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Big Magoo

Author: Big Magoo

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Big Magoo

Bear or Bull: Moose on the Loose

May 28, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell | 41 Comments

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Over the past few weeks, we’ve taken a closer look at veteran players such as David Ortiz, Matt Holliday, and Adrian Beltre to determine how much gas is left in their respective tanks and whether or not they’re still capable of being the same fantasy studs that we’ve come to know over the past several years. Players who, in terms of their MLB careers, are in the autumn of the year as the late, great Frank Sinatra might say. However, this column’s intent isn’t to focus solely on the old guard who would be ideal candidates to endorse a product such as this. Now that it’s just about two months (or almost one-third of the way) into the 2015 regular season, the sample size has become significant enough to be able to identify the players who have exhibited significant changes in skills or approach that could lead to sustainable changes in performance and production moving forward. That brings us to Mike Moustakas.

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Big Magoo

One Man’s Trash: The San Francisco Treats

May 26, 2015 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 54 Comments

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Greetings all and welcome to the post-Memorial Day, all-Giants edition of One Man’s Trash. If you took a fantasy vacation over the weekend in favor of the consumption of mass quantities of alcohol and charred animal flesh, well, good for you. That’s what the holidays are all about – gluttony. Oh, and family and stuff, if you’re into that kind of thing. In case you missed it, I’m here to inform you that Brandon Crawford (+35.3%) was the most added player in fantasy baseball this past week. While you’re feasting on leftover burgers and potato salad this afternoon, you might be surprised to learn that Crawford ranks 1st among all qualified MLB shortstops in RBIs (31), on-base percentage (.382), and slugging percentage (.514), is tied for 1st with 6 HR, and is in the top 4 in both runs scored (23 – 4th) and batting average (.301 – 3rd) at that position. He’s even chipped in 2 steals as well. His .345 BABIP (.296 career) and 15.8% HR/FB (6.7% career) suggest that his batting average and power numbers are likely to regress somewhat, but his K% is slightly down, LD% is slightly up, and his 38.8% hard hit percentage is 2nd among shortstops and 20th best in all of baseball. Also, the HR/FB ratio might not regress as much as you might think due to the fact that his 315.53 ft average fly ball distance is currently the 10th highest mark in MLB. He’s basically performed at the level that was expected of Robinson Cano coming into this season. While Crawford is unlikely to maintain his current blistering pace, everything points to this season being a career year for the 28-year-old. Enjoy the ride. Here were a couple of other big adds and drops in fantasy baseball from this past week:

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Big Magoo

Bear or Bull: For Whom the Beltre Tolls

May 21, 2015 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 50 Comments

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Congratulations are in order for Adrian Beltre. Last week, he became the newest member of the 400 home run club and only the 52nd player in MLB history to accomplish that impressive feat. Only three other active players – Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, and David Ortiz – are in that company. To put it into historical perspective, Beltre is one of only four players to spend at least 75 percent of his career at third base and reach that milestone. The other three players are Mike Schmidt, Eddie Mathews, and Chipper Jones. Two Hall of Famers and one soon-to-be HOFer. That’s some rarefied air. Or maybe that’s just the sausages and peppers that I had for dinner making a return visit. We’ll go with the former. Sorry to any of our girl readers who are (were) reading this. It was nice knowing you!

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Big Magoo

One Man’s Trash: Under Yunel’s Spell

May 19, 2015 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 90 Comments

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Yunel Escobar (+31.3%) was the most added player in fantasy baseball this past week. The 32-year-old middle infielder who hasn’t reached double digits in home runs since 2011 and has never stolen more than 6 bases in a single season. The same player who hasn’t produced a batting average above .258 since the 2011 season. Yup, that Yunel Escobar. So, what exactly is going on here? Is he a late bloomer? Early zombino? Well, through 35 games and 150 plate appearances, Escobar has launched 2 homers and is 0-for-1 in steal attempts. His BB-rate is down (6.7% in ’15; 8.9% career) and his K-rate is up (12.7% in ’15; 11.3% career). On the plus side, his 23 runs scored and .326 average are among the NL leaders. However, that average is being fueled by an unsustainably high .364 BABIP (.302 career), and while his current 21.7% LD% would represent a new career high, his 17.5% FB% would easily represent the lowest mark of his career and all but ensure another single digit HR campaign. Unless your league includes douchebaggery as a category, ride the hot streak then cut bait at the first sign of trouble. Here were a couple of other big adds and drops in fantasy baseball from this past week:

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Big Magoo

Bear or Bull: Full Speed Ahead for Avisail?

May 15, 2015 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 16 Comments

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Miggy Jr. Fantasy sleeper. Future stud. Prince Fielder look-alike. These are just some of the terms and phrases that have been used to describe Avisail Garcia over the past few years. Ok, maybe not the last one. I’m pretty sure that was just a poor attempt at making an excuse for certain indiscretions by Fielder’s ex-wife. But the other terms have been thrown around for awhile now. Last season was supposed to be his coming out party, but a left shoulder injury sustained in April kept him out for over four months and derailed those plans. Is this the year that the soon to be 24-year-old Garcia breaks out?

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Big Magoo

One Man’s Trash: Torii and the Sea

May 12, 2015 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 118 Comments

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Hide the women and children. It looks like there’s a zombino on the loose! Torii Hunter (+53.6%) was the most added player in fantasy baseball this past week. I can’t believe that he was even available in the first place. Torii’s a beast! Sorry comatose Twins fan, but Hunter isn’t the same 25/20 player that he was during his first stint in Minnesota. The soon-to-be 40-year-old version of Hunter has held up remarkably well throughout the years though. His .783 OPS with the Tigers over the last two seasons is identical to Evan Longoria’s and ahead of players like Albert Pujols, Kyle Seager, and Alex Gordon during that time frame. This season, with the exception of stolen bases (just 1 this season, and 7 total from 2013-14), his numbers across the board rival those of his prime days with the Twins a decade ago. Can he keep it up? Well, his 10.9% LD% is way down (18.2% career), while his 14.7% IFFB% (11.6% career) and 12.1% SwStr% (11.3% career) are up. It’s difficult to envision a player of Hunter’s age maintaining a productive pace throughout the season as well. Depending on him as a key contributor to your fantasy team is kind of like sticking a bandage on a stab wound and then just leaving it there without addressing the situation further. It might be ok in the short term, but your team is likely to bleed out eventually. Here were a couple of other big adds and drops in fantasy baseball from this past week:

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Big Magoo

Bear or Bull: Has Big Papi Become an Old Jalopy?

May 7, 2015 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 31 Comments

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David Ortiz has been a dominant offensive force since joining the Red Sox in 2003. During the time period from ’03 to present day, he’s one of only three MLB players to hit at least 400 home runs (Albert Pujols and Adam Dunn are the others); one of three players to knock in at least 1300 runs (Miguel Cabrera and Pujols); he’s 11 walks shy of 1000 which would make him just the 2nd player to reach that mark (Dunn); he’s also produced the 6th highest OPS as well as the 2nd highest ISO (behind only Barry Bonds) during this span. Basically, Big Papi has been an extremely patient hitter with massive power who’s been really good for a really long time. He certainly hasn’t been sloppy like this Poppie. But no player can elude Father Time forever. Except for Julio Franco. I think he was around 60 when he retired. However, most players begin to see their production drop off by their mid-30s at the latest. While Ortiz still appears to be going strong, how much gas does he have left in the tank in his age 39 season?

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Big Magoo

One Man’s Trash: Chronic Rosterbators Grab Some Reddick

May 5, 2015 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 46 Comments

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As you might have already figured out from the title of this post, Josh Reddick (+76.1%) was the most added player in fantasy baseball this past week. What else could you have possibly guessed? Wait, let me stop you at leather chaps and Rammstein. To each his own. But getting back to JOSH Reddick, it’s not difficult to figure out why his recent ownership numbers have surged. Over the last two weeks, he’s produced a 10/3/15/0/.463 batting line across 48 plate appearances, leading MLB in both on-base percentage (.542) and slugging percentage (.805) during that time period. Consider his early plate discipline numbers (8/5 BB/K), high LD% (29.7%), and low SwStr% (4.9%), and Reddick looks like he’s locked in. Enjoy the ride while it lasts, and based on these early results, it could last for a while. Here are a couple of other big adds and drops in fantasy baseball this week:

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Big Magoo

Bear or Bull: Happy Hollidays

April 30, 2015 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 53 Comments

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Over the past few weeks, we’ve looked at three of the most exciting young players that Major League Baseball has to offer: Kris Bryant, Starlin Castro, and Chris Archer. This week, we’re gonna switch gears and take a look at 35-year-old veteran Matt Holliday. It’s kind of like going car shopping and checking out the flashy, new sports cars in the front of the dealership on the way to the used pick-up truck lot in the back. But remember when Holliday was that gorgeous new Ferrari in the front window?

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Big Magoo

One Man’s Trash: Addicted to Addison

April 28, 2015 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 73 Comments

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Everyone loves rookie nookie. Male upperclassmen scout the incoming class of freshmen girls like a hungry pride of lions stalking an oblivious herd of wildebeest and then pounce when the first opportunity presents itself. Fantasy baseball owners are the same way. They’re predators who stalk their prospect prey until call-ups are announced, and then the feeding frenzy on the waiver wire begins. This week’s prized target is Addison Russell (+66.4%), the new jewel of the Chicago Cubs minor league system ever since Kris Bryant was promoted just a couple of weeks ago. Due to the recent injury to Tommy La Stella and the early struggles of Arismendy Alcantara, Russell got the big league call and many a race to the waiver wire ensued. After all, young middle infielders with power and speed who possess ceilings as high and beautiful as the Sistine Chapel don’t come along every day. Those in redraft formats might want to take a cold shower though. Entering yesterday’s play (22 PA), Russell was sporting a .136/.136/.227 triple slash and had yet to draw a walk except for a dozen back to the dugout (54.5% K%) thus far. His plate discipline numbers make this approach look effective. Small sample size to be sure, but Steamer isn’t terribly optimistic as far as his ROS projections go: 35/9/38/10/.235 in 362 PA. Hang onto Russell for the upside if you have him, but don’t expect a fantasy superstar this season. Those who own him in dynasty leagues can party like it’s 1999. Or roughly 2025. You know what I mean. Here are a couple of this week’s other big adds and drops in fantasy baseball:

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Big Magoo

Bear or Bull: Is Archer’s Aim True?

April 23, 2015 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 61 Comments

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Haven’t we been down this road before? A young, power pitcher looks poised for a breakout season only to produce inconsistent and/or mediocre results when it’s all said and done? In fact, that could easily be an accurate description of Chris Archer‘s 2014 season. Much like his blazing hot start to the 2015 season, he sprinted out of the blocks in his first two starts of last season and looked to be destined for superstardom. It didn’t quite work out that way. While his ’14 numbers were very respectable (10 wins, 3.33 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 173 SO), Archer failed to finish among the top 30 MLB starting pitchers in any of those key fantasy categories. There’s no question that a low-end #4 SP has it’s uses in fantasy, but as the old saying goes, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” Or something like that. Is Archer ready to make the leap into ace territory? Or is he likely to produce similar results to years past?

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Big Magoo

One Man’s Trash: In Ottavino Veritas

April 21, 2015 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 108 Comments

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The closer carousel continues to spin round and round. In the season’s first week, Joaquin Benoit’s ride ended abruptly in the fallout of the Craig Kimbrel trade and Jason Grilli climbed aboard to take his place. This week, thanks to the early season struggles of 42 year old former closer LaTroy Hawkins, Adam Ottavino (+83.9%) became the new 9th inning reliever for the Rockies and was the most added player in fantasy baseball. A Rockies reliever? Awesome! Why don’t I just pick up Kelly Gregg and put my ratios out of their misery? That’s your Coors Field park factor voice playing devil’s advocate. When you consider Ottavino’s abilities to keep the ball on the ground (62.5% GB% this season in 6.1 IP – small sample size alert!; 45.6% career), rack up the strikeouts (54.6% K% this season; 25.7% in 2014), and limit his walks allowed (4.6% BB% this year; 5.9% in 2014), the Coors concern is somewhat alleviated. He also appears to have ditched his ineffective change-up in favor of a cutter to keep left-handed hitters honest and improve his split issues against that side. Factor it all in and he looks like a potential top 10 closer this year and an early treasure for fantasy owners. “In Ottavino, there is truth…” Here are a couple of this week’s other big adds and drops in fantasy baseball:

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