Fantasy Baseball Advice

This week we’re starting a new weekly column that will be here every Thursday afternoon, it will be all about 2012 fantasy baseball keepers. The column will then move to Friday in the offseason.  Since many fantasy baseball keeper leagues don’t decide on their keepers until the start of the new season, I figured I’d go over some fantasy baseball keepers from now until next spring.  These aren’t guys that are obviously keepers.  You won’t find Braun or Pujols here.  These are guys that you might’ve been able to grab in deep leagues and hold onto for next year on the cheap.  Who doesn’t love a bargain?!  My dead grandmother loved a bargain.  Her death and bargains were in no way related.  Filene’s Basement was completely acquitted in that case.  Though me and Grandpa we believe.  We believe…

Mike Stanton is gonna be a Hall of Famer in 25 years.  Me, you and the Mayans may not be around to see it, but if a tree falls in the forest does it not make a sound?  It does when Stanton bumps into said tree, picks it up and uses it as a toothpick.  I was too distracted by drugs, girls and hormones to fully appreciate Frank Thomas coming onto the scene back in 1991.  But let’s say I wasn’t, let’s also say I had a webblog back then when they didn’t exist and, finally, let’s say my web admin was Al Gore.  I would’ve wrote this, “Instead of Herman, you’re inside Frank Thomas’s head, here’s what you’d see.  A cobbler with crooked fingernails and stumpy legs writing on a chalkboard the equation for the perfect swing.  You’d also see hitting coach Charley Lau bitching out Yeardley Smith for her outright refusal in letting Frank Thomas eat a whole cow.  Finally, you’d see this Hank Azaria guy who might have a big future if I could just hear him and not see him.”  And that’s me fabricating me!  Stanton’s Frank Thomas without the stupid walks (no offense to real baseball) and it’s not like he can’t take a walk, but what he does is mollywhop with his pony sticks.  He could hit 40 homers with ten steals as early as next year.  The average may stay in the .260 to .280 range, but whatever.  Next year, he’ll only be 22 years old.  For keepers, that’s a slam dunk.  Whether it’s 2012 fantasy baseball, 2013 fantasy baseball or 1991 fantasy baseball.

This week we’re starting a new weekly column that will be here every Monday afternoon, it will be all about fantasy baseball keepers. The column will then move to Friday in the offseason.  Since many fantasy baseball keeper leagues don’t decide on their keepers until the start of the new season, I figured I’d go over some fantasy baseball keepers from now until next spring.  These aren’t guys that are obviously keepers.  You won’t find Hanley or Pujols here.  These are guys that you might’ve been able to grab in deep leagues and hold onto for next year on the cheap.  Who doesn’t love a bargain?!  My dead grandmother loved a bargain.  Her death and bargains were in no way related.  Filene’s Basement was completely acquitted in that case.  Though me and Grandpa we believe.  We believe…

Delmon Young was overdue for a post about him.  The language of his contract was a bit murky, but here’s the pertinent information, “…at no time prior to 2009 or during the 2010 baseball season will Delmon Young receive an entire post dedicated to him or a lead in a roundup or Buy/Sell, unless he actually does something.  Something to be determined solely by Grey Albright.  If Grey Albright relinquishes said responsibility, then the hundred monkeys that write these facacta posts shall decide in a winner-takes-all round robin Parcheesi tournament.”  See, I had to write about him; last thing we want is Delmon to get all litigious on our ass.

At 24-years-old, Young somehow feels stale.  Didn’t we hype him three years ago?  What took him so long?  When we want a breakout or a goose that lays a golden egg, we want it NOW!   Delmon was the number one selection in the 2003 Draft and the Cooperstown plaque was sent out for its carving.  Unfortunately, the only carving that happened was Young, who looked like a turkey.  And the carving knife was major league league pitching.  Young’s plate discipline is as bad as the guy who needs a crane to get out of bed.  He’s always swung at everything, but now he’s making better contact and not striking out as much.  His power will probably top off at 25 homers next year.  Half because of him and half because of Hubert H. Homerfree Retrodome.  The speed’s disappeared a bit this year, but he has 10 steal speed.  His average has never been an issue and Runs/RBIs should be there.  Don’t expect Delmon to go 40/15 next year and win an MVP.  He’s a keeper because I’m assuming you got him very cheap since he was barely drafted, if at all, this year.  He should be the real thing for a long time to come, assuming he doesn’t take a karate chop to an umpire’s carotid artery.

Clayton Kershaw has more Ks than innings.  Call me a K whore all you want, but that alone is enough for me to get excited about Kershaw in 2010.  Do I need to say more?  Probably not, but I will.  He’ll be 22 in March of 2010.  A 21-year-old who threw a season of a sub-3 ERA season in 170 innings.  How’s dem apples?  Delicious, right?  Yeah, they are.  For a long time I’ve been wavering between Kershaw and Max Scherzer.  Well, I’m ready to choose one now.  They’re both young.  (Though Kershaw’s almost four years younger.)  They both strike out hitters more than a batter per inning.  (Though Kershaw’s a bit better this year.)  One sounds like a Brit, one sounds like a Nazi.  In the morning, they both go to the local mall and walk with the seniors.  Wait, I’m misreading my notes.  They walk a lot of batters, not bitties.  Kershaw’s walk rate was actually worse than Scherzer.  So why am I choosing Kershaw?  The Dodgers limited his innings towards the end of the year and the Diamondbacks abused poor Scherzer.  In 2008, Scherzer threw 109 innings between the majors and minors.  In 2009, he threw 164.  That’s a pretty significant jump.  Now I’m not saying I’d keep Kershaw over a known hitter commodity, but I would consider keeping him for the 2010 fantasy baseball season.  Definitely over Scherzer.  Anyway, here’s some more fantasy baseball keepers for 2010:

Psyche!  Before we get into that, I wanted to point out a scheduling adjustment.  Fridays used to be our weekly Buy/Sell.  Well, that’s gone for the offseason and keepers will now be on Friday.  As they say in Jamaica — carry on (your head)!

Matt Wieters – .362/.425/.511 in September.  Just wanted to get the hype going early.  Carry on.

Rajai Davis – Sure, steals don’t have a face.  But, if they did, they’d look a lot like Rajai Davis.  Chances are if you own him, you have him on the very cheap.  A cheap guy that could get you 50 steals in 2010?  Where do I sign up?  (I can’t wait until someone finds us who Googles:  Where do I sign up? + cheap Nazi bitties)

What Jake Peavy, Johan Santana, Cole Hamels and Brandon Webb all have in common is obvious.  They all belong in the Pitchers Who Shouldn’t Speak At Next Year’s Fantasy Baseball Symposium For Fear Of Being Attacked category.  To a certain respect, Ricky Nolasco is right there with them.  He came out of the gate looking like a three-legged pony that wore a ribbon sponsored by Elmer’s Glue.  The reason why I point out Nolasco as a potential keeper is there’s a good chance someone dropped him in your league when he was sent to the minors, so you might have him for a free round pick or very cheap.  If that’s the case, giddy up, pony boy!  I like Nolasco’s potential for next year.  Through 147 innings, he has a 147/37 K/BB ratio, that’s outstanding.  Any time a pitcher is throwing a K an inning and keeping his walks in check, he’s worth considering for next year if you have him on the cheap.  He may just be my Wandy for next year, appearing on a majority of my teams.  Also, the reason I didn’t like him in the beginning of this year (high innings in 2008) is the reason why he’s now appealing in 2010 (low innings in 2009).  Anyway, here’s some more fantasy baseball keepers for 2010:

Joey Votto – He was dealing with some shizz earlier in the year that cost him over a month of the season.  So let’s say he had his average month of 5 homers during that month off, then he’d be blowing his 2008 season out of the water and taking that natural step forward many predicted.  For a player who will only be 26 next year, don’t be thrown off by the late season tailspin this year.  He’s still very capable of being a 30 homer, 10 steal, .300 average 1st baseman.  With upside from there.

Chris Davis – I’ll be perfectly honest.  I love when guys fail after they are hyped.  This allows their value to fall and people to begin to forget them.  I’m actually kind of excited to even see if Josh Hamilton falls far enough in 2010 fantasy baseball drafts for me to have a chance at drafting him.  The same goes for Davis.  Last preseason, I talked about how Davis was overrated and ended up with Mini Donkey on all of my teams as a replacement.  That worked out okay.  With the emphasis on the imaginary “very, very” before okay.  In 2010, it might just be Davis’s turn to strikeout 200 times and give decent production.  As a keeper (I’m assuming he was dropped and you have him for cheap), Davis is looking much better for next year.

Before I cover Adam Lind (with words, not a blanket), I want to clear something up about these Thursday keeper posts.  I like Lind, but between him and, say, Hanley, it’s no contest.  I’m talking about potentially marginal keepers here.  Not slam dunks.  I could see some people worrying that Lind may not be able to repeat his 2009 season.  Contraire, Robespierre.  Adam Lind took a while to get going in the majors, but he’s always had this pedigree.  In five seasons of the minors, he had a .380 OBP and a .318 average.  In his fist full season of the majors where he’s actually seemed to be comfortable, he’s headed for a 30/95/.300 season.  Next year, he’ll be 27 and should be able to take a slight step forward.  Think 35/110/.310.  Also, he’s been batting third a lot recently.  If he can get off to a hot start next year like he did this year, he could cement his place in the three hole for the better part of the season, which will help his counting stats.  Have You Lost Your Flippin’ Mind predictions for 2010:  100/35/120/.310.  No steals, which is a shame, and no great shakes on his eligibility, but those numbers aren’t far off from 2nd round-type numbers.  (BTW, you’re reading a fantasy baseball site that alludes to Linda Ronstadt.  Don’t you feel dirty?)  Anyway, here’s some more fantasy baseball keepers for 2010:

Aaron Hill – Do I smell a theme? No, that’s lunch.  I mean, the Blue Jays. Ah, yes.  They smell like rotisserie chicken. No, that really is lunch.  Hill will only be 28 at the start of the 2010 season.  As I’ve been saying just about the whole season, I don’t think the 30+ homers this year is a fluke.  At second base, you can do much worse.

Andrew McCutchen – The Dread Pirate has 15 homer power and 35 steal speed.  Shane Victorino just called and said he wants his stats back.