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Talk about a guy who could be completely off radars next year, and be huge.  I’m hummna-hummna’ing before I even start.  Let’s talk team sitch first.  You’re gonna need a seatbelt for this one, because I’m going neck deep fast like a snake coming up a toilet drain.  Ramon Laureano takes a walk, and not just at 8 AM with a senior at a mall going to get lunch.  He might sneak into a .370 OBP, and, if I’ve learned anything from Fat Jonah and Billy Beane on a treadmill in Moneyball, a solid OBP guy means he’s going to hit leadoff for the A’s.  The A’s who last year scored the fourth most runs in the league and were sorely missing a leadoff man.  They tried Marcus Semien for 292 ABs, saying, “Let’s give Semien a shot!  Hey…that’s not mud in my eye.”  They gave Martini a shot at leadoff for 120 ABs and, like a bad episode of Sex in the City, Martini is what led to Semien, so we know how well that worked out.  Unless they trade for someone else this offseason, and I see no reason why they would, who else is leading off in Oakland?  Piscotty?  Olson?  Chapman?  They shouldn’t be, and, Billy Beane pulling the strings on that giant puppet-shaped Bob Melvin willing, they won’t.  Nomar backwards will.  If they can do a surgery on a grape, Laureano can be the A’s leadoff hitter for 400+ ABs.  So, what can we expect from Ramon Laureano for 2019 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?

In 64 games in Triple-A, Ramon Laureano had 14 HRs, 11 SBs and hit .297, then, in the majs (they call it that, right?), he went 5/7/.288 in 48 games and 156 ABs.  To go back further before we venture forward, he had a 11/24 season in Double-A for the Astros.  He only hit .227 there because he’s a Marla Gibbs fan and he had a low BABIP for him.  His K-rate of 28.4% and .388 BABIP from last year in the majs (they do call it that, no?) spells a little bit of trouble, but not nearly as much trouble as you might think.  His strikeouts should come down this year, if we follow his minor league numbers, and he is fast, so the BABIP might be all right. I don’t want to get caca cuckoo with myself, but I really think he could be a 17/30/.275 guy with a chance for more.  *puts handkerchief to forehead, faints, falls on beanbag that wears a Giancarlo jersey*  Oh, Giancarlo Beanbag, I just had the craziest dream.  I dreamt Ramon Laureano was going to be a top 50 player in 2019.  He was only caught once in eight attempts last year, and is a 30-steal guy just waiting to happen.  He averaged 403 feet on his five homers last year, and is a 15-homer hitter about to put a sippy cup on 20 homers and suck off that teat!  He’s a .260 hitter waiting to hit maybe .250 or .240 or .270 or .280.  Okay, hard to tell on that, but I’m not betting against anyone who makes only 13.9% soft contact (would be top 30 in the league) with his speed.  For 2019, I’ll give Ramon Laureano projections of 81/16/51/.264/28 in 542 ABs with a chance for more.  Giddy up, you mothersuckers!