When you play in a league where you’re required to draft at least one player that sounds like a dish from a delicatessen, who do you want? Kipnis or the Russian émigré, Kasha Varnishkes? Easy, Jason Kipnis. Even in leagues that aren’t drafted on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Kipnis needs less selling than a five-day-old kugel when you look at Bill James’s 2012 projections for him — 88/18/69/.272/18. If you look at his short stint with the Indians where he had 7 homers and 5 steals with a .272 average in 136 ABs that looks less crackers than it should, but it’s crackers nevertheless. He had a HR/FB of 20.6%, which is nice but he’s not repeating it. Last year that figure would’ve put him in the top ten in the league with hitters like Fielder, Bautista, Granderson and Mini Donkey. His ISO last year was about the same as Ryan Howard. As you can imagine, that’s kind of silly. So now that we know what not to expect of Jason Kipnis in 2012 fantasy baseball, what can we expect?
Please, blog, may I have some more?2012 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers
Oh, boy, Bill James has gone and done it again. His misguided love for all things Chris Davis has reemerged for Paul Goldschmidt. He gives him the 2012 projections of 93/32/99/.266/9. Wow. Maybe after Goldschmidt’s done curing cancer he can also invent a Facebook Dislike button so I can properly grade all of my so-called friends’ posts. Or if you’re to believe that James line, maybe I should be writing an overrated post for Goldschmidt instead of a sleeper one. Alas, I’m taking into consideration that most people ignore Bill James or just don’t follow his projections when it comes to fantasy. (Yes, lots do follow his projections that read this site, but, let’s be honest, you’re the two-percenters. The average fantasy baseballer (<–my mom’s term!) doesn’t follow Bill James’s projections. Then when you consider that the ‘smart fantasy baseballers’ that do know about James’s projections also know to ignore them, the percentage gets even smaller.) So I’m gonna say most aren’t taking Bill James’s line that seriously and Goldschmidt will still have some sleepitude to him. So what can we expect of Paul Goldschmidt for 2012 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?
Please, blog, may I have some more?
