The Keeper Corner #129-115

As previously stated, these are my rankings I used for a 6x6 dynasty league, going into 2015.  I will provide the projected stats I used, a review, and a projection of their future.  Today's group included a large number of players who flopped.  With that we immediately go to #129, a flop:

# 129 Brandon McCarthy, SP, LAD

$11.08, 134 K, 11 W, 3.632 ERA, 1.228 WHIP, 4.786 K/BB

McCarthy tore his UCL 23 innings into last season.  The tall righty will be back with the Dodgers in 2016, and I expect him to return to his strategy of limiting risk and accumulating innings.  He isn't sexy, but he makes it work as a reliable low end arm.

#128 Jason Kipnis, 2B, CLE

$11.16, 78 R, 13 HR, 67 RBI, 28 SB, .264 AVG, .729 OPS

Kipnis played 141 games with shoulder and finger injuries.  He cut down on his strikeouts, but also saw his power and speed dip.  Next year I'd anticipate his power to come up a bit with better health, and if he can keep his contact up, he could be a threat for future .280 seasons instead of bouncing all over the spectrum like he has in the past.  Lastly, he has a trend of being down in even years, if you believe in this you should also place your bet on the 2016 World Series Champion San Francisco Giants.

#127 Alex Wood, SP, ATL

$11.28, 164 K, 11 W, 3.229 ERA, 1.188 WHIP, 3.347 K/BB

Wood pitched for the Braves and the Dodgers, in a down year for the young lefty.  I haven't found a good reason for his strikeouts to dip so severely, and I hope it wasn't injury related.  His velocity and movement didn't change very much last year, and if he remains a Dodger, perhaps he can get some advice from Kershaw and Co. and bounce back to being the better strike out option he was in 2014 and 2013.

#126 Joaquin Benoit, SD, SD

$11.45, 70 K, 3 W, 36 SV, 2.25 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 3.889 K/BB

Benoit posted a very strong season, but the Padres traded for Craig Kimbrel early, and Benoit was demoted to the set up role for the Padres.  Next year Benoit will be back with the Padres as a 38-year-old set up man.  I don't want to invest in him unless Kimbrel leaves, but if he does, I'll instantly jump back on board the Benoit bandwagon.

#125 Steve Cishek, RP, MIA

$11.50, 83 K, 4 W, 41 SV, 2.779 ERA, 1.176 WHIP, 3.458 K/BB

Cishek completely lost his strike out stuff, was walking more batters, and saw his ground ball rate dip below his career average rate.  The Cardinals are thinking about nontendering him, and knowing that I cannot envision using him as a bullpen piece in fantasy in 2016.

#124 Cody Allen, RP, CLE

$11.70, 89 K, 4 W, 42 SV, 2.957 ERA, 1.157 WHIP, 3.296 K/BB

Allen was a beastly closer, compiling 99 strikeouts and 34 saves.  Going into next year, I think he is capable of even more as a .342 babip isn't likely to happen again when you have the stuff that Allen has.  He'll be 27 next season, and could be a long term bullpen piece for his dynasty owners.

#123 Matt Adams, 1B, STL

$11.78, 59 R, 19 HR, 69 RBI, 2 SB, .285 AVG, .788 OPS

Adams missed 4 months with a quad injury, and was terrible during his time that he did play.  Next year I hope he can return healthy, because Adams was born to hit.  He's shown the ability to hit the ball the other way and pile up hits when he's being shifted, or slug bombs when teams try and defend him straight away.  To me he's a truly adept hitter and I want to see him healthy in his prime.

#122 Leonys Martin, OF, TEX

$11.84, 90 R, 11 HR, 52 RBI, 37 SB, .270 AVG, .705 OPS

Leonys, may I politely ask, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!  Last season was pitiful, and I don't know what kind of chance he's going to get next year with Hamilton, Choo, and DeShields (my god, you lost your job to Delino DeShields Jr.) already starting, and with Gallo looking like he needs MLB playing time, a trade might be Martin's only hope.  The one bright spot is that Leonys is a very good defender, and is still a burner.  If it's a mechanical adjustment to get him back to hitting, he may be a great bargain in 2016, but he needs playing time to make himself worth owning.

#121 Yadier Molina, C, STL

$ 11.84, 63 R, 14 HR, 65 RBI, 4 SB, .297 AVG, .781 OPS

Molina looked like he was beginning to feel the first signs of age last year, and years of suffering the bumps and bruises of catching at the big league level.  He continued his great bat control, but simultaneously looked punchless, and we now must accept that he's too old to swipe bags.  Next year I expect more high contact, solid average play, but little else.  I think he's officially no longer a top 5 C consideration, with the young bats that are coming up at the position now, and his age hurts his value in leagues where you're looking beyond 2016.

#120 Lucas Duda, 1B, NYM

$11.93, 71 R, 27 HR, 76 RBI, 2 SB, .248 AVG, .800 OPS

Duda is a streaky hitter, but at the end of the year, he produced more than I originally expected.  At this point Duda needs to learn to hit lefties to and righties more evenly, as he hit lefties very well last season but was only a .230 hitter against righties, the opposite of what he's done during his career.  Split problems usually are mechanical, and his ability to alternate success, shows that he might be capable of learning how to handle both in the future.

#119 Homer Bailey, SP, CIN

$11.98, 116 K, 13 W, 3.469 ERA, 1.188 WHIP, 3.32 K/BB

Homer Baily suffered a torn UCL last year.  Next year I expect him to return to being the above average reliable arm he was in the past.  He's a good #3 in fantasy.

#118 Brian Dozier, 2B, MIN

$ 11.99, 96 R, 21 HR, 69 RBI, 19 SB, .244 AVG, .740 OPS

Dozier dealt with a hip issue last year which slowed him down on the base paths.  Dozier slugged 28 homers, and beat out his OPS, R, HR, and RBI projections.  Next year I expect him to be healthy and be a dark horse to contend for the #1 fantasy 2B title.  The twins could be a very strong offense if all of their talent performs in 2016.

#117 Marcell Ozuna, OF, MIA

$12.23, 76 R, 21 HR, 86 RBI, 6 SB, .261 AVG, .741 OPS

Ozuna was terrible last year mainly due to a dip in power and an increase in his infield fly balls.  I'd assume he'll be working hard this offseason after he referenced being in the minors to "being in jail".  There's a lot of talent in Ozuna, so its hard to quit on him, but after having his shortcomings severely exposed last year, his owners, myself included, have to hope that he can either be coached into better plate discipline, or can be dealt to someone else who can help him.  Lastly, there are rumors of him being dealt, I hope these dreams come true as there is no team I trust less than the Marlins when it comes to my fantasy players.

#116 Alex Gordon, OF, KC

$ 12.48, 75 R, 18 HR, 75 RBI, 11 SB, .265 AVG, .771 OPS

Gordon missed some time with a groin injury last year, but produced at solid level while on the field, posting his first OPS over .800 since 2012.  Something interesting is that his up and down years have all been very Babip dependent.  His batted ball profile hasn't changed significantly from year to year, making him a little scary to invest in long term, but not avoid if you can get him as your OF3, or very cheaply.  This could be a sneaky high ceiling low floor guy going forward.

#115 Jay Bruce, OF, CIN

$ 12.60, 81 R, 24 HR, 83 RBI, 9 SB, .246 AVG, .754 OPS

Bruce finished the year slightly under his projections, this may be because the Reds were such an anemic offense, but his .226 average was part of the problem, not he solution.  Bruce did have the lowest strikeout rate of any full season he's every played, and it appears he swapped whiffs with fly balls.  This obviously didn't help his babip, but he did have more sac flies than ever before.  This may be a part of a bigger change we could see next year.  More contact is always welcome when talking about a player with Jay Bruce's power, I'd be interested in seeing more on him in spring training, before I decide he's a poor batting average player going forward.

Tomorrow we will have a Cy Young contender, and a MVP candidate.  If you have any questions about my ranks feel free to post a comment, or ask me on twitter @jackcecil1.