It’s time to start looking ahead to the 2013 fantasy baseball season. Here are a couple players noticeably affected by OPS.
Kevin Youkilis – Sigh no more, fantasy owners. I’m expecting a rebound for Youkilis in 2013. I’ll admit that I was worried about The Greek God of Injures at the beginning of this year after his slow start, especially since he’s past his peak years and has a storied injury history. Youk fact of the day: he has never played more than 147 games in a season. Worse yet, he hasn’t played in over 140 games in a season since 2008. Meanwhile, he only graced us with his mediocre presence in 122 games this past season. Despite it sounding like time to jump ship, I’m going to advocate steering back towards the old man. On a side note, how weird will it be to see him on the Yankees? Although this wouldn’t be the first time a Red Sox player moved to the Bronx…
I’ll quit my babbling and say that Youk’s second half alleviated my concerns and I’m willing to trust him, at least for one more year. This is because I don’t see many red flags, since his contact and batted ball statistics were all right in line with his performance in 2011. Additionally, I’m assuming that his price will plummet as a result of his down year in 2012 and the always lingering injury concerns. Where will people take him? Outside the top 150 players? Outside the top 200 even? As for the move to Yankee Stadium, I don’t expect it to have a significant effect because he spent last year split between Fenway and U.S. Cellular Field, which aren’t exactly settings for hitters’ nightmares. Still, I’m counting on an improvement in his walk rate and BABIP to pave the way for him to approach his 2011 line of .258/.373/.459. That’s solid for a third baseman, but he’s no longer the elite option he once was. The one caveat I’ll give is that I wouldn’t count on him for more than 120 games or so. Who knows? Maybe the Mayans predicted that he’d stay healthy all year next season…Which would mean he will?…Or won’t? Hmm…
Todd Frazier – Double D is another third baseman that I’d consider gambling on and should be available for relatively cheap. Earlier in the year I said, “I actually like him quite a bit for next year. His BABIP might decrease, but his home run to fly ball rate could increase, resulting in a similar slugging. He should again have an OPS above .800.” To properly express my narcissism, I agree with myself. Yay for consistency! One reason I’m optimistic is because he somehow hit much better on the road than at home, despite playing in a hitter-friendly park, so there could be room for improvement at home next year. Though, his minor league numbers don’t hint at him having tremendous upside. For 2013, .260/.330/.470 looks like a reasonable baseline. Dude could hit 25 homers with decent counting stats… Although there’s one catch: Dusty Baker. I don’t know exactly what I mean by that, but I tend to worry about every non-Votto Reds player I own because of him. Maybe it’s just me. Thanks for letting me air my grievances. Happy Festivus Y’all!
