Adam Lind can rake, and almost certain to make an impact in the fantasy game this season.
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This week let’s take a look at some interesting managerial changes and prospect call ups that are likely going to affect both the MLB teams and your own fantasy teams. Obviously the New York Mets shameful handling of Willie Randolph has been well documented, as has this teams relative ineptitude to win ball games. The bottom line here, the Mets are stocked with youth filled talent and spent millions upgrading their team in the offseason with Johan Santana. They aren’t winning. Boo hoo.
The Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays are the teams I’d like to look at it in more detail. They aren’t among the poorest teams in the league based on revenue, nor do they lack in young talent. Unlike teams like Florida, Minnesota and Oakland, the Jays and Mariners have money, but seem to have little idea of how to spend it wisely.
When I found out about the firing of John Gibbons and subsequent hiring of Cito Gaston, I thought somebody was joking. Cito Gaston? Really? Is it April Fool’s day? I thought he was just the most popular guy attending ‘Flashback Fridays’, where different Jays Alumni would sit field level to take in a game. I was watching the game that night thinking I should flip the channel, as I had already seen this game and how it ended back in 1993. In all seriousness though, I understand a few of the reasons why the Jays chose Cito Gaston as their new manager. While I’m sure my sense of nostalgia is getting to me, I think the change could actually benefit the Jays hitters, and likewise fantasy owners of the players. Gaston is a former batting instructor and hitting coach who during his last tenure as Jays manager was known as a ‘players’ manager. A number of players, namely Devon White, never had better years than while being managed by Gaston. Now, I won’t predict a complete turnaround for the Jays batting as a team, but I think some of their young hitters are going to benefit from his tutelage. This means if I’m looking for a decent gamble with July fast approaching, it may not hurt to look to acquire one of the underachieving Jay bats, such as Alex Rios or Lyle Overbay.
This brings me to the Jays subsequent call up of Adam Lind, after Shaun Marcum’s unfortunate (and again, Surprise! The Jays have been hiding a pitcher’s injury) DL stint because of a strained elbow. In my opinion, the Jays have mishandled Lind this season. Given the state of the Jays outfield, it just didn’t make sense to send Lind down in the first place, where he continued to feast on Triple A pitching. Yes, he performed poorly in his first stint with the big club this year, but when you’re trotting out such all stars as Brad Wilkerson, Shannon Stewart and Kevin Mench to play left field, why not give the kid a shot? Either way, Lind looked like a different player during Sunday’s game against Pittsburgh, although against a possibly injured and erratic Ian Snell. He tucked a tough, up and in pitch neatly between 1st and 2nd base for his first hit of the afternoon. In his next at bat, he fought off a number of Snell offerings for foul balls before connecting with a long home run to center field. This kid has hit at all levels, has a good batting eye (2008 Triple A OBP of .398) and a solid bat (a .328 batting average, with a .924 on base plus slugging percentage, 6 home runs and 50 RBI in 51 games). He’s just 24 which I think makes him a great pick up for keeper league prospectors.
Instead of hiring a former Jay’s coach, the Mariners fired one in John McLaren, whose dismissal was preceded by the firing of GM Bill Bavasi. Unlike the Jays, the Mariners do not have a good stock of young impact players or even top prime players like Vernon Wells and Roy Halladay. Instead they have been trotting out and suffering with Jose Vidro and Richie Sexson as regulars for the first part of the season. This makes it all the more interesting that they would bring up Jeff Clement, only to send him back down despite their team’s struggles earlier this spring. Clement was hammering minor league pitching before his call up (.337 batting average, an astounding 1.13 on base plus slugging percentage coupled with 14 home runs at Triple A). Even though Kenji Johjima was blocking Clement from the catcher position with the Mariners, it didn’t make sense for Seattle (well that is if they were looking to win ball games) to leave a potential impact bat toiling away at their Triple A affiliate when they clearly needed offensive help. What made less sense, as with Lind, the team had already started the ‘arbitration clock’ by calling him up earlier in the year.
As a fantasy player, it is extremely frustrating to watch MLB teams handle prospects. It is easy to say ‘baseball is a business, and it is, as there are veteran contracts involved which have hindered the promotion of prospects for as long as the game has been professionally played. However, when a team holds back what is very likely a better player to play the inferior one, it can be hard to watch. The older player continues to struggle and the team continues to wait for a turnaround.
This illustrates a solid point at this point in the year if you’re toiling away in the sludge of the basement of the standings. If you’re looking to move up, it doesn’t hurt to take a few chances on younger, yet unproven players who get an opportunity for playing time for underperforming, or injury riddle veterans. As these major league teams have shown, it’s sometimes a matter of timing. It’s a long season and a few bold moves in June can turn around team’s fortunes, even in fantasy.
So before we get into the box scores, I think both Adam Lind and Jeff Clement make great ‘upside’ picks for your bench in shallower leagues, and possibly for your starting line up in deeper or mono leagues. A very small sample size, but over two games since his call up, Lind is now 4-8 with a home run and a couple RBI. Clement has a home run in 15 at bats early on. Clement likely qualifies at catcher now, making him a great addition as a high upside second catcher.
Aaron Laffey is a great example of a good complimentary pitcher. If you play in an AL only league where the pitcher pool is shallower, Laffey, although likely already taken, would make a great add for you. He doesn’t strike out many, but he’s been very effective. Tuesday night he struck out one over 6 and 2/3 innings pitched. He didn’t notch a win, but allowed only two runs, and his ERA for the season now stands at 2.83. As I mentioned, he’s not a stud pitcher, as he doesn’t get you enough strikeouts, but he can still be a good add for help in ERA and WHIP. Its amazing how underrated pitchers of this ilk can be.
Despite getting absolutely annihilated over the weekend, I still think Jo-Jo Reyes makes for a good pitching pick up in deeper leagues. His overall ERA and WHIP are not that exciting, and I’m sure his start Sunday scared you, but his performances up to that start were very solid. He provides a steady source of strikeouts and keeps the ball in the park.
Just when you thought Mike Napoli was dead, he hits another home run and goes 2-4. I thought I’d already recommended a decent second catcher for this week in Clement, but it never hurts to have options. Napoli has been extremely unlucky with his batting average on balls in play. He’s just getting into his physical prime, and his best feature is a powerful home run bat. Despite his struggles, he’s still got eleven home runs on the season. How many other catchers available have eleven home runs? That’s what I thought.
Twenty-six. Why is this number important? It’s the total number of saves George Sherrill has after Tuesday night. Given the fact that the Orioles are a pretty bad team, I would have capped Sherrill at about 30-32 saves for the end of the year. However, they’ve been in a lot of close games for the same reason. Either way Sherrill has been outstanding this season. Save on George, save on.
Tom Gorzelanny got the win against the Yankees Tuesday night despite walking five Bombers. Steer clear of one of this year’s biggest pitching disappointments until he figures out how to throw strikes.
If you like to buy low, Michael Cuddyer is showing signs of life despite a very sluggish start to the season. He went 2-4 on Tuesday with a stolen base. He’s 7/17 over the past week for a .411 batting average.
Another solid player, who started poorly, is Derek Lowe. He’s had some very effective starts lately, despite giving up five earned runs last night. He was rolling along until the 8th inning when its likely he tired out, giving up a two run home run to Jermaine Dye. He still struck out eight!
That’s all I’ve got for this week, enjoy the second weekend of the summer.
