I’ll give you a little insight into my writing these posts. I write the majority of them in October and November. Baseball’s slow then and it gives me time to backlog. I tell you this because I want to be clear that when I wrote this post Alex Presley was a sleeper with everyday playing time coming his way in five months. Whether that holds true through the offseason and Spring Training, me no psychic. Me no grammar smartie either. Any the hoo! Last year Presley was the top earning dead celebrity…*checking notes* That’s all wrong! Presley had 4 homers and 9 steals with a .298 average. Yay, maybe he can get a float in Pittsburgh’s St. Patrick’s Day parade with fellow Pittsburgh celebrities Porky Chedwick and Dan Cortese. Wait, before we call Porky and Dan, Presley’s stats were only in 215 ABs. Hmm, maybe he can get his own float. Prior to his call-up, Presley had a solid half-season in Triple-A too — 8 homers, 22 steals in only 342 ABs. Now I see why I was writing a sleeper post about this doode. Grey does it again! That’s the title of the first single off my album, “Touch of Grey (Don’t Sue Me, Jerry Garcia’s Estate).” So what can we expect of Alex Presley for 2012 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?
I have this feeling in my loins that he’s going to be a cheap Victorino. (You ever notice how much I compare players to Victorino? Will stink when comparing players to Victorino will actually be a negative, which could happen as early as next year the way his career is going. Wait, why am I talking so much about Victorino? Victorino and I should get a room!) Presley’s light power didn’t just appear last year. In 2010, he had 12 homers split between Double- and Triple-A. His speed looks like it’ll max out at 22 steals, but there’s always hope for more. Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies. The one major drawback is his lack of taking a walk. Okay, there’s two drawbacks. Playing time is key. He needs to get it. That’s why I opened this post with saying he was slotted to start when I wrote this. If he gets 500 ABs, a line of 80/10/60/.270/20 isn’t out of the question with upside for more. That’s a great deep league guy to draft very late or on the cheap. If he’s platooning with some schmohawks, then he’s waiver wire fodder in most mixed leagues.
