Fantasy Baseball 2012: Impact of Astros Move to AL in NL-Only Keeper Leagues

by Ray Guilfoyle on Oct 12, 2011 1:00 PM EDT in Baseball

MLB.com's Peter Gammons reported today that the sale of the Astros will be approved in November 2011, under the condition that the Astros move to the American League, presumably to the AL West. This move will impact those of you in NL-only keeper leagues. Which Astros were worth keeping now that Michael Bourn and Hunter Pence were traded to the Braves and Phillies, respectively? Here is a list of players who are no longer available to be kept in NL-only leagues in 2012:

Jose Altuve, 2B-Altuve hit .276-.297-.357 with 2 HRs, 12 RBI, 26 runs and 7 stolen bases in 221 at bats. This after hitting .361-.388-.569 with 5 HRs, 25 RBIs, 21 runs and 5 SBs in 35 games in AAA, and .404-.447-.601 with 5 HRs, 34 RBI, 38 runs, and 19 stolen bases in 52 AA games. I can see Altuve being a .300 hitter with 20+ stolen bases in 2012.
Jason Bourgeois, OF-Bourgeois is a Michael Bourn clone on the base paths, as he stole 31 bases in 93 games, hitting .294-.323-.357 this season. The Astros shuffled outfielders in and out of the lineup after Pence and Bourn were traded, so Bourgeois has a shot to land a starting gig in 2012.
Wandy Rodriguez, SP-Wandy-Rod had another solid season in 2011, going 11-11 with a 3.49 ERA, 4.15 FIP, and 3.72 xFIP in 191 innings. He struck out almost 8 batters per nine innings, and owns a solid 45% ground ball rate, so he could perform well in the AL, as his fly ball rate was just under 35%. A but concerning is the drop in his strikeout rate, which has dropped steadily since 2008.
Mark Melancon, CL-Melancon saved 20 games in 2011, with a 2.78 ERA, 3.25 FIP and 3.14 xFIP. He struck out almost 8 batters per 9 innings, so he is not a dominant closer, but he did induce an extreme ground ball rate of around 57% this season.

For those in AL-only leagues, only Wandy Rodriguez will be draftable in 2012, although Altuve is draftable in deeper leagues.

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I’d be amazed if they could pull this off for 2012. Especially since the schedule would have to be completely revamped, and lined up in time. I’m curious – Have single-game tickets gone on sale yet for any team? If so, I would imagine that would make it nearly impossible to get done this year.

The sad part here is that there still aren’t that many players on the Astros worth looking at for an AL-only league (or for an NL-only either I guess).

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by Jason Hunt on Oct 12, 2011 3:27 PM EDT reply actions

I forgot

Carlos Lee in AL only leagues…..he is draftable.

I don’;t think single game tickets go on sale till later in the offseason.

Ray Guilfoyle
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by Ray Guilfoyle on Oct 12, 2011 3:46 PM EDT reply actions

What are your thoughts on Brett Wallace for next season ?

Alex Bunbury = good. Teal Bunbury = a colour

by Lesean25 on Oct 12, 2011 4:33 PM EDT reply actions

not high on him

if you have him on the cheap in a keeper league, you have to keep him. But, depending up the price to keep him, there might be better ways to spend your money, assuming an auction league.

Ray Guilfoyle
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by Ray Guilfoyle on Oct 12, 2011 6:29 PM EDT up reply actions

Wonderful

Makes King Felix even more valuable…..

by Bob_24798 on Oct 12, 2011 8:50 PM EDT reply actions

true

Michael Pineda, Jered Weaver and Dan Haren as well.

Ray Guilfoyle
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by Ray Guilfoyle on Oct 12, 2011 9:12 PM EDT up reply actions

J.D. Martinez

What kind of 2012 value would you project for him?

by tgd10 on Oct 13, 2011 11:41 AM EDT reply actions

The whole idea is baffling to me

Let’s take the worst team in the NL, move it to the AL? What? Why? So they can be completely useless for even longer???

And now Texas has two AL teams. It just doesn’t make sense. I agree that the leagues needed to be balanced, but this seems like an asinine way to go about it. It doesn’t help with competitive balance at all. Hell, it probably gives AL West teams an extra 9 wins or so.

by pooptallica on Oct 13, 2011 4:38 PM EDT reply actions

Should read "two AL West teams."

by pooptallica on Oct 13, 2011 4:39 PM EDT up reply actions

I think

Arizona balked at the request to move initially, if I am not mistaken.

Ray Guilfoyle
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by Ray Guilfoyle on Oct 13, 2011 5:20 PM EDT up reply actions

My understanding is as a part of the ownership agreement each team has, they have to get permission to switch any team’s league. However, because the Astros are trying to change owners, they are making that a condition of the ownership change. Basically, the Astros are the only one who can’t veto this move because they are changing ownership, so they’re the ones.

It’s a cyclical thing though – remember that the Astros were an 86 win team as recently as 2008 and a perennial playoff contender from 2001-2006. I think long-term this actually helps them out, by giving them 15+ games a year against the Rangers as opposed to the Pirates, for example.

My questions at this point is how they match up both teams with new interleague “rivalry” series – Maybe Houston gets Colorado since they are sharing a TV network, and Texas ends up with Arizona?

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by Jason Hunt on Oct 14, 2011 11:34 AM EDT up reply actions