Fantasy Baseball: Chase Utley Out 4-6 Months

by Ray Guilfoyle on Nov 20, 2008 1:07 PM EST in Baseball

A week or two after announcing they are raising ticket prices, the Phillies today announce that Chase Utley will be out 4-6 months to have hip surgery. This will hurt his fantasy value obviously. Will the Phillies attempt to trade or sign a 2bman to fill in for him while he is out. Looking at the free agent 2bman, there are alot of utility type guys and guys close to retirement:

Willie Bloomquist
Craig Counsell
Ray Durham
Damion Easley
David Eckstein
Mark Grudzielanek
Jerry Hairston Jr.
Orlando Hudson
Tadahito Iguchi
Jeff Kent
Felipe Lopez
Mark Loretta
Ramon Martinez
Pablo Ozuna
Nick Punto
Luis Rivas

But the Phillies have Eric Bruntlett who can fill their need at 2b, as the Phillies are still looking for someone to replace Pat Burrell in LF.

In roto keeper leagues, owners will have a decision to make come draft day. Do you retain him at his high salary or throw him back and get him cheaper?

Poll

Would you retain Utley in your keeper league at a high salary or throw him back to try get get him cheaper?

Keep him. He's a gamer and will most likely come back quicker than planned.

18 votes

Throw him back. There is no telling if he will lose some of his power when he comes back.

14 votes

32 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

Time frame

Four months is end of March. Six months is end of May. he is back in the pool and likely drops into the 3rd+ rounds, sub-$30 range is he is not ready on Opening Day.

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by faketeams on Nov 20, 2008 1:49 PM EST reply actions

Long term

Utley is signed to a long-term deal so any sub will be of the very temporary, Eric Bruntlett kind. With Pedro Feliz undergoing back surgery, playing 3B could be useful, too.

If the Phils do not fish for Iguchi or Loretta, I would expect prospect Jason Donald to get the utility infield job for the first part of the year. If he pulls a Blake DeWitt and keeps it, then all the better for Philly.

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by faketeams on Nov 20, 2008 3:29 PM EST reply actions

sub $30???

that would be interesting

raygu

by Ray Guilfoyle on Nov 20, 2008 4:58 PM EST reply actions

Will Carroll on Utley injury

bflaff
(26787)Phils just did a teleconference with beat writers, and Amaro said that the Phillies expect Utley to be “fairly close to ready, if not ready, by opening day.” Sounds like wishcasting?

Also said they expected to use a combo of Bruntlett and Donald if Chase wasn’t ready to go. There could be a silver lining here if it enables the Phils to get a peek at Donald to see what he can do at the major league level.

Nov 20, 2008 12:37 PMlinkrating: 0

Will Carroll
BP staff
(1112)No, I’m actually surprised at the June talk. That’s an absolute, everything goes wrong worst case scenario. Four months seems more reasonable, but that’s without knowing what’s inside.

Nov 20, 2008 13:43 PMlink

raygu

by Ray Guilfoyle on Nov 20, 2008 11:08 PM EST reply actions