Once considered an elite prospect, Brett Wallace now has few lingering believers. The 2008 1st round pick has already been with four organizations, and is currently passing time in the Pacific Coast League at Oklahoma City, Triple-A affiliate of the Astros. Houston gave Wallace ample opportunity to prove his worth in 2011, but he effectively squandered the 350+ PA, posting a .259 AVG and a .110 ISO, which is pretty miserable coming from a 1B. During a brief stint in the bigs earlier this year, the 25-year-old was much improved, batting .333/.429/.583 in 42 PA. Granted, it’s a small sample, but it conjured memories of why we touted Wallace in the first place — outstanding plate coverage, lightning-quick hands, beautiful lefty stroke, advanced approach, power potential… the works, really, from a hitting perspective. Jeff Luhnow — Houston’s brilliant 1st-year GM, and the man who drafted Wallace in 2008 while handling player procurement for the Cardinals — recently acknowledged that the first baseman should resurface in the bigs before long, which is kind of an ambiguous timetable. Regardless, Wallace’s Triple-A production has been big of recent (.371/.476/.600 through last ten), and he could be useful in NL-Only and deep mixed formats should he return to Houston anytime soon.
Jean Segura | SS, Brewers – The Brewers earned a nice take in the Greinke swap with LA, most notably in shortstop prospect Jean Segura. Only half-a-season removed from A-ball, I’d be surprised if Milwaukee inserted him directly into their big league lineup. More likely, he takes over full-time next spring. If the Brewers choose to promote him sooner, however, his only immediate value will be on the basepaths.
John Hellweg | RHP, Brewers – Hellweg, a tall, power righty is another nice piece acquired for Greinke. I imagine he’ll require a bit more patience than Segura, though. He’s struggled with wildness throughout his career, and although he’s been better in that regard of recent, there’s still much development to take place. As a starter, his ceiling is that of #2 or #3. At worst, he’ll make for a nice high-leverage reliever.
Jacob Turner | RHP, Marlins – Miami acquired Turner in the Anibal Sanchez trade. He’ll get started with his new organization at the Triple-A level, but expect to see him back in the bigs later this year, and expect better contributions from the 21-year-old pitching in the spacious Marlins Park.
Taijuan Walker | RHP, Mariners – Walker has had an up-and-down year at Double-A, but he’s back on the upswing following his two most recent starts, during which he allowed only one run and seven hits while whiffing 11 through 12 IP. A strong finish to the year from the 19-year-old could place him at the top of many pitching prospect lists.
Trayce Thompson | OF, White Sox — He’s now collected 50 XBH (21 HR) in 449 PA at High-A. He’s also batting just .239 and he’s struck out 131 times. Seems he’s headed for Donkeytown if he can’t sort out that whiff situation.
Mike Olt | 3B, Rangers – Having homered four times in his last 49 PA, Olt is on yet another bomb binge. He’s up to 29 HR on the year, and the Rangers are reportedly doing their best to exclude him from trade negotiations as they seek starting pitching help.
Josh Vitters | 3B, Cubs – I’d pretty much written off Vitters after he failed to post an OPS north of .770 three straight years. 400+ PA into his first year at Triple-A, however, the 2007 1st rounder is batting .303/.355/.512 with 48 XBH (15 HR). He’s still unlikely to blossom into the stud the Cubs were hoping for when they drafted him 3rd overall, but I’m beginning to think he could make for a useful fantasy 3B in coming years.
Junior Lake | SS, Cubs – Cubs fans wondering why Javier Baez isn’t being promoted more aggressively can direct their attention toward Junior Lake. His last ten at Double-A: .354/.404/.646 with 3 HR and 12 RBI.
Javier Baez | SS, Cubs – Speaking of Baez, he homered again since I wrote of him in this Scouting the Unknown post from Wednesday.
Dan Straily | RHP, Athletics – He’ll take the bump tonight for Sacramento (Saturday night, that is… because, you know, I’m gonna drink, like, nine bourbons tonight, and a post-game recap will not be comprehensible). Straily’s following outing could very well be with Oakland. He’s also included in the Javier Baez Scouting the Unknown post, so click the above link for more info on him.
Wil Myers | OF, Royals – Myers is amid a pretty brutal stretch: .133/.170/.244 with 19 whiffs in his last 47 PA. The #FreeWil campaign has subsided considerably over the past few weeks, and it’s becoming increasingly likely that we won’t see him ’til 2013.
Any news on Cole, Hultzen or Lavarnaway??……My minors in my league……thanks!
@Curt, Cole’s struggled somewhat since promotion to AA. Leaving balls over meat of the plate, many hits allowed. After great start on 7/18, Hultzen’s command troubles returned for last two starts — 7 BB in last 9 IP. Nothing much new on Lavarnway. Red Sox are hoping someone’ll take him in a trade. If I were you, I’d be doing the same — don’t think he’ll cut it in the bigs defensively & highly doubt his bat will be a viable option at 1B in the fantasy game.
Straily had a decent outing. 6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 4 K, 0 BB.
One of the geniuses at Yahoo touted him as a “pickup of the week,” even though he’s not available yet in their universe. Which is just outstanding because now if he pitches well after being promoted, he’s going to go for a ton of FAAB, just like Harvey. Thanks, you yahoos!
@royce!, Ha! Yea I imagine there’ll be some big spending on Straily, which certainly blows for those of us who’ve been eying him for weeks now.
@royce!, not available in the ESPN universe either
12 team 10×10 roto 2 catcher league: Lucroy just came off the DL so I need to cut one of these three: JLucroy, WRosario, SPerez. I am inclined to cut Lucroy, any thoughts?
Thanks
@doghat666, It’s very close, but I agree with you. Cut Lucroy.
Dylan Bundy – does he make the club at the start of next season or is he 2 years away and any thoughts on him
@MrBaseball, He & Taijuan Walker are the top two pitching prospects in baseball by a good margin. We could maybe see him late next year, but no real chance at starting the season in Baltimore.
I can pick one OF for the duration, and cannot drop him. Reddick, Hunter, Snider, Revere, Markakis, Marte or Aoki?
@pubscout, Reddick.
Who do you like more for fantasy purchases if you can only hold one – Bauer or Turner now that his in Miami.
@Benny, Hold Bauer.
Would u trade freese and either wilhemsen or cook for Strasburg?
He wants 2 for 1
Is that too much for 6 starts left?
@Mike, I’d make that deal in a standard roto format. You never really know how often Freese will stay on the field too…
Does James McDonald have anything left?
Can get him for freese or Craig….not sure want to do that
Thoughts?
Thanks
@Mike, Would maybe consider doing that deal for Freese, definitely not for Craig. But I’d probably avoid it altogether.
Just offered Craig and cook for Strasburg?
Too much ? Or ok ?
Thanks
I kept freese instead of Craig
@Mike, I actually prefer Craig over Freese. Think Craig would be a beast if it weren’t for the playing time situation… and talent usually prevails in those cases. Craig should get his AB’s. Still think getting Stras is a good.
Murphy,rickie weeks ,or Espinosa ROS?
@Tom, Call me crazy, but I like Weeks going forward.
Right on cue: Brett Wallace has been called up.
@Eddy, Ha! It’s nice with things work out like that. Usually it’s me saying I like Trevor Bauer ROS three hours before he’s demoted. But I’ll be rooting for Wally. Could blossom into a Billy Butler type if things go well from here.
R weeks or Seager at 2b ?
@Tom, Weeks. Seager seems to have been figured out.
Traded freese and cook for Strasburg
Kept Craig instead of freese
U agree??
Thanks
@Mike, I agree & I like the move.
Good stuff Scott, seems to be at least one of my guys on here each week. I hated my farm system at the start of this year but with your help like the look of it now: N Castellanos, J Segura, D Straily, M Olt, D Hultzen, M Choice, J Vitters and N Franklin. And all that and im currently in 1st still.
Anyway onto important matters. Im still top in my 10 team keeper and looking to make a splash to consolidate my place in the standings, and more importantly my pitching staff. Question is can I trust Mat Latos enough to do this deal? Would be giving up Castellanos for Latos to a seller. My staff’s currently: Bum, NatGio, Cain, Adverb, Garza, Sheets, E-Jax, but could use some work particularly in the ERA front. Make the deal?
@TheNewGuy, Oh and it’s a contract style keeper to remind you, so Latos ($15 next year), wouldn’t be worth keeping.
@TheNewGuy, Sorry for delay on this: Really like Latos for 2nd half… working on acquiring him myself in a few leagues. Seems like a good deal for you.
HEY GUYS,
IT’S ME, Mike, AGAIN! JUST WANTED TO POST FOR A 5TH TIME ABOUT MY 2 FOR 1 TRADE FOR STRASBURG.
IN CASE ANYONE MISSED IT. SO GOOD DEAL?
@Mike, Good deal, Mike!
So I already traded Freese and Cook for Strasburg, (is that a good deal?) but in hindsight, should I have offered Infante and Broxton instead? HELP.
@Mike, Either combo is a steal in my eyes.
It’s me – MIKE – just saying hi. Hi.
Also, I tried to trade for Strasburg today, in case you cared.
@Mike, I do care!
Damn, so the guy in the Strasburg trade (see last 8 posts for more info) made a counter offer. He gets Freese and my Seinfeld seasons 3, 4 and 5 box sets, I get David Price and a $25 gift card to Build-A-Bear workshops.
Advice?
(By the way, this is Mike – thanks for the help guys!)
@Mike, Can’t part w/ seasons 3-5… that’s right around when Larry David & Jerry hit their groove w/ story arcs.
One last thing – I love pie. But not cake so much. And I counter offered with the complete series Felicity, a broken VCR and Fat Panda to get Grienke and 3rd row seats to the Miley Cyrus concert. I win this trade hands down right?
Thanks again,
Mike
@Mike, According to Wiki, Miley Cyrus is turning 20 later this year & she hasn’t really done much since that “party in the USA” song that’s been playing in my office for the past 4 years. Afraid her prospect status is slipping… Hold Felicity & fix the VCR.
Best Speculative grab in my 6×6 mixed redraft league?
Hultzen
Bauer
Skaggs
Thx
@El Burro, For this yera? Straily. But if I must pick from that bunch… Bauer.
Hey Scott -
Wanted to provide you with a quick update on my ever-developing 22-man, salary cap keeper ($123 million).
So, I made a pretty significant deal a couple of weeks ago.
I traded Goldschmidt, Ackley and Carl Crawford along with Hiroki Kuroda (I picked up Crawford and Kuroda as free agent pickups primarily because of their salaries).
I was handed Fielder, Singleton, Hanson and Prado.
I followed up that trade by picking up Jedd Gyorko, Chris Carter (A’s), and Jean Segura (possible 2013 shortstop in case HanRam doesn’t start 5 games at short) and dropped Chisenhall, Chris Archer, and Alexei Ramirez.
Additionally, I traded Prado for Jose Altuve (starting 2B in 2013 in case Gyorko isn’t starting at 2B for the Padres in 2013) while saving $6.5 million in salary.
So – as of right now, here is my complete roster: C – Myers, Mesoraco, Ramos; 1B – Fielder, Carter, VMart; 2B – Altuve, Segura; SS – HanRam, Profar, Billy Hamilton; 3B – Middlebrooks; LF – Josh Hamilton, Singleton; CF – Austin Jackson, Brett Jackson; RF – Ethier; SP – Sabathia, Wainwright, Scherzer, Hanson, Ian Kennedy, Cole, Taillon, Teheran, Skaggs. There is a starting OF and IF as a part of the everyday lineup.
If you were to chose 22 keepers from this list of guys, who would it be based on a $123 million salary cap with an eye on making sure that your roster was under the cap?
I am thinking that Ramos, VMart, Brett Jackson, Gyroko and Wainwright are guys that are not going to be on this team next year. This would give me a 2013 starting lineup of:
C – Mesoraco
1B – Fielder
2B – Altuve/Gyorko (if he qualifies at 2B for the Pads; if not he may be off of the roster)
SS – HanRam (if he qualifies)/Segura
3B – Middlebrooks
IF – Chris Carter (possible backup behind HanRam/Middlebrooks if HanRam is not SS eligible in 2013)
LF – Josh Hamilton
CF – Austin Jackson
RF – Ethier
OF – Myers (once he is OF eligible)
Bench – Singleton, Profar, Billy Hamilton
2013 Rotation – Sabathia, Scherzer, Kennedy, Hanson, Teheran/Skaggs (hopefully one or both are in a 2013 rotation due to minimum 30 IP a season), Cole/Taillon/Taijuan Walker (I will have the 1st pick in the draft next year).
Scott – I would be interested in your thoughts. Much appreciated.
@Barry, Extremely sound reasoning all around & good foresight to add depth with Segura & Altuve. Only thing I’d do differently — and It’s tough to gauge without knowing the salary situation — is keep Waino in the rotation. Otherwise, I like how you’re looking.
@Scott Evans, Hey Scott – the only reason why I would take Waino off next years’ team is because my squad will be over cap in 2014 (not 2013) and then I would have to take one of those guys off my 22 keepers which I would certainly be able to do if HanRam plays 5 games at short which provides me with the opportunity to not keep Segura since it is fully expected that Profar is going to be in the bigs come the 2014 season (one would hope). In essence, Segura would essentially be a bridge to Profar and maybe Billy Hamilton.
Also, my train of thought is that if I can re-draft Waino in the 2nd round of a 3-round draft then I could do that as well if HanRam does not get to 5 starts at shortstop.
One other thing, I am scheduling Josh Hamilton at $17 million in the first year of his next contract which I admit may be a tad low. I think, and I certainly could be wrong, that there is no way Josh Hamilton gets more than $20 million a year.
@Barry @Scott Evans,
In a nutshell – the salaries that I am tracking is Josh Hamilton, Waino, and Scherzer (he has a $8 million estimate in 2014).
Of note, all of these rookies salaries’ increase year-over-year, starting at $400,000 to as high as $1,000,000 or more (i.e. Taillon).
The other guy that I would consider dropping (and I would hate to drop him because he has been on my roster since last year) is Teheran. I don’t know what the deal is with Teheran outside of his pitching delivery flaw and his tendency to be a fly ball pitcher but if you look at his season, it is considerably underwhelming.
PLAYER TEAM POS 2013 EST.
CC Sabathia NYY SP $23,000,000
Prince Fielder DET 1B $23,000,000
Mariano Rivera NYY CL FA
Hanley Ramirez LAD 3B/SS$15,500,000
Josh Hamilton TEX LF/CF$17,000,000
Victor Martinez DET C $13,000,000
Andre Ethier LAD RF $13,500,000
Adam WainwrightSTL SP $12,000,000
Chris Carter OAK 1B $800,000
Jose Altuve HOU 2B $600,000
Max Scherzer DET SP $5,000,000
Jameson Taillon PITT SP $1,000,000
Wilson Ramos WAS C $800,000
Ian Kennedy AZ SP $800,000
Austin Jackson DET CF $800,000
Julio Teheran ATL SP $800,000
Tommy Hanson ATL SP $800,000
Brett Jackson CHC CF $600,000
Jean Segura MIL SS/2B$500,000
Wil Myers KC C $500,000
Devin Mesoraco CIN C $600,000
J. Singleton HOU LF $500,000
W. Middlebrooks BOS 3B $500,000
Tyler Skaggs AZ SP $500,000
Gerrit Cole PITT SP $500,000
Jedd Gyorko SD 3B/2B$500,000
Billy Hamilton CIN SS $500,000
Jurickson Profar TEX SS $500,000