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Devon Travis, 2017 Fantasy Sleeper

December 20, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers | 72 Comments

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Sure, you can consider Devon Travis injury prone.  You can also consider Rob Kardashian the hot Kardashian.  This is no sweat off me.  Labeling any player under 27 years old injury prone is a mistake, which is different than Ruth Chris, she’s Ms. Steak.  I’ve been guilty of labeling players injury prone in the past.  For years, I called Ian Kinsler injury prone because up until the age of 26 he missed around forty games a year for three straight seasons.  Now, Kinsler has three straight seasons of 150+ games and in five of the past six seasons.  I did the same thing to Nelson Cruz.  In his first few seasons, he averaged about 108 games a season.  He now has three straight years of 152+ games.  I also think Nelson Cruz was only injury prone when he was Nelson Cruz Jr.  No idea if the weight of his pops’ shadow played into this.  Not all players are injury prone across their entire careers like Glass Chipper.  Devon Travis had one major injury in 2015, a shoulder injury.  He returned from that injury and hit for power and average (11 HRs, .300 in 101 games).  He’s had the usual nicks and bruises here and there, he’s even dealing with a knee thing right now which should be fine by February, but one injury does not make an injury-prone player.  I guess you can consider him injury prone, but if you believe his shoulder is all good to go now, there’s no injury, there’s just prone, and I’m prone to like that.   There’s no reason to think Travis won’t play 150+ games this year.  In 163 major league games across two seasons, Devon Travis has a stat line of 92/19/85/.301/7.   Now, we’re talking my language.  So, what can we expect from Devon Travis for 2017 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Charlie Tilson, 2017 Fantasy Sleeper

December 19, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers | 81 Comments

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Technically, Charlie Tilson could’ve been listed in my fantasy baseball rookie series, and Tom Murphy could’ve been listed in the fantasy baseball sleeper series, and Jason Heyward could’ve been listed in the “I will never draft him again” series if there was a “I’m never going to draft him again” series, but here we are.  When I first heard of Charlie Tilson, I thought it was a mispronounced dinner reservation for the former Dallas actress.  “Is there a Charlie Tilson here?  Your table is ready.”  “It’s Charlene Tilton.”  “And this is P.F. Chang’s, so you’ll have to excuse me if I don’t care.”  Damn, P.F. Chang’s needs to watch their customer service!  By the by, P.F. Chang’s might be the only restaurant where I look more forward to the free sauce they mix at the table than their actual food you pay for.  Me going there is like someone going to Burger King for their ketchup.  Okay, Charlie Tilson, or as you like to call him, “Who the fudge is Charlie Tilson?”  He’s the guy that stole 46 bases in Double-A in 2015 and was traded to the White Sox for Zach Duke.  He’s also penciled in as the White Sox starting center fielder.  Oh, and if you haven’t heard, the White Sox have already punted 2017.  So, what can we expect from Charlie Tilson for 2017 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Jake Lamb, 2017 Fantasy Sleeper

December 16, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers | 101 Comments

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Any reasonable man (which, technically, I am not, alas…) would tell you Jake Lamb is not a 2017 sleeper.  Last year, he had a line of 81/29/91/.249/6.  That alone should mean he isn’t a sleeper.  On our Player Rater, he was a top 15 3rd baseman last year.  I’ve seen him drafted after 200 overall already, so some have forgotten about him.  I’m not pointing any fingers, which is difficult because I’m wearing a giant, pointing Hulk Hogan foam finger.  Perhaps Lamb was too closely associated with Passover and, hence, ignored.  I think this is religious mores or less inaccurate.  If you think it has something to do with Lamb’s 2nd half, you’re getting shawarmer.  But his 1st half had us screaming, “Shanks, Lamb!  You’re my gyro!”   When the summer hit, Lamb was baaaahd in August and September, but wasn’t he mint in the sprig?  So mint, he was making others jelly.  All right, I’m gonna eat lunch and come back for the 2nd paragraph.  So, what can we expect from Jake Lamb for 2017 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Leonys Martin, 2017 Fantasy Sleeper

December 13, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers | 143 Comments

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Josh Rutledge steps forward.  A hush falls over the crowd.  Delino DeShields stops obnoxiously sucking on his soda straw when he realizes the crowd has silenced.  Rutledge continues, “At one time or another, we’ve all been sleepers.  Some of us never reached our potential.  Others have, but are still forgotten.”  Rutledge taps his chest with his fist and motions towards Brad Miller.  “While most of us have seen our best days pass us by without making good on being sleepers, one of us still has one year left to be a post-post-post-post-post-post-post-post-post-post-post-hype sleeper.”  One man stands from the crowd, but Rutledge quickly gets annoyed, “Not you, Brett Lawrie.”  Lawrie shrugs and sits back down.  “No, I’m talking about you.”  Rutledge points into the crowd, realizing he’s not pointing at the right person, he asks, “Adam Eaton, could you move right or left?”  Finally, we see Rutledge is pointing at Leonys Martin.  He’s surprised to be singled out.  Martin tentatively stands, “Me?”  The preceding took place in The Tomb of the Forgotten Sleeper.  We’ve been here before with Martin, and this, I promise, will be our last time.  A’la Q-Tip, “All you bad sleepers, you must go…”  So, what can we expect from Leonys Martin for 2017 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Maikel Franco, 2017 Fantasy Sleeper

December 12, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers | 104 Comments

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Well, you knew this one was coming.  If you heard me once expound on the greatness of Maikel Franco, you’ve heard me expound on his greatness dozens of times and I have to say, I need to expound on how much I love this Word of the Day calendar.  It’s expounding my vocabulary!  I used it wrong there, didn’t I?  Let’s backtrack to the most basic common knowledge we have about baseball players.  They all spit.  Okay, Random Italicized Voice, let’s fast forward a bit.  Hitters sleep with a wOBA?  Now you’ve lost me.  Good, stop following me, you creeper!  Players usually take a few years to get comfortable.  Guys don’t usually peak their first full years.  Last year, Maikel Franco had a line of 67/25/88/.255/1 as a 23-year-old in his first full season.  Okay, so there were so many homers last year that David Eckstein would’ve hit 30 homers if he was still playing.  Fair enough, but you can’t possibly think Franco was a disappointment with 25 homers in his first full season.  On our Player Rater, Maikel Franco was ranked 154th overall.  Better than Marcell Ozuna, Dexter Fowler, Matt Carpenter, Craig Kimbrel and Joc Pederson.  Sure, bit apples and oranges, but orange you glad I told you?  Okay, for that, I’m going into the pun penalty box for three minutes.  *sits in penalty box, smiles showing missing front tooth*  Okay, I’m back!  So, what can we expect from Maikel Franco for 2017 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Keon Broxton, 2017 Fantasy Sleeper

December 9, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers | 114 Comments

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I’ve mentioned this before and might again if I do a Domingo Santana sleeper post, which I’m toying with and don’t end a sentence with with — dah!  The Brewers might be the first team in history that would have a lesser than 40% chance of scoring one run with the bases loaded and no outs due to their crazy strikeouts.  Everyone on the team Ks at an obscene rate.  It’s like their hitting coach is Rob Deer.  “Guys, you have to wait for your pitch.”  *ball bounces in dirt, three feet in front of Keon Broxton*  “Why didn’t you swing at that?  I said wait for the pitch, as in swing at every pitch when it gets to the plate — ball or strike!”  That’s Rob Deer, hitting coach.  If nothing else, it’s worth noting the team’s strikeouts for pitching streamers going against them when we get there.  The 2016 Brewers had the worst strikeout rate since 1902 with 25.5%.  The top 30 are all in the last ten years, so there’s definitely been a change in the game, but there ya go.  Keon Broxton might be the worst offender of swinging and missing on a team that is historically terrible (yes, at some point this is going to turn positive for Keon).  Losing Chris Carter’s 32% K-rate will help, but Keon Broxton’s K-rate was 36.1%.  “Terrific!  I love that aggressive approach!”  That’s Rob Deer again.  Broxton’s percentage of contact with balls outside the strike zone is 39.4%.  That’s historically bad.  Last year, the worst mark for qualified hitters was, once again, Chris Carter at 42.2%.  Of course, logic tells us if you’re not swinging at many pitches outside the strike zone, then it doesn’t matter.  Here, Broxton actually excels.  He swings at pitches outside the zone only 22.1% of the time, about the same as Matt Carpenter, Trout and Goldy.  There’s hope!  Finally!  “I’d like to see him swing more at pitcher pitches.”  Shut up, Rob Deer!  Then there’s the fact that he only makes contact with pitches inside the strike zone at a 76% rate, which would be the 2nd worst in the majors, tied with, you guessed it, Chris Carter.  Sigh.  So, what can we expect from Keon Broxton for 2017 fantasy baseball and what makes a sleeper?

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

What’s Eaton Giolito Grape?

December 8, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 138 Comments

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The White Sox traded Adam Eaton for Reynaldo Lopez, Dane Dunning and top pitching prospect, Lucas Giolito; the second day in a row top prospects are headed to the White Sox.  It doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibilities that Theo Epstein is studying abroad this winter and abroad is the South Side of Chicago.  “Excuse me, but, uh, why do you have this electrodes hooked up to my brain?”  That’s Theo Epstein as Rick Hahn dips out of the interrogation room to get coffee.  If I were a fan of a club that had no chance of winning next year, I’d want my team to go about rebuilding like the White Sox.  “What, you don’t like our signing of Ian Desmond?”  I’ll get to you in a second, Rockies.  The White Sox have taken a bunch of lemons, planted lemon seeds next to a sugar plantation that they purchased off eBay and should have lemonade in a few years.  They might even trade that old guy from the Country Time Lemonade commercial for another prospect!  As for fantasy, Adam Eaton went 14/14 and 14/18 the last two years, which is deceptively awful.  It’s one thing to go 14/14, it’s another thing to go 14/14 in 619 ABs.  He’s like Markakis as a middle infielder.  If you own Eaton in any fantasy league shallower than 14-team mixed, you should lose your league.  The problem with a guy like Eaton in a shallower league is anyone who is even half paying attention should be able to beat his stats with just a few decent waiver wire grabs.  You can likely beat Eaton’s numbers by just streaming hitters every day, and never even holding any guy who gets hot.  Eaton’s stats come out to one homer and one steal every two weeks.  Holy Jewish Jesus, that’s bad.  Sure, there’s some value to his 90+ runs and .280+ average, but if you can’t get runs and average that matches that from streaming, again, you deserve to lose.  For 2017, I’ll give Eaton the projections 102/12/49/.277/16 in 605 ABs.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw this offseason for 2017 fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Sawx Sack Sexy ‘Spects For Sale

December 7, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 209 Comments

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Red Sox made a huge splash yesterday trading away Yoan Moncada, Luis Alexander Basabe, Victor Diaz and Michael Kopech for Chris Sale.  Red Sox must be appealing to Bernie Sanders with their rotation: two lefties named Sale and Price.  Dave Dombrowski sure does love to trade away his top prospects.  Dombrowski buys 10 copies of Baseball Prospectus every year, crosses out the ‘u,’ and barters them for two cartridges of Nintendo Baseball Stars.  Dombrowski used to have four young kids, until he traded them to a Mormon family for an honors student three months from graduating high school.  Dombrowski dreams of finding the Fountain of Youth so he can trade it for a veteran fountain.  I’m not going to compare Sale to Price even if the Jew in me wants to talk wholesale.  Price had concerning stats going into last year and is older.  Of course, some of Price’s concerning stats were a lower K-rate and a falling velocity on his fastball, which are two warning signs with Sale too.  Okay, maybe I will compare the two.  Sale’s fastball velocity went from 94.5 MPH to 92.8 MPH, while relying on it 7% more of the time.  You’re a big-time Razzball noob — Razzboob? — if you think I’m going to suggest you draft an ace, and Sale is no different.  I’m not about to say he’s going to fall off, but declining velocity, K-rate and rising xFIP is not an ace I’d be excited about.  For 2017, I’ll give him the projections of 18-8/3.31/1.08/244 in 225 IP.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw this offseason for 2017 fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Giants Spread Some Dough For MarMel Aid

December 6, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 204 Comments

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The Winter Meetings concluded day two yesterday at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center.  Seen at the Gaylord so far was the best free agent starter (Rich Hill) signing, one of the best closers available (Mark Melancon) signing, and Curt Schilling protesting that the Gaylord Resort should not be allowed to marry.  “Is it going to start calling a lobby ‘Bobby’ and adopt a baby too?”  That’s Curt Schilling with his own special brand of crazy. With Giants’ signing of Mark Melancon, I’m saddened to remember all the good times I had over the past few years with the Giants’ bullpen.  Here’s those times condensed into a single run-on sentence, “I can’t believe I drafted Santiago Casilla, ugh, maybe I’ll back him up with Sergio Romo, oh man, that hurts just as bad, fine, I will grab Hunter Strickland, and he’s killing me too.”  Scene.  Yeah, those times, in theory at least, are behind those owning the Giants’ new closer, Melancon.  For 2017, I’ll give Melancon the projections of 4-1/2.26/0.97/58, 42 saves in 62 IP.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw this offseason for 2017 fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Max Kepler, 2017 Fantasy Sleeper

December 5, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers | 108 Comments

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In an industry, ‘pert 12-team mock draft that I recently participated in, I grabbed Max Kepler with the 194th overall pick, and, quite honestly, I could’ve likely took him in the final round, or just grabbed him off waivers if there were waivers in a mock draft, which there’s not.  No one cares about the Twins.  I’d say Twins lives matter, but I’m not trying to incite riots.  One quick point on that, when someone says “Save the whales” they’re not saying, “I hope a dolphin gets caught in a tuna net and is fed to a group of Japanese tourists as they watch The Cove.”  It’s save the whales, not save the whales and eff all other fish.  Here’s my 2017 mock draft team, if anyone’s interested.  I’d put little to no weight on my draft.  I had zero prep and was asked about an hour prior to participate.  Last year in 113 games and 396 ABs, Kepler went 52/17/63/.235/6.  Obviously, the average is puke-green trying to play itself as Fern Green, Army Green or Avocado.  You’re puke-green, and you’re caught.  The rest is not bad at all.  Mr. Prorater, the assessor of missed time, would put his line at 67/21/79/.240/8.  Though, we must remember, when one assesses, they make an ass out of esses, and that’ll get you killed in some hoods.  So, what can we expect from Max Kepler for 2017 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Byron Buxton, 2017 Fantasy Sleeper

December 2, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers | 153 Comments

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Just as I went around the league and highlighted 2017 fantasy baseball rookies, I will now do the same with 2017 fantasy baseball sleepers.  These sleepers are gonna be so butter margarine gonna be like, “Yo, you got me, I’m not real.”  These sleepers are gonna be so terrific they’re gonna call up the West Virginian woman, Terri Fic, and tell her to change her name.  These sleepers are gonna be so illuminating they’re gonna explain WHAT THE HELL IS THE HARMON FAMILY HIDING?!  Seriously:  what is Pam Dawber, her husband Mark Harmon and their kids, Sean Harmon and Ty Harmon hiding with all of these blocked accounts?  If they are living in a log cabin somewhere in the mountains, I say send in the U.S. Marshals!  We want answers, Mark Harmon and Co.!  Does NCIS stand for Notably Cloaked In Secrecy?  I want to know!  So, our first sleeper is Byron Buxton.  Hayzeus Cristo!  I just wrote Buxton’s name and ran into the bathroom while screaming, “Give me five minutes of peace and quiet I need to explore myself!”  No, there is no particular order with these sleepers, but I am kinda goofy crazy for Buxton.  Last year, he disappointed with 10 HRs, 10 SBs and a .225 average.  Luckily, this isn’t last year, fantasy baseball fans and fans of Mark Harmon conspiracy theories who found us in Google.  So, what can we expect from Byron Buxton for 2017 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Jose De Leon, 2017 Fantasy Outlook

December 1, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Rookies | 74 Comments

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I think this is going to be my last rookie outlook post.  If someone pops up sometime in the preseason, maybe I’ll return, but I need to move onto sleepers, and Winter Meetings updates.  Here’s what I said when Jose De Leon first came up, “There’s gonna be a lot of haters out there about Jose De Leon.  It’s the times we live in.  His great-great-great-great grandfather was the original body-shamer.  Ponce De Leon set out about five hundred and fifty years ago looking for the Fountain of Youth because, his words, “My old bitty needs to go bye-bye if she continues to sag in the FUPA area.”  He was also the originator of the common 1500s phrase, “Ponce upon a time you looked good, girl.”  A phrase that has rightfully disappeared from common speech before any more women were hurt by vernacular manslaughter, so to speak.  As for Jose De Leon, he’s got the youth thing for days, but he’s not quite as young as Julio Urias, which I’m gonna say is a good thing in this case, because Urias is so raw he may as well be carrying botulism.  De Leon, 23 years old, is destroying Triple-A on the current — 13.8 K/9, 3.06 ERA — which is more or less same-same what he’s been doing for the last two years.  Even more importantly, the Dodgers have an immediate need with their rotation a M.A.S.H. unit, a Jamie-Farr-kin joke.”  And that’s me quoting me!  De Leon ended up with a 11.6 K/9 and a 2.61 in 86 1/3 IP in Triple-A.  There’s nowhere else for De Leon to go but the majors in 2017, so let’s segue this sucka.  Anyway, what can we expect from Jose De Leon for 2017 fantasy baseball?

Please, blog, may I have some more?
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