Alexei "the Cuban Missile" Ramirez is opening eyes in Chicago, and hitting his way into the every day lineup.

So who is your most frustrating player?

You know what I’m talking about.  You read the articles; you looked at all of his previous numbers, all of his projected stats for the year.  And here you are in June still patiently waiting for him to come around.  

I’m talking about that favourite pre-season ‘sleeper’ that literally fell asleep.  You likely passed on dropping him a number of times even though there was any number of more productive players available on the waiver wire.  Heck you may have dropped a more productive player on your roster before him.  You wouldn’t ‘sell low’ on him at any time even though he likely had more value in the trade market then, than you could possibly get now.  You were convinced this guy you drafted in the late rounds, would soon be your pride and joy, and the reason you won the league championship.

Don’t get me wrong; there are few more satisfying feelings than guessing a player will break out and being right about it.  You knew you were pretty smart, but guessing that player that nobody else thought of, makes you somewhat smarter.  However, there is little that is more frustrating than having an utterly useless player on your roster. You stubbornly stick with him week after week, hoping for that huge statistical payoff.  

You know the feeling.  As each day goes by, you watch the 0 for 4’s pile up.  You also watch as the trade offers for this player start dwindling in equal proportion.  One game he will hit a home run, and you think to yourself “He’s just getting started.  I knew I was right about this guy”.  Next game: 0 for 5.  You then think to yourself, “Maybe I’ll offer him around and see if somebody still thinks he’s decent”.  There are no responses to some offers, and outright rejections to others. 

At that point, and after a few more unproductive games, you finally build up the courage to drop him.  As soon as he’s off your team you feel a million times better.  You think, “Yup, its for the best”.  You smile as you add the shiny new free agent to your team with high hopes for big stats in the future.  You feel good for a couple of days; the sun is shining in your little world.  That is, until you see somebody snag him with a high waiver priority.  Second-guessing yourself, you think, “Was there something I missed?  Is this guy really worth owning?”  Then, much to your own disgust, the player then goes on a tear for the remainder of the season.  To make matters worse, the player you picked up to replace him, is back on the free agent list gathering dust.  The whole experience completely humbles you for years to come and you doubt highly that you’ll ever play fantasy baseball again. 

There were quite a few guys I felt were undervalued at the start of the season; Paul Konerko, Andrew Jones, Nick Swisher, Austin Kearns and Bill Hall for example.  These are all players who have put up at least solid numbers in past seasons and were still young enough to think a bounce back season was likely.  But a let’s take a quick look at this list; Konerko is hitting .205 (not a typo); Jones and Kearns were hitting well under their weight before going on the DL; Hall is now in a platoon and complaining about it (even though he can’t hit right handed pitching at all! Shouldn’t the Brewers be the ones complaining?). And finally Swisher, despite the move to a great hitters park, is hitting .201 with a very disappointing 4 home runs. 

So, of these whom do you drop for the shiny new penny?  This as always depends on your league size.  I’ll look at this from a shallow league perspective (12 team mixed).  Deep leaguers can adjust their strategy accordingly. According to the statistics, all five players mentioned actually had relatively low batting average of balls in play (BABIP), meaning they were all a bit unlucky when they did make contact with the ball.  So that being said, it’s reasonable to expect a bit of a correction.  A few more hits should drop, which would help these hitters lean more towards the league average. 

However, a couple of cautionary notes: Andrew Jones, Nick Swisher and Bill Hall all have below average contact rates.  Jones’s .662 before going on the DL is absolutely terrible.  The main value associated with Jones, Swisher and Hall is their power, but if they’re not making contact at even an average rate, their overall numbers are going to suffer. Swisher is younger and hits in the better park, but he hasn’t shown signs of breaking out of his season long slump.  Given the statistics, I can’t make a strong argument for rostering him, but his contact rate (about 76%) is just slightly below the league average.  A respectable turn around could be coming for Swisher.

Konerko and Kearns are at least making contact with the ball at the league average (about 80%).  Going forward, either of them should start producing although I’m more apt to stay away from Kearns due to his recent elbow surgery.  Knowing this information, Konerko might be one guy you might want to hang on to. In addition to what I’ve already discussed, he has a history of turning it on in the second half.

A week ago, I was writing about the monster break outs of outfielders Josh Hamilton and Carlos Quentin.  It sounds like I’m repeating myself this week, but they both hit home runs last night and continued their mashing all through last week.  You can continue gloating to your league mates for drafting them as ‘sleepers’.

Adrian Gonzalez continues to rake as well. He went into last night’s action with a .298 average, 17 home runs and 54 RBI.  He went 2-3 with another RBI.  Just imagine if this guy played in any other park but PETCO!  As with Quentin and Hamilton, I believe this guy is for real going forward.

Joba Chamberlain’s debut as a starter: 2.1 Innings Pitched, 4 walks, 3 strikeouts.  Not the dazzling line I thought I’d be writing about.  Obviously the young Yankees pitcher was on a strict pitch count and he completely abused it by walking 4 Blue Jay batters.  On the positive side, he’s still maintaining an elite strikeout/inning pitched ratio, which is the main reason every one is so excited him about him.

Rod Barajas continues to swing a hot bat.  He went 2-5 with a pair of RBI last night.  He’s hitting .306 on the season and makes a great pickup if you’re in need of a catcher.

I’m sure you’ve already grabbed Dan Wheeler if you were in need of saves.  Even if you don’t, I’d grab him anyway.  The same reasons he started the season as such a great ‘sleeper’ apply here.  Al Reyes and Troy Percival are his only competition.  They are both older, and injury prone.  Wheeler has done the job before in Houston (although he wasn’t as effective in the role as one would like), and his numbers are outstanding with an ERA of 2.06, a 0.96 WHIP and 18 strikeouts over 26 innings pitched.  Tampa Bay has shown that it will continue to win, which should give him a respectable shot at save opportunities.  I think he’ll take the closer job and run with it for longer than people think.  A hamstring injury at Percival’s age is not as easy to recover from.

Another good performance from the Chicago White Sox’s Cuban import, Alexei Ramirez; he went 3-4 with a home run and 2 RBI.  He has been very productive over the past week.  I would suggest grabbing him now in deeper leagues.  He could be a decent source of speed and power from a 2B going forward.

Lastly, almost right on cue, Prince Fielder’s numbers since my last Grumble - .321 4 home runs, 6 RBI and a stolen base to boot!  Just another reason to believe!