Faketeams Mailbag June 12, 2017

Welcome to our new weekly mailbag segment! To submit your questions you can leave a comment on the faketeams article, email faketeamsmailbag@gmail.com, or tweet @FakeTeams or @Blacks08.

What are your thoughts on Aaron Judge? Flash in the pan or the real deal? His swing had significant holes when he was coming up through the minors, but he's been incredibly impressive so far in the big leagues. If you owned him in a fantasy league, what kind of return would you be asking for him?

Aaron Judge is indeed the real deal. He is probably due for a bit of a regression, but he has been fantastic to watch. One real positive so far is that he has cut down his K rate to 28%. This is incredibly important for a power hitter like Judge if he can keep that rate below 30-35%. His advanced batting stats are off the charts. He currently holds the AL Triple Crown, has a 1.168 OPS, and leads the league with a 4.1 WAR. Even if regression brings the OPS down to 1.000, he is still easily an above average player! As for fantasy, I do own him on a rebuilding team. Judge has been an untouchable piece on my trade block. Every player has a price though! Most trades often depend on league setup and need. If you only roster 3 outfielders, then it is a bit easier to let him go. In a 5 OF league, you would definitely want more of a return. The easiest way to answer this would be to continue to ride the hot streak. However, if you want to sell him now then you have to sell him for his stats and treat him as you would Trout or Harper on the block. That isn’t to say that Aaron Judge is Mike Trout. However, his stats (the thing that matters in fantasy!) are Trout-esque right now.

I'm a rebuilding team in a keep forever dynasty league with only one or two elite players. Is it better to sell off only my non-elite assets for some middling prospects and rebuild around my elite guys, or sell off one of my elite guys for a more significant talent infusion? Thanks.

When you are rebuilding it is all about patience. You have to be ok with the fact of knowing you aren’t going to win every week and you probably won’t make the playoffs in a true rebuild. You need to find players that you can build around for when your team is finally ready to compete. Fantasy sports and pro sports run hand-in-hand with this approach. For argument’s sake let’s say you have Manny Machado and Francisco Lindor. You have two prime pieces in your infield to build around for years to come. Now it is about ‘throwing darts’ and using the off-season drafts to find more budding stars. You have the advantage of trying out different young arms or bats that get a call or see more playing time. You can see if they perform like a 2016 Michael Fulmer and give you another piece to build around. You can also attempt to buy low on players like Gregory Polanco or Josh Bell to see if they can turn it around. My advice would be to keep your stud players to build around. I bet many championship teams in 2020 have guys like Machado, Lindor, Seager, Trout, Harper on them.

Who should the Minnesota Twins take #1 in the Draft?

If I was a front office employee of the Twins I would put my job on the line to take the top talent in the draft, Hunter Greene. It really isn’t even close talent-wise. I know the difficulties of putting this much stock into a prep arm, but reports say he could be drafted top 10 even as a SS! I am sure the Twins will buck my approach and end up taking Vanderbilt's Kyle Wright or Louisville's Brendan McKay, however.

HEY i'm in a yahoo league with 12 teams, head to head points, but only pitching seems to matter! the commissioner put this crazy system in place where pitchers get 10 points for a win, so everyone just stocks up on all pitchers! someone is offering me lindor for my luis severino who i picked up on waivers at the beginning of the year! i have other good pitchers but i really like severino. what do you think severino's ceiling is and should i take this trade? i think severino could be a top 15 pitcher this year but i also like lindor a lot!

This is a great question and I can see why you are questioning it. On paper you definitely have to take Lindor straight up. However, you stated the league is all about pitching. Severino looks great this year! All the pressure has been on Tanaka, but it has been Severino that has risen to the occasion. He hasn’t lost since May 1 and his peripherals look great. I’m not sure he can continue to maintain his .213 BA against, but it is definitely possible if he continues to miss bats at 10 Ks/9. I agree with you that I think Severino can be a top 15 pitcher. However, there is a difference between ‘can’ and ‘will’. Severino has pitched 75 innings already this season. His career high in a combined season of majors/minors is 113 IP. At his current pace of 6 ¹⁄₃ innings per start - he is looking at about 6 more starts before he sets a new high at the All-Star break. The Yankees will have some decisions to make especially if they plan to play in October. With this knowledge and the fact that Severino still has 2 minor league options left, I make the trade for Lindor. Pitching may be all that matters in this league, but you also can’t score if your pitcher isn’t on the mound.

Thanks for the submissions everyone. Please look for another article next week!