I almost called this post, “Aaron Hicks, Adam Eaton and those other guys.” Like a prude brothel would announce, therein lies the rub. Those other guys may not be as exciting right now, but there’s some great value this year for outfield. You can’t throw a puppy without hitting a 10 homer, 20 steal outfielder. There’s more than ten guys on this list (eleven), and I’d draft all of them, and have already in some leagues. It should work out well in (five outfielder league) drafts when you draft two outfielders before 100, then one between 100-175, then two somewhere in the next 150 picks. These are all the outfielders that being drafted after 200 overall. Now, this is a (legal-in-all-countries-except-Canada) supplement to the top 100 outfielders for 2013 fantasy baseball. Click on the player’s name where applicable to read more and see their 2013 projections. Anyway, here’s some outfielders to target for 2013 fantasy baseball:
Psyche! Before I get into this post, I just wanted to vent for a second. I never thought Veronica Mars could piss me off. Major conglomerates are now having fans pay for movies for them to profit off of?! Are you kidding me? What’s next? Target has people pay to stock round beach blankets (that’s my invention; see, you never have to move the blanket when the sun moves). Then once a million blankets are paid for, Target sells them back to their customers? Maybe Gordon Ramsay can get people to pay him to scream? Maybe cars can get people to pay for gas? Wait, that already happens. *breathe, Grey, breathe* Okay, I didn’t just stop the post to vent about someone paying $10,000 so they can say on camera, “Your check, sir.” Though they should’ve had them say, “Can I bend over so Warner Bros. can screw me in the–” Okay, I’m getting excited again. No, I wanted to break to say not all crowd-sourcing is bad. Shoot, check the comments. Kickstarter looks like it sold its soul, but there’s still some reputable small guys out there. How is this related to fantasy? Well, some of youse play for a prize pool, don’t you? Crowdtilt lets you collect fantasy league fees from your dead-beat buddies. I used it for my personal league, and reached out to them to see if they could give us a deal. They couldn’t, but they did offer a chance to win $100, which I thought was cool. To enter the drawing just use the promo code “Razzball2013” when you start your campaign. Anyway, here’s some outfielders to target for 2013 fantasy baseball:
Aaron Hicks – (Yahoo 1108; MDC 393) He would be the lede in this week’s Buy/Sell if there was such a thing before the season started. In this weird thing that we’ve abandoned all human contact for that we call fantasy baseball, people get super jazzed about players that are hitting well. Y’all realize that no real games have been played yet, right? Y’all realize Hicks wouldn’t be the first player to lead Spring Training in hitting and then flame-out once the season starts, right? Y’all realize that, right? Do I need to link to what Spring Training stats mean? Well, I did. If you’ve drafted Hicks already and someone is offering you some silly trade for him, trade him before he becomes what he is — a fifth fantasy outfielder. Here’s what I said the other day about him, “So far the two most exciting names this spring are playing for the Padres and the Twins. The classically-trained-in-being-lousy Mastroianni can’t get on the field due to a sore left hammy. Meanwhile back at the hidden valley ranch, Hicks is hitting everything he sees, and not in a Brett Myers type way. Our prospect writer, Scott, said of Hicks, “After a rough year in 2011 at High-A, Hicks moved up to Double-A in 2012 and looked like an entirely different player. The 23-year-old hit .286/.384/.460 with 13 homers, and 32 stolen bases at New Britain. Most think that a stint in Triple-A will serve Hicks well (to start 2013), but expect to see him in Minnesota at some point. BTW, am I the only one that has drawn a mustache on my Grey Poupon jar?” Hmm, didn’t remember that last line. Mastroianni should be a bench bat and Hicks should be given a whirl by the Twins. That’s not saying it will definitely happen. I’d put those chances at about 70%. It was less than a 5% chance about a month ago. Hicks has the speed to boost his BABIP, but he’ll need a BABIP north of .350 to hit for a respectable average. He does have some decent power, which will be made lighter by Hubert H. Homerfree Dome. If he gets the job/lead off spot, think 81/8/42/.257/25. For this year, he’s basically a poor man’s Angel Pagan. I will call him On-sale Pagan.” And that’s me quoting me! By the by by the by by by by– Sorry, record skip. By the by, I added Hicks into my top 400 for 2013 fantasy baseball.
Adam Eaton – (ESPN 264; MDC 220) If you click his name, you’ll see a post I wrote about him in November. Booya! Adam Eaton, Josh Rutledge, Manny Machado, Aroldis, Todd Frazier and Paul Goldschmidt. Search for each of their names on the top right and see what I’ve harped on. I love them all. I gotta get our silly image maker to do a Grey family tree. Madeline Albright is at top, then my parents are Giancarlo and Rutledge, then I got brothers and sisters in Eaton, Machado, Frazier and Goldschmidt. My love for them is growing, someone take out my inseam. (Side note: If you don’t know what I mean by having a silly image maker, like us on Facebook, that’s where most of the images have been going.)
Cameron Maybin – (Yahoo 223; ESPN 206) Technically, I have him below Yahoo and ESPN in my rankings. More technically, after the top 200, there’s a wide range between where someone is ranked vs. where they are drafted. “Where they are drafted” always wins that fight, too. Maybin isn’t someone I lurve, I don’t even really love him, but for where he’s being drafted he offers decent upside. Best case scenario, he’s a top 25 outfielder. Worst case scenario, you come home from buying your woman flowers and your front door keys don’t work and your kid is calling Maybin daddy. Worst worst case scenario, you have to watch the Padres play every day to see what Maybin is doing. Thank God for box scores!
Norichika Aoki – (ESPN 213) He’s only really low in ESPN. Hard to say why. I’m guessing Snafu Larry’s dart totally missed the board for Aoki and Cockcroft and Karabell threw wide, as well.
Lorenzo Cain – (ESPN 250; MDC 228) Member when I wrote that Cain sleeper post last year? We were younger then! You had more hair! I was just as handsome! Alas, times they be, uh, I forget the rest of the line but it’s something about changing. By this point, I have a pretty good sense of which guys I’m drafting on my teams (especially since about 75% of our teams have drafted already). I don’t think we’re gonna be owning Cain this year. I have had queued him up in some drafts only to see him taken right before I had a chance. Cain…Sugar! has his problems (staying healthy) but he could be great value (if he stays healthy).
Starling Marte – (Yahoo 253; ESPN 268) Unlike Cain…Sugar!, we are owning Marte this year. He’s been completely forgotten about. Wil Myers — ooh, he’s sexy! Carl Crawford — ooh, he’s gonna bounce back! Michael Morse — ew, he’s on the Mariners! But Marte is an afterthought. His afterthoughtness (Made Up Word of the Day!) reminds me of Machado. I’m perplexed by this — perplexed, I tell ya! Marte was good last year in his cup of Joe. Marte has 15 homer, 30 steal upside. That doesn’t excite you? Are you dead inside? Would you even know if you were? Sorry if that sent you on a philosophical journey of self.
Wil Myers – (Yahoo 263; ESPN 285; MDC 236) If you click his first name, you’ll find a post I did before the Royals traded their farm system for an aging pitcher who can’t pitch away from Tampa. If you click on his surname and know what a surname is and don’t think it’s a country in South America, you’ll see a post I did on Myers after the trade that shook the world like a Baptistina asteroid. The first post is regarding him on the Royals, but has better projections-slash-ETA in the majors. The 2nd post has more accurate team info. If I were to do a mash-up like Girl Talk, it would go like this: Wil’ll be up in June and be the number one prospect call-up, and when I look at you I throw up, from 3rd grade that was brought up. Tadow! 18 homers and a .280 average in three-quarters of a season is what I’m expectin’ like your woman I’m impregnatin’. Zapow!
Logan Morrison – (Yahoo 262; MDC 378) I’ll put Morrison in the tier of players, “Him and Brett Wallace, Seriously is Anyone Drafting Them?” We’ve drafted Wallace twice already and I bet he’s going to be one of those guys that people own in all leagues by May. (I already did a Brett Wallace sleeper post. I wrote it while checking the expiration date on milk cartons.) I’m less confident about Morrison due to his ongoing ‘kneehab.’ If he’s there late, I’d take a flyer. Though, he could be the first guy off your team in 12 team and shallower leagues. Assuming you don’t draft Ryan Dempster.
Brett Gardner – (Yahoo 205; MDC 213) Maybe it’s his pants pulled up with his use of stirrups. I don’t know, but I love Gardner. Maybe it’s because I hate paying for SAGNOF. If he flames out this year, this will be the last time I ask you to take a Gardner flyer. He’ll be too old next year to put it together and he’ll be a casualty of what could have been, but if you’re getting a potential 40+ steal, 8-homer guy as late as 250 overall, you’re getting great value.
Dexter Fowler – (Yahoo 226; MDC 226) There’s times I think MDC just takes Yahoo’s ADP and puts some funky colors on them. I don’t know; was just something I was thinking about. Rudy’s hesitation with Fowler is justified (though I don’t agree with lumping Adam Jones into that). Fowler does seem like he has the Bernie Williams disease of being fast but not good at stealing bases (not the Bernie Williams disease of playing Pearl Jam on guitar; Arroyo has that disease).
Leonys Martin – (Yahoo 259; ESPN 294; MDC 339) I was a bit surprised at how far down Leonys showed up in the top 25 fantasy baseball prospects. Straily seems destined for Quad-A territory, d’Arnaud isn’t bad, but is a catcher and Rondon might not make the club and is a reliever. These things are an ever-evolving blob of rankings, and I’m sure Scott would agree Rondon would be lower now that he doodie-bubbled Spring Training. Scott’s not wrong, per se. Just my opinion. Scott is actually closer to other ‘perts when it comes to Martin. He seems to be another afterthought. Guy Collecting Nickels For Every Time Someone Uses The Word Afterthought, “You owe me a bunch of nickels.”
