Comments on: OPS Fantasy Leagues: These Pirates Arrrrr Worth Owning

By: Tom Jacks

Tom Jacks — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 16:31:01 +0000

@BlinkULDHC, In that format, I’d prefer Pena over any of the other guys you mentioned. He’s been worse than I expect him to be going forward. I’m sure his Ks and BA will continue to be horrendous, but I believe he will have a nice improvement in his slugging. I can’t see his slugging staying below .400 and it should benefit from an increase in his home run to fly ball rate. I think he’s more of a .205/.335/.410 guy the rest of the way.

By: Tom Jacks

Tom Jacks — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 16:14:39 +0000

@douglaz, Thanks, I appreciate it. And I agree, it adds another level to the game, which makes it more interesting.

I prefer Wright/Halladay. Wright and Fielder are pretty close, but I trust Halladay for the rest of the year more than Dickey.

By: BlinkULDHC

BlinkULDHC — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 09:07:49 +0000

I am in a deep, deep OPS-ish league, 12 teams, H2H.

We’ve got 2 catchers, all the infielders, MI, CI, 5 outfielders, 2 UTIL — 15 hitters in the starting lineup in all (so, 180 hitters starting in the league every day).

We also have 15 — yes, 15 — offensive categories (R, 2B, 3B, HR, RBI, SB, CS, K, TB, Fielding %, TB, BA, OBP, SLUG, Grand Slam)

My question: What do I do with Carlos Pena? The best FA hitters available are guys like Raul Ibanez, Kendrys Morales, Erick Aybar (remember, 180 starting hitters, you gotta figure the top 250 hitters are gone)

Pena is at .195/.324/.353 in 354 at-bats, with 55 runs, 12 doubles, 1 triple, 14 HRs, 41 RBI, 127 Ks, and a .995 FPCT.

The BA, Ks and SLUG are horrendous — but remember, this is a 15-category league. That means that fielding percentage is every bit as important as HR or BA, and Pena is a stud with FPCT (obviously, 1st basemen have tremendously added value with their high FPCT, high-total-of-chances). Pena offers decent run production and OBP as well…. how do you see him hitting the rest of the way

By: douglaz

douglaz — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 04:50:18 +0000

Love the OPS section of this site, you do a great job. Playing in a league with OPS makes it so much more fun, I play in a couple without it and there’s so much less strategy.

Anyway, quick question: which side would you prefer… Fielder/Dickey or Wright/Halladay?

By: Tom Jacks

Tom Jacks — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 19:19:49 +0000

@Splendid Sphincter, I think it all comes down to your chances of winning the league this year. If you’ve got a chance, I would definitely trade for Cargo. If you’re out of the running, I’d rather hang onto Heyward.

By: Splendid Sphincter

Splendid Sphincter — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 19:13:25 +0000

Would you deal Martin Prado and Jason Heyward for Carlos Gonzalez? Keeper 5×5 H2H and CarGo’s keeper elig. is expiring while Heyward was a 9th rd keeper (we keep in the slot they draft in, 3 keepers each).

By: Tom Jacks

Tom Jacks — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 18:48:42 +0000

@Chris, Thanks for reading. I agree that Hamilton is worrisome. He’s been well below where he should be in June and July. It’s really hard to project where he’ll be the rest of the way since he could change at any moment, but I would trade him for Cargo. I don’t believe Hamilton will approach a .900 OPS the rest of the way, but Cargo should.

I’d want slightly more than Fielder for him, but could see pulling the trigger if you’re really worried. For Encarnacion, that’s a high risk/reward deal. I’m not going to recommend doing that one, but that could be a good move if you feel like gambling. Good luck, with whatever you decide.

By: Tom Jacks

Tom Jacks — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 18:35:39 +0000

@Ben, I agree that he’ll be streaky, but overall I don’t think he’s much different than Reynolds. He will have an ugly OBP, but his slugging will allow him to retain decent value in OPS leagues.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 17:49:43 +0000

Thanks for the post.

I’ve done very well this year in my OPS league (largely thanks to drafting McCutch/Hamilton back to back in the 2nd/3rd), but I’m wondering if it’s time to start aggressively shopping Hamilton. He’s been brutal for this last month+ and says he is “lost at the plate mentally.”

Would you deal him for someone like Cargo, Fielder, or Encarnacion if you still could? What do you expect from him the rest of the way?

By: Ben

Ben — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 17:35:02 +0000

This is the second buy low on Pedro Alvarez article I’ve seen today. I know you experts really want him to be good, but it’s probably time to just accept that he’s not going to be. He’ll have stretches of good times, but they will be surrounded by stretches of very bad times. He’s Mark Reynolds with even worse plate discipline. It’s time to accept it.