): I held onto Simmons utilizing the following news. Rostering him with limited roster space comes down to how many other injured players are on the team.

Andrelton Simmons met with a foot specialist. He will not need surgery. He said it’ll be a week or two until the swelling in his ankle subsides. Then he’ll have a better idea of the timeline.

— J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) May 22, 2019

• Welington Castillo (16): Concussion.
• Ryon Healy (15): Injured wrist and may not play once he returns with Kyle Seager off the IL.
• Brandon Nimmo (14): Bulging disc and whiplash. Great.
• Francisco Cervelli (14): A concussion and his GM had a few things to say about concussions.
• Collin McHugh (11): For the last few owners holding out hope for a return to the rotation, a sore elbow killed their mojo.
• Aledmys Diaz (10): This is no country for a role player with a pulled hamstring.
• Chris Davis (10): Off to IL with an inflamed hip.
• Ender Inciarte (9): Owners have “Let him go” with no positive news on his recovery.
• Jed Lowrie (9): Still farting around on the IL.

Demoted/Released

• Mac Williamson (24): He hit just .118/.211/.196 in 57 PA.
• Cole Irvin (23): The righty with an 88-mph fastball got demoted? No way.
• Carlos Gonzalez (20): Released.

Other

• Michael Wacha (22): An ERA over 5.00 with matching ERA estimators means he’s off to the bullpen.
• Chris Martin (20): He was in line for Saves in Texas but over his last four appearances he has a 12.37 ERA with just 2.3 K/9/. He’s no longer in the mix for Saves.
• Kendrys Morales (20): His talent is marginal and has only started in four of the last seven games.
• Shaun Anderson (20): Owners of Anderson’s two-step were rewarded with 5.40 ERA, 4 K’s, and a 1.80 WHIP in 10 innings of work.
• Merrill Kelly (16): The Padres lit him up like a Christmas tree in his start last week for 5 HIts, 4 Walks, 0 Strikeouts, and 4 runs in 1.2 innings of work.
• Scott Barlow (16): He saved a game before last week’s FAAB run. Everyone jumped in hoping for more Saves but none came.
• Erick Fedde (14): A two-start week against the Marlins and Mets went as expected. A 0.90 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, and 5 K’s in 10 IP. His owners weren’t willing to push their luck another week.
• Mike Leake (14): Another two-starter arm who posted an 8 K’s, a 9.26 ERA, and 1.54 WHIP in 11.2 IP.
• Freddy Peralta (13): The Brewers moved him and his 5.97 ERA to the bullpen.
• Jeremy Hellickson (13): Why do owners go through these two-step guttings? 9.00 ERA, 2.13 WHIP, and 4 K’s in 8 IP.
• Brandon Workman (12): A Sunday Save on the day of FAAB means some bought-in but now they don’t.
• Jefry Rodriguez (12); A 7.29 ERA and a 4.71 BB/9 over his last four starts
• John Hicks (11): He’s hitting like a catcher (.228/.273/.370) and his owners must expect more.
• Brett Anderson (10): A respectable two-start week with a 1.54 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 5 K’s in 11.2 innings.
• Forrest Whitley (10): 12.21 ERA, 5.6 BB/9, and 3.3 HR/9 in AAA.
• Ian Kennedy (10): He’s the closer but with two Saves on the season.
• Starlin Castro (10): Horrible slash line (.227/.269/.283) but underperforming his xwOBA by 56 points making him the 9th biggest underperformer in the league.
• Steve Wilkerson (10): Owners were taking advantage of his weekend series at Colorado.
• Cole Tucker (9): In 100 PA he’s hitting .160/.202/.266 and 0 SB. In 76 PA Kevin Newman is hitting .338/.408/.456. It’s now a hard choice.
• Eric Sogard (9): While Sogard is being released in response to Cavan Biggio’s promotion, several Blue Jays are sitting more (e.g. Justin Smoak) and owners need to keep up on this situation.
• Howie Kendrick (9): Started in only three of the last nine games.
• Melky Cabrera (9): Bryan Reynolds production (.320/.369/.573) has forced Cabrera to the bench.