Fantasy Baseball: Some Buy-Low Guys I'm Feeling Right Now
Ok, so I've been doing some research and am trying to take one of my fantasy teams off of life support. This year has been a disaster for one of my teams. I have Rollins, Ellsbury, and Sizemore. Enough said, right?
We're at a point in the season where you really want to be making trades if you have to, as there is still time to make some headwind in categorys. Once you get into mid to late July, it gets harder, but I guess it also depends on where you stand relative to the rest of the pack on certain stats.
Here are a few guys that I believe will do something in the 2nd half of the year, and I see owners giving up on. Obviously if you are set in these positions/areas, then nevermind. Also it's your team, do what you want with it. Don't be picking up these guys and getting all mad if they don't work out... I'm just posting what I think, and everybody is wrong... especially when we're trying to guess what some grown-ass men (in my Charles Barkley voice if I had one) are going to do.
- Adam Lind. Ok, I'm not going to lie, but he's sucked, regardless of whether you're using batting average or OBP (I prefer OBP leagues, but that's another discussion). The guy has a BAbip of .247, so I think his average will improve, and he should be batting in the .250-.270 range for the rest of the season. I could see him hitting 15 HRs from here on out with, 40-50 RBI for the rest of the season as well. Maybe I'm crazy. But if you're desperate for some power, you may find an Adam Lind owner willing to give him up for pretty cheap. If the end of June comes around and there's no signs of him heating up, then maybe it's time to give up on Lind.
- Jason Bay. Now he does have a high ownership percentage similar to Lind, but I can tell you he's been a disappointment to fantasy owners. People drafted him too dang early to get only 3 HRs, and 24 RBI. Unlike Lind, however, the guy has a good batting average (.292 right now), and he's gotten a decent number of steals (8). It will be harder to pry him away. BUT, something to keep in mind is the man has never had a season with less than 20 HRs and 80 RBI in which he played a full season. There's a first time for everything, but I have those expectations for Bay if he stays healthy. His BAbip is a high .378, so I think it's reasonable to expect his batting average to decline to be in the .260-.275 range. But if he can finish this season above his 20 HR, and 80 RBI threshold, that's a great pickup.
- Carlos Pena. I'm seeing guys dropping him and losing confidence in him. His .175 average is looking bad, but this is a guy who's batting average realstically should be in the .230-.240 range. You're not drafting Carlos Pena for batting average, but for HRs and RBIs. A couple of good news items for Pena. First, he plays good enough defense that he's still getting playing time despite struggling at the plate. Secondly, his BAbip is .202. It should increase. I think he'll bat more in his normal .230-.240 range for a majority of the remainder of the season, and he'll hit a bunch of HRs (15-20).
- Aramis Ramirez. Typically he disappoints with injuries, but this year it's his production. All I can really say is that I think it's a bit mental as far as Ramirezs' production. I don't really see why he should be struggling so much. He's a better player, and he's 32. I think he's still young enough to be producing at a good level for the next couple of years. He did hit a HR on Saturday, so perhaps better days are ahead. If you're in need of some help at 3B. I'd keep expectations lower, like maybe 10 HRs, 40 RBI, and batting in the .260-.270 range over the rest of the season. Not game changing type stuff, but I think he'll be a Top 10 3B from now until the end of the season. Maybe I'm too optimistic.
- Gavin Floyd. You look at the 6+ ERA and WHIP over 1.6 and you probably throw up a little in your mouth, especially if you're a White Sox fan. As a Twins fan, I just laugh at you. But there are some potentially postive things that Floyd can bring. He isn't allowing a ton of homeruns like he did in 2008, as he's on pace to give up in the high teens-low 20s. His BAbip is .355, so he isn't getting any breaks behind him either. He isn't a top-of-the-line starter anyways, but I think he'll revert more in the high 3s or low 4s with his ERA, and strike out an additional 100 guys. His run support/game is a little over 4, so I see a .500 record or so with wins and losses from here on out as well, and him getting better defense/luck behind him. With another 19-20 starts, probably something like 7-8 wins with 7-8 losses and some no decisions. Pitching is hard to predict, but I think better days are ahead for Floyd. He should be performing like a solid starter, as opposed to how he's faring thus far.
There are probably several more guys, but these are guys I'm looking to, if my team is sucking and I need some help. If I own these guys, I'm sticking with them, becauase I'm probably not going to get much in return for them anyways... Unless you're trading with someone who has the same opinions as me....
What players are on your radar that you're seeing go for cheap in your leagues?
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Aaron Hill
He’s just been sitting out there in my 10-team league, but I can’t seem to pull the trigger to pick him up and drop Gordon Beckham. He’s hitting .186/.289/.355 with 8 HR now, but also has a BABIP of .180, and a LD% of only 7.8% (usually around 18-20%). The problem is that he still hasn’t gotten up there yet.
Aaron Hill scared me going into this year. Half of his career HRs in one season. I just avoided him like the plague, and it was either going to make me look like an idiot, or somewhat smart.
But I’m with you. He’ll start to improve. Only thing is that I’m not sure if that will include a ton more HRs than he’s hitting now. He has 8 on the season, he’ll probably finish with something like 24 HRs or so. But he needs to get more line drives, so he can improve his average and drive in more runs. Less grounders and pop-ups and he’ll be good to go.
Lind and Hill
I expect Bautista and Gonzalez to trade back their jerseys to Lind and Hill soon. They aren’t fooling me and pretty soon the scorekeepers will realize what’s happened and start crediting the stats to the correct players.
Gavin Floyd
Gavin Floyd’s ERA..
Last year through May: 6.61.
This year: 6.64.
Floyd had a 3.13 ERA after May in 2009. Gotta hold on owners.
patience
is tough in fantasy, but I agree with Bryan. I have hung on to Carlos Lee and he is finally starting to hit, and hit HRs. Still hits in a terrible lineup though
raygu
www.faketeams.com
www.sbnation.com
by Ray Guilfoyle on Jun 7, 2010 10:24 PM EDT up reply actions
I really like Gavin Floyd
He has terrible luck early in the season but many of his peripherals check out. His walk rate is a little bit below average while his home run rate has remained slightly better than average. His BABIP is sky high like Mark noted but when you pair that with a low 62.6 LOB% and a high (in terms of Floyd’s career averages) GB%, that tells you there is something there. His xFIP also sits at 4.15 more than two runs lower than his ERA.
Also note that his FB velocity has not lowered from last year, and that he’s generally throwing all of his pitches with the same amount of frequency, thus leading me to believe there isn’t some mechanical flaw, injury or decrease in general stuff that is causing any decline. Specifically since he gets guys to swing outside the strike zone at the same rate as 2008 and 2009, and has a contact rate nearly the same as last year (2009 – 77.4%, 2010 – 77.8%).
Floyd could be a really nice play for the rest of the year.
by TheHuntforRedOctober on Jun 9, 2010 3:46 PM EDT up reply actions
ARAM
concerns me. If he is still hurt, what do the Cubs do when they fall out of it? does ARAM still play?
raygu
www.faketeams.com
www.sbnation.com
Other guys
Looked at Pena’s career splits…best numbers are also after May. Would not be surprised if he still goes .245/20/60..if the production numbers are better by another 5 HR and 10 RBIs, I’m not surprised either. If you knew you were getting that kind of .AVG out of him with those numbers, wouldn’t you buy on him?
Lind, I would buy on regardless. Dude can just rake. Somewhere in the middle on Ramirez, not a big Bay fan.
UGH
With Aramis, I didn’t know he was DL-bound… now you can get him for even LOWER. Still though, when he comes back, I really think he’ll produce like a fantasy-caliber 3B over the last 3 months of the season.

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