The Keeper Corner #243-235

We go further down the list and reach the riveting $3.00 player.  I know the players have been boring so far, but I promise at least one of the guys in this you will have been interested in this season.  Without further ado:

#243 Nick Markakis, OF, ATL

$2.86, 80 R, 12 HR, 50 RBI, 3 SB, .276 AVG, .728 OPS

Had a better average and OPS than anticipated, and falls well short of the homer projection.  After watching him this season, I think its fair to anticipate Markakis being a sub 10 homer guy going forward.  Out of 284 players with an average homerun and fly ball distance recorded, he was the #266.  That said, he's made a career out of being a good contact hitter, and while the bigger Turner Field outfield will suppress homers, it will give him more area to land hits and boost his babip.  The Braves are also a terrible offense, giving him little help with his counting stats.

#242 John Jaso, C/DH, TB

$3.07, 61 R, 12 HR, 56 RBI, 4 SB, .274 AVG, .786 OPS

Had an injury shortened season.  Will lose catching eligibility this season, and completely falls off the fantasy radar

#241 Chris Tillman, SP, BAL

$3.10, 166K, 14W, 3.66 ERA, 1.258 WHIP. 2.371 K/BB

Totally bombed all season.  Truthfully, I didn't see much of him this season so its hard for me to criticize when 90% of my Orioles viewing was Chris Davis homers.  But the numbers alone, were very bad, and it doesn't take a MIT degree to see that Tillman doesn't strike enough people out.

#240 Trevor Plouffe, 3B, MIN

$3.10, 63 R, 17 HR, 68 RBI, 2 SB, .257 AVG, .756 OPS

Plouffe played more games, and increased his fly ball rate to a career high.  While this hurt his average, it resulted in 22 homers.  He was the #100 HR and fly ball distance hitter.  As a free agent this year, a better park could result in even better power.  Lets all cross our fingers and hope Machado has moved back to SS and Baltimore has an opening.

#239 Darren O'Day, RP, BAL

$3.14, 68K, 4W, 3 SV, 2.215 ERA, .985 WHIP, 4.001 K/BB

Had lofty projections, and beat them all except WHIP.  Again, didn't watch a lot of Orioles baseball, but an 11.3 K/9 is damn impressive.

#238 Derek Holland, SP, TEX

$3.25, 167K, 12 W, 3.891 ERA, 1.298, 2.78 K/BB

Only pitched 38 innings this season, and they weren't good innings.  My personal feelings on Holland aside, he really hasn't done much to earn the recognition he has received in his career.  He's a low end starter.

#237 Drew Hutchison, SP, TOR

$3.27, 180K, 11 W, 4.213 ERA, 1.271 WHIP, 2.903 K/BB

Failed to improve on his nice first full season in 2014.  His homer issues grew, and he struck out fewer.  I need to write an article about him specifically because he used to get nice reviews on his pitches in scouting reports, but he wasn't fooling hitters at all this year.  He actually was bad enough to get demoted later in the season, despite posting 13 wins.  Yet another case for the quality start over the win.

#236 Wei-Yin Chen, SP, BAL

$3.31 140K, 12 W, 3.962 ERA, 1.298 WHIP, 3.042 K/BB

Second year in a row of outperforming his FIP.  He also improved his K rate to a career high and kept everything else at normal levels.  I feel like a broken record, but I really don't watch Baltimore baseball...  But his numbers are good.

#235 Jose Fernandez, SP , MIA

As promised a star would be on this list.  He came back from from Tommy John, and was an immediate impact player.  There isn't much analysis required here, he will be a top 5 arm next season.

As promised we are starting to hit the fun names on the list.  I didn't have a lot of time to make a longer write up today, but if you have any questions about my ranks so far feel free to ask about them in the comments, or shoot me a question on Twitter.