Alberto Callaspo, Royals

Despite my hesitancy, I went out to the movies tonight.  Now, I had the lowest expectations possible for X-Men Origins: Wolverine.  Every review out there said that it was even worse than X-Men 3, which was unspeakably bad.  Like Pirates of the Caribbean 2 bad. 

 

A funny thing happened, though.  Going into something knowing it is going to be god-awful prepares you for something so bad that it cannot possibly descend to the level you have preset your mind to expect.  No, the movie wasn’t great.  It wasn’t even good.  But I wasn’t incensed coming out of it.  Sure, the special effects were comically bad at points, and there wasn’t really a cohesive story, and they tried to cram too many characters into one film leaving the cool characters like Deadpool and Gambit with virtually no screen time, but it wasn’t like Brett Ratner directed it and killed off half of the X-Men.  So it didn’t suck as much as I thought it would.

 

The thing with the free agents that find themselves out there still is that a lot of them also do not suck as much as owners thought they would.  When you pick them up, you plug your nose and prepare for the worst.  Then, when you least expect it, they play well enough to stay in your lineup after a week has passed.  Then a month passes, and they’re still there.

 

Like Cliff Lee or Ryan Dempster last year, there will be impact players who owners sold short on account of big question marks and spotty track records and remained available on the waiver wire for far longer than they should have. 

 

As were listed in columns prior, here are but a few of them.

 

Alberto Callaspo – 2B, SS – Kansas City Royals (3.5% ESPN, 13% Y!)

If there is one thing Callaspo does, it is put the ball in play.  Over the course of 2,931 plate appearances in the minors, Callaspo struck out 145 times.  In the minors, he hit .317/.369/.436/.805.  The knock on Callaspo is that he is not especially fast and is relatively powerless.  It should be stated that Callaspo is now 26 years old, and he currently is tied with Evan Longoria for the Major League lead in doubles, so maybe he is growing into a little more power.

 

What can be said is right now, Callaspo is hitting .380/.432/.570/1.001 as a 2B-eligible free agent option.  His .392 BABIP certainly indicates a bit of a mirage in the .380 average, but that is to be expected.  While guys like Brandon Phillips, Alexei Ramirez, and Dan Uggla make it increasingly harder to continue to plug them into your lineup, Callaspo has been making his case.  Sure, his average will take a dip as the season progresses, but from here on out, he will definitely be hitting better than the .207, .210, and .212 averages that those three are respectively putting up right now.    

 

 

Chris Duncan – 1B, LF – St. Louis Cardinals (51.7% ESPN, 27% Y!)

At some point in 2007, Chris Duncan forgot how to hit.  On July 26^th of 2007, Duncan was sporting a .294/.385/.570/.955 split with 20 homers, 45 runs, and 59 RBIs.  In the 43 games that followed, Duncan put up a split of .165/.271/.243/.514 that played his way out of the lineup.  2008 was not kind to Duncan either, meaning that 2009 has seen fantasy owners completely overlooking him. 

 

The thing is Chris Duncan did hit 22 home runs in 314 plate appearances in 2006.  His early campaign of 2007 picked up right where 2006 left off.  That Chris Duncan should be owned in every league.  Now, looking at his numbers this season, there are anomalies.  His BABIP is an unsustainable .368, but his ISO is up to .247—much more in the vein of his .296 ISO of 2006 which is obviously an aberration, but by the same respect the .117 ISO of 2008 probably was, too.  More encouraging is his walk rate, which is up for the fourth consecutive campaign.  For now, it would appear that the neck injury he was dealing with is in his rearview, and if that is the case, go out and get him right now.

 

 

LaTroy Hawkins – RP – Houston Astros (11.8% ESPN, 28% Y!)

Having lived in Minnesota when LaTroy Hawkins first got a chance to close games in the bigs, recommending the pick-up of this “closer” does not come without its fair share of trepidation.  His stint as closer in Minnesota drew the ire of Twins fans, and his blow ups in a Cubs uniform infuriated people all over the North Side with his 25 saves marred by 9 blown saves in 2004.

 

With Jose Valverde making his way to the DL as his multiple hematomas in his calf are drained and bullpen-mate Doug Brocail sitting there on the DL to greet Valverde, Hawkins stands to get what save opportunities there are.  The last of the hematoma drainings were to have taken place Friday, and the club expects his recovery from the procedure to take about three weeks.  For those three weeks, Hawkins looks to be getting the saves in Houston.  There is nothing sexy about adding LaTroy Hawkins to your fantasy roster, but if you need to chase saves, he is out there.  All that being said, there is virtually zero long-term value to LaTroy Hawkins.  Do not hesitate to drop him at the first sign of trouble.

 

 

Jason Kubel – LF, RF – Minnesota Twins (42.2% ESPN, 34% Y!)

In his Age-27 season (he turns 27 later this month), Kubel has started to flash a little more of the power everyone in Minnesota expected of him.  His ISO is currently .247, which is likely inflated and can probably be attributed to small sample size, but a small step up is not out of question at this point in his development as a hitter. 

 

The thing is there are signs pointing towards Kubel playing a bit below his ability.  While he has never been an avid walker, his walk rates are down by nearly half and his O-Swing% is up from his last two season.  As walking is not a skill that players tend to lose, one can expect Kubel to correct his freer swinging ways, thus seeing better pitches to hit.  Regardless, his split right now is .296/.329/.543/.873 and 25 home runs on the season is not necessarily outside the realm of possibility.  Moreover, there is nothing about his .300 BABIP thus far that indicates he is getting lucky on the balls he is putting into play, so you can only hope his walking ways return. 

 

 

Jonathan Sanchez – SP – San Francisco Giants (5.8% ESPN, 42% Y!)

Yes, this is the same Jonathan Sanchez whose ERA was 5.01 last season, but the ERA doesn’t tell the whole story.  In 2008 his BABIP was .327.  Once the fielding behind him was neutralized, his FIP from 2008 was a much more enticing 3.85.  That is enticing, of course, because of his 157 strikeouts in 158 innings. 

 

Sure, he likes to walk batters as much as a young Scott Kazmir, but those strikeouts are for real.  If you are looking at his 2.60 ERA and crying foul, then you would be headed in the right direction.  His BABIP this season is a ridiculous .201.  Weirdly, his walk rate is up to 6.23 per nine, too, so the damage that will be done to his ERA and WHIP as the BABIP comes back up the walk rate should also come down a bit, cushioning the blow a bit.  All of this is irrelevant.  Chase the Ks.

 

 

Josh Duggan welcomes your comments at mister.josh.duggan@gmail.com.  If you are going to heave insults in his direction, at least be funny and creative.  He is also the author of a Kansas City Royals blog, Royalscentricity, and a pop culture blog, Inconsiderate Prick.