Comments on: Dallas McPherson, 2009 Fantasy Sleeper

By: Grey

Grey — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:31:22 +0000

@sean: Every indication is he will have the opportunity. The Marlins are committed to him as of right now. Some has been made that because he stole some bases recently in the minors that his back concerns are behind him (pun intended). In the 20th round, it's worth the flier, but he's definitely more Reynolds than Cabrera.

By: sean

sean — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:25:20 +0000

What can we really expect out of McPherson? I wonder about his durability. He’ll be 28 in June and he’s already had season-ending surgery twice, once to fuse vertebrae in his back.

His numbers seem to point to him being Mark Reynolds more than Miguel Cabrera. Again, this is definitely about risk/reward, but we’ve gotta be talking round 20+ for me to think about drafting McPherson…

By: Grey

Grey — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:49:40 +0000

@Jason Collette: Ah! That makes so much sense. Imagine Hill without the HGH. A smaller first base helmet for one.

By: Jason Collette

Jason Collette — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:33:27 +0000

Glenallen Hill holds the minor league whiff record with 211 whiffs in 466 at bats in the 1985 season in Kinston of the Carolina League. He must have thought every pitch was a spider.

By: Grey

Grey — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:46:51 +0000

@drizzle21: Ah, yes. As Rudy points out, I forgot Catcher. I'd put that in the first group of spots where risk/upside is feasible.

By: Rudy Gamble

Rudy Gamble — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:42:07 +0000

@drizzle21: I agree with Grey. I think you need solid predictable production out of 1B and 3B. CI is a decent slot to go upside over predictability as there will also be guys like Cantu or Longoria that hit the radars after the draft.

I’d add ‘catcher’ to the list of positions where it’s worth gambling on the upside…

By: Grey

Grey — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:02:51 +0000

@drizzle21: I think the first spots you want a lot of upside is at your MI spot, your last starter or your 5th OF, in that order. You can risk upside at those positions because other teams best case scenarios aren't going to be that much better. The 4th place I could see an upside pick is CI. Some teams are going to have decent bats there, but other teams will have schmohawks like Blalock. So you have to weigh the pros and cons. In theory, if you have lots of risk at CI you don't want as much at some of the other aforementioned spots.

By: drizzle21

drizzle21 — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:44:52 +0000

Hey Grey (or anyone else who wants to chime in). What are your thoughts about having lots of upside (but also a fair deal of risk) at the CI spots?

For example, let’s say that I have an insecurity complex that makes me draft one of the top 2 tiers of 1B in one of the first 3 rounds. For discussion’s sake, let’s say someone fairly safe like AGon. Then I manage to get over my fears and have pegged Chris Davis as a player I’d like to get if he’s available for pretty good value. Is the stability of Adrian enough to let me go out on a limb and get McPherson for my CI way late?

Bad case scenario, Davis isn’t all that and a bag of chips and I have to use McPherson at 3B and find a better CI. Worse case scenario, both underwhelm. What are your thoughts on having that much risk (and upside!) in those positions and in a scenario like the one outlined?

By: Grey

Grey — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:42:09 +0000

@Denys: I see DeRosa as a 15/65/.280 2nd baseman which places him between 10 and 12 on the top 2nd basemen list.

By: Denys

Denys — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:25:31 +0000

What do you think of DeRosa moving to Indians? How much does his value drop?