Are you all like me? Do you spend hours and hours contemplating how to maximize the value out of that last roster spot currently occupied by a fringe player you aren’t sure about? It’s crazy, we spend all this time leading up to the draft analyzing everyone, then, for me at least, once the season begins, it’s all about contemplating guys on waivers in bottom 20% ownership range. I know that if I can figure who, among these guys will climb up the ladder in value/ownership, he can either make my team’s season, allow me deal him to someone else in the league for an underperforming proven commodity, or potentially for an elite player as part of a package deal with a medium-value player. Thus, really understanding the bottom 20% of available players can actually allow you to drastically improve your roster if you know to leverage it.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Hey deep leaguers! Last week I went through why Odubel Hererra ain’t worth your time. In the comments, people asked for me to take a look at Wilmer Flores, which as a Mets fan, I consider a tasty treat of an assignment. I feel like I ought to have some sort of a disclaimer, like stock analysts that hold the stock their writing about; I own Flores in a couple of leagues, and as a Mets fan, I can’t help but hope he does well, so just in case you think I’m a biased SOB, you’re probably right! Then again, I don’t know Wilmer personally, so there is no reason to root for him versus any other Mets player. And if I thought he sucked, I’d be clamoring harder than anyone for the Mets to trade him while they can. Then again, you’re reading Razzball on a Friday afternoon, so I figure a contributor’s potential bias might not be high on your list of worries. Aaaah, I should really stop writing about bias and get on with the analysis already…
Please, blog, may I have some more?Recently, I’ve been struggling with middle infielder availability on my own team. I was left between, Odubel Herrera off waivers or Brad Miller, so what did I decide to do? Trade Matt Harvey for Troy Tulowitzki – that’s right, I’m about as high on either of these guys as John Stewart is on – well, height. For this post, I’m going to get into why exactly Herrera doesn’t do it for me; we’ll get to Miller another day.
If you’ve read either of my previous columns, you’ll know that I’m not your typical fantasy writer – if you want to base your roster decisions on statistical indicators, this isn’t the place for you. I like to roll up my sleeves and dig into how guys play; if you’re also enamored with the art of the game, welcome home friend. As a reminder, when analyzing hitting approaches, I break the swing into three universal components: stance, trigger, and swing path. I provided a detailed explanation of each component at the bottom of the article in case you aren’t familiar.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Preston Tucker is up and the no longer LAstros have shown the confidence to not only start him, but bat him third a few times already this year, so I decided to break down this guy and see if he can keep sticking himself in that luscious three hole. When looking at Tucker’s mechanics, I noticed something that relates to a perennial fantasy enigma, so if you stick around, you’ll get more than you bargained for in this post…
Please, blog, may I have some more?Every so often, we get reminded that players sometimes just need minor mechanical or mental adjustments to finally unlock their potential. As we all know, Chris Colabello profiles as the classic quad-a player, lacking statistical precedent to sustain success in the bigs. I saw his insane average over 50 ABs and wondered if he changed anything from his approach from when he was with the Twins to warrant further review. Last year, Steve Pearce proved that a breakout (temporary as it might have been) is possible for players their 30s and I need not remind anyone of how bad Encarnación and Joey Bats were to start their careers.
Please, blog, may I have some more?