The Keeper Corner #219-205

The review of my rankings entering 2015 continue today.  We will see closers, failed closers, reliable vets, and prospects.  We also hit our first players valued over $5.00.

#219 Sergio Romo, RP, SFG

$4.25, 60 K, 3 W, 13 SV, 2.85 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 5.001 K/BB

Romo didn't hit his W, SV, ERA, WHIP projections, but had a stellar season despite that fact.  He's pitched over 400 innings in his career, and has had a career .265 babip against.  Last season he was subjected to some bad luck, giving up a .331 babip.  His career high ground ball rate may have forced the babip jump, but rarely is increasing your grounders a bad thing.  He had a K/BB of 7.10!  Unfortunately Santiago Casilla outperformed him, and has another option year for this season.

#218 Matt Cain, SP, SFG

$4.25, 140K, 11W, 3.569 ERA, 1.195 WHIP, 2.642 K/BB

Matt Cain was terrible in a short season interrupted by an elbow injury.  He hasn't pitched well since 2012.  He'll be given the chance to accumulate innings next season, but I don't anticipate him being anything more than an innings eater.

#217 Jake Peavy, SP, SFG

$4.25, 135K, 10 W, 3.82 ERA, 1.186 ERA, 2.935 K/BB

Fell short on his counting stats, but beat out his ratios.  He was performing well until he went down with a back injury.  He returns to San Francisco next season.  With health, he's a back end starter, but we are talking about Jake Peavy, invest at your own peril.

#216 Brandon Finnegan, SP/RP, KC

$4.27, 89K, 6W, 3.411 ERA, 1.116 WHIP, 4.684 K/BB

Played for both the Royals who used him as a RP, and the Reds who used him as a starter.  He fell short of his projections but showed promise, and sported a 8.44 K/9 last season.  He seems like a nice pitching prospect, but I have only seen one start by him so its hard for me to fall in love just based off his production alone.

#215 Jered Weaver, SP, LAA

$4.35, 135 K, 12 W, 3.756 ERA, 1.209 WHIP, 2.755 K/BB

Weaver is now throwing with such low velocities that I fear for his safety while on the mound.  The 80 mph fastballs are not being missed by anyone.  And his strikeouts are at a career low, his home run rate was at a career worst.  He didn't accumulate enough innings to qualify for the era title, but his hard hit rate would have been 20^th worst in baseball last season.

#214 Collin McHugh, SP, HOU

$4.37, 170 K, 11W, 3.78 ERA, 1.241 WHIP, 2.698 K/BB

McHugh pitched as expected, but benefited greatly from the Astros breakout season.  His 19 wins boosted his value greatly, and his innings total put him in the position to earn those wins.  Also, I'd love to see more information on it, but I've read and heard that McHugh had incredible spin rates on his pitches, and that influenced the Astros decision to get him.  Further into this offseason I'll look at his pitch f/x info and see if there is anything we could have spotted from that.

#213 Josh Reddick, OF, OAK

$4.38, 67R, 18 HR, 67 RBI, 4 SB, .253 AVG, .758 OPS

Reddick had the best season of his career, mainly just by swinging and missing less.  He had a career low fly ball rate (40.6%), which is still high, but his HR/FB rate was the second best of his career.  There clearly was a mechanical adjustment made, and it seems like a much more sustainable type of success than what he previously had before.

#212 Russell Martin, C, TOR

$4.44, 51 R, 17 HR, 64 RBI, 6 SB, .262 AVG, .810 OPS

Martin was my catcher in this league, and he supplied significantly more value than what I expected from him.  I didn't expect it to happen, but now that I've seen him hit 23 home runs, I don't expect much regression from him.  He has a great eye, and he had a batted ball profile that completely sold out for home run power, and while his average suffered, he hit his fair share of homers.

#211 Zach Britton, RP, BAL

$4.63, 55K, 4 W, 42 SV, 2.76 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 1.897 K/BB

Britton was a complete beast last season, and his statistical improvements were done on his own.  He cranked up his k rate, and dropped his walks.  He actually had his worst home run rate ever, something I don't expect to happen again next season.

#210 Jimmy Rollins, SS, LAD

$4.66, 81 R, 16 HR, 55 RBI, 25 SB, .248 AVG, .704 OPS

Rollins finally hit the wall.  He looked old and punchless last season, and his 12 steals were a career low.  He can catch on with another team that is desperately in need of a SS, but at 37 he's going to have a hard time finding anyone who wants to make a serious investment in him.

#209 Matt Shoemaker, SP, LAA

$4.69, 149K, 12 W, 4.082 ERA, 1.301 WHIP, 3.386 K/BB

Only made it through 135 injury shortened innings.  Had a worse ERA and a better WHIP, which usually bodes well for future ERA predictions, but I really don't like the lack of stuff I see from Shoemaker.

#208 Mike Napoli, 1B, BOS

$4.69, 59 R, 21 HR, 65 RBI, 1 SB, .245 AVG, .811 OPS

Napoli's 98 wRC+ is pathetic when compared to other 1Bs in baseball.  He made a lot of weak contact, and just didn't look good at all.  He's now 34 years old, and doesn't look like he has anything in the tank.

#207 Torii Hunter, OF, MIN

$4.71, 63 R, 14HR, 64 RBI, 4 SB, .278 AVG, .741

Nice career Torii, he has announced his retirement after the end of this season.

#206 Jhonny Peralta, SS, STL

$5.00, 58R, 18 HR, 65 RBI, 3 SB, .266 AVG, .766 OPS

Peralta almost matched his projections exactly.  Next season I expect him to do more of the same with the Cardinals.

#205 Wilin Rosario, C, COL

$5.05, 58 R, 18 HR, 65 RBI, 3 SB, .266 AVG, .755 OPS

Rosario was subject to the most hateful piece I've ever written and he lived up to my rock bottom expectations by losing his job.  A synopsis of what I wrote, and what proved to be true, was he couldn't make contact on the road, and he was significantly worse against righties.  A lefty home matchup turns him into Babe Rosario, but any combination of righties or away at bats, ruins his value.

There were some older less exciting guys in this grouping, but there was still production to be found.  As always, there is more than one way to skin a cat, and there is more than one way to win a fantasy championship.