Top 5
1.  Chase Utley
2.  Ian Kinsler – With just a little bit more luck, Kinsler could overtake Utley as the No. 1 guy.
3.  Robinson Cano
4.  Aaron Hill
5.  Dustin Pedroia

Bounce Back
Can a guy who went 30-30 and who is likely to be selected in the first two rounds seriously be considered a bounce back candidate?  Ian Kinsler can be looked at as a guy who regressed in certain areas in 2009 and should be able to post an AVG and OBP closer to his career lines of .279 and .350.

Rising
Kinsler, Cano, Hill and Pedroia already form the upper crust of the position but they are each at an age where increases in production can be expected.  Gordon Beckham impressed in his first taste of Major League action.  Expect some more growing pains, but also expect him to build on his early success.

Falling
With every injury, Rickie Weeks looks more and more like he’s not going to be able to put it all together for a full season.  It’s a shame because he is a guy who has a lot of ability and looked as though he was starting to figure some things out.  Luis Castillo, Orlando Hudson and Kaz Matsui, once possessing a shred or two of fantasy relevance, are Monday and Thursday fill-ins.

Sleeper
Ironically, the same thing that lands Weeks in the “Falling” section makes him a perfect fit as a sleeper as well.  Chris Getz (25 stolen bases) and Alberto Callaspo (.813 OPS) are going to compete for the lion’s share of playing time this season in Kansas City.  The winner could be a solid contributor.  Just hope that they don’t platoon.

YANKEE SPOTLIGHT

Robinson Cano – .320/.352/.520/.872__103-204-25-85-5__30/63

2009 - Cano bounced back big from a disappointing 2008 posting career highs in AB’s, hits, doubles, homers and the lowest K total of his career.  Cano, another notoriously slow starter, actually started off the year on a tear (.366/.400/.581/.981 in April) and ended up posting a .300 BA and .900+ OPS in each month outside of May and June.

2010 – The annoying thing about Cano is that he’s such a free swinger.  The lack of walks is not a problem – more hits means a high batting average with more weight .  Strikeouts are not a problem either because he doesn’t whiff that often, but he does make poor contact with a lot of pitches that he should be spitting on.  Having said that, there is no denying Cano’s talent and he still has room to improve.  He will hit in a loaded lineup and get to play with the short porch in right.  Look for him to show some improvements on last year’s breakthrough and make a run at that Batting Title that everyone keeps projecting.

Final Call – Cano is underrated in fantasy circles – it’s as simple as that.  He isn’t going to steal any bases, but when you have a second baseman who can legitimately flirt with a .300-100-30-100 season out of the five hole you’ll find steals elsewhere.  He’s entering his prime years and the best has yet to come.  He should be the first second baseman off of the board after Utley and Kinsler.

You like how I did that?  I take a statement Cashman made without putting it into context and it looks like something that it really is not.  It didn’t take long to get the hang of that technique.  Yes, he did say that the 2010 Yankees would be better with those two in the bullpen setting up Mo.  With several candidates who could reasonably fill the fifth starter spot, it is easy to see how good the Yanks could be while playing six inning games.  However, we obviously need to know what was said in the rest of the conversation.  Despite acknowledging that the Yankees would be a better team in 2010 with both Chamberlain and Hughes in the bullpen, he stressed that it would not be in the best interest of the organization. The organization, the big picture, the long term plan – in addition to winning in the short term – is something that general managers have to juggle and balance.  Often times, the fans of a team will only be focused on winning that year.  Understandable.  “Just wait ’til 2012″ is not a statement that rattles your buddies when the trash talk starts.  For the fans that do understand the need to balance short and long-term success, Cashman’s statement (in full context) is refreshing.

Andrew Brackman: First impression

I got to see our 2007 first round draft pick for the first time.  I’m no pro scout so I won’t try to do a thorough Kieth Law impression.  I did like what I saw from the tiny sample though.  As we all know, he’s 6′10″ which means its going to take time for him to really find consistency in his delivery, but his looked clean and simple.  He worked with his fastball which looked fine and his curve which looked like it could develop into a real knee buckler.  More important and interesting than my amateur scouting report is that when asked if he could see Brackman contributing the Big League club in 2010, Brian Cashman flat out responded with a “no” and stated that he is still “raw”.  No big surprise there, but it was interesting to hear it from the GM.

I only caught a few innings of the game today which ended in a 9-1 loss at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays, so that is pretty much all I have for today.  Stay tuned for more fun Spring Training nuggets in the coming days.

Hughes to Triple-A

PROS – The main pro in this case to me is that Hughes would get the chance to start the season working as a starter, build up his innings in preparation of taking over a permanent spot next season, and really work on developing his secondary pitches – most importantly, his change-up.  The real benefits of this decision would be seen next season because there would not be any concern over innings limits or any “Joba Rules” type of shenanigans applied to Hughes.  Best Case Scenario – Obviously, people getting hurt is never supposed to be a part of a “Best Case Scenario” but, more often than not, it’s going to happen to every team over the course of a season.  For this argument, we could hope that when the injuries do come up, they occur in a way that would allow Hughes to come up from AAA and fill in the rotation vacancies.  Not only would he have built up his innings in AAA but, the Big League rotation would not miss much of a beat – theoretically.  By the time the season was over (hopefully in late October/early November) Hughes could have racked up 145-160 innings, allowing him to make a seamless transition as a member of the 2011 starting rotation.

CONS – If Hughes is in Scranton, he is obviously not helping the New York Yankees win games.  Even though he is young and still has some things to work on and develop, Hughes is a guy who has shown the ability to be a valuable asset at the Major League level.  It is hard to let a guy like that spend a significant chunk in the Minors when he provides on-the-field value to the Big Club.  Worst Case Scenario – If we had our starting rotation remain healthy and intact for a full season, that in no way, shape or form can be construed as a negative thing.  However, let’s say that it does happen and, meanwhile, Hughes is in AAA bored and unchallenged until September.  Many players would be able to make the most of a little extra time in the Minors and find things to refine and improve upon.  Many would get bored, discouraged and could regress.  I don’t really know what type of person Hughes is.  I would hate for him to end up being the latter type of player and actually take a step backwards with an assignment to AAA.  Another part of this worst case scenario involves the bullpen.  Without Hughes, the bridge to Mo could falter on several occasions and blow enough games to cause the Yankees to miss the playoffs in a loaded division.  That would suck balls.

Hughes to the Major League Bullpen

PROS – In the Big League bullpen, Hughes would set-up for Mo and form a dominant 8th and 9th inning duo.  The Yanks would be playing high school games (seven innings) and depending on how the rest of the bullpen shakes up, the games could be even shorter.  Best Case Scenario – Hughes returns to his 8th inning role in 2010 and continues to be one of the best set-up men in the game.  It is hard to get relief pitchers 100+ innings of work but perhaps the Yankees find a way to get Hughes a lot of work without burning him out.  After a deep postseason run, Hughes is finally free to focus on pitching where he belongs in 2011 – the starting rotation, albeit with some inning limitations.

CONS – Just because Hughes pitched one more year in a set-up role, it does not mean that he is banished to a career in the ‘pen.  However, it is definitely going to stunt his growth and development for another year in terms of the workload he is able to shoulder; and more than likely will stunt his growth in terms of the development of his repertoire.  Some people have the notion that he can work on his change-up while working out of the bullpen but that will not be happening.  If he is in the game in the 7th or 8th inning it is because he needs to get outs, not tinker with his secondary pitches.  Worst Case Scenario – Hughes spends 2010 in the bullpen and, regardless of how his performance, he is not ready to perform at a high level as a starting pitcher in 2011 because his secondary pitches are lagging behind and he has not had the experience of working through a lineup multiple times at the Major League level.  If you want to take it a step further, what if, for some reason due to working out of the bullpen, Hughes is never able develop into the front line starter he has shown glimpses of.  Now we are down a young, cost controlled starting pitcher that we will DESPERATELY need considering the growing trend of teams locking up their young players.  I admit that I was stretching it with that last point and, if Hughes is not going to develop into the pitcher we have anticipated, it probably won’t have anything to do with working another year in the bullpen.  It is still something to consider though.

I can see some positives and negatives in either decision that the Yankees make.  I think sending Hughes to Triple-A definitely helps in the long run without hurting the bullpen too much considering the depth they have.  Starting Hughes in the ‘pen makes the 2010 Yankees better but it hurts them in 2011 a little bit because Hughes will be behind a year in his development – perhaps an acceptable trade off if the Yanks force Joe Girardi to change his number again.  For those who think that Hughes is going to win the 5th starter job, these pros and cons, minus the inning building, also apply to Joba.  Let me know what you guys think but PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do not tell me that you want to see one of them permanently moved to the ‘pen.  That is another post for a different day.

Sleeper
Nick Johnson is far from an exciting name and you will probably have to battle yourself before giving in and adding him to your roster.  Keep in mind that Johnson’s biggest problem during his career has been injuries.  When he’s healthy he can be productive and his power, generally light, could see a slight boost playing half of his games in Yankee Stadium.  He’s only 31 and, if spending most of his time at DH keeps him healthy, Johnson could be a nice little gem for someone late in the draft or even off of the waiver wire.

YANKEE SPOTLIGHT

Mark Teixeira – .292/.383/.565/.948__103-178-39-122-2__81/114

2009 – Teixeira got off to his patented frigid start and then took off in May to the tune of 13 home runs and a 1.138 OPS.  Players often struggle during their first year in Yankee pinstripes and post numbers a notch below career norms but Teixeira seemed to have missed that memo.

2010 – After getting rid of any New York jitters and with A-Rod, presumably, protecting him all season, Teixeira should have a monster year.  His signature cold starts may not become a thing of the past but he’ll have more than enough time to get reacquainted to that short porch in right.

Final Call – Draft him in the first round and enjoy the production.

Now, we can take a little look at the move that we can only hope has any sort of positive impact on the Yanks.  Hell, we’ll even take a neutral impact at this point.  Kei Igawa, the Yankees’ really poor answer to the Red Sox’ Dice-K signing, will be converted to a lefty reliever and work exclusively in that role this season.  With a $46 million price tag (contract and posting fee), a LOOGY is absolutely not what Igawa was brought in to do.  What can we expect at this point though?  He has been brutal and sometimes you just have to look at yourself in the mirror and say “I f*cked up”.  Brian Cashman has made up for it since though (World Series banners NEVER hurt).  Hopefully Igawa can find a role that will allow him to actually earn his money.

Like I said above, you will want to stay tuned as I continue to keep tabs on the moving and shaking of the bullpen throughout Spring Training.

For anyone that was STILL holding out hope that Damon and the Yankees would come to some sort of agreement, this your signal to exhale. Damon has signed a 1-year/$8 million deal with the Detroit Tigers. Damon and his agent, Scott Boras, messed up on this one. Sure, he gets more money this year than he would have received in the 2-year/$14 million deal the Yankees offered but, at the end of next year he will be wishing that he took the Yanks’ offer. It will be a tough and frustrating task for him to find $6 million next season and, I’m sure it will be a bit annoying to have move to a third city in three seasons (assuming Detroit doesn’t resign him, of course). Either way, I think it works out best for the Yankees. I liked Damon a lot and I loved the way his game played in the new stadium but, sometimes you have to let guys go. It is tempting to keep the vets around – especially when they are instrumental in a World Series banner – but, that usually ends up with less than favorable results. Damon, we’ll miss you and we wish you the best of luck (just not when you’re playing the Yankees).

]]> http://theblogthatruthbuilt.com/2010/02/21/johnny-damon-signs-with-tigers/feed/ 0 http://theblogthatruthbuilt.com/2010/02/20/fantasy-ruckus-catchers/ http://theblogthatruthbuilt.com/2010/02/20/fantasy-ruckus-catchers/#comments Sat, 20 Feb 2010 21:12:56 +0000 bronxb225 http://theblogthatruthbuilt.com/?p=399 The catcher position is similar to the center position in basketball – they’re both thin, the little bit of talent dries up quickly, and they’re often valued for their real life contributions that do not necessarily translate to production on the fantasy stat sheet.  Joe Mauer and Victor Martinez are the two best options at catcher and there is little – if any – debate on that fact.  Brian McCann is an All-Star catcher and certainly someone worth having on your fantasy team.  However, he has averaged only 485 AB’s over his four full seasons and, unlike Mauer and Martinez, does not get to stay in the lineup on his “off” days.  Would you be better off waiting a bit and snagging Matt Wieters later in the draft?  He’s younger and less proven but, if he is slated for 550+ at-bats, it could be worth the risk.  It is just something to think about.  Sometimes it is best to take a waiting approach with your backstops.  It could be beneficial to use your early picks on guys who play a less demanding position and who are reasonably guaranteed more playing time.  You can afford to take this approach in one-catcher leagues.  Those that require you to start two will obviously require a more aggressive approach.

Top 5
1.  Joe Mauer
2.  Victor Martinez
3.  Brian McCann
4.  Matt Wieters – If Wieters DH’s on his “off” days, I have to give him strong consideration at No. 3.
5.  Jorge Posada

Bounce Back
Geovany Soto, Chris Iannetta and Ryan Doumit were each sought after in 2009 after strong 2008 seasons but fell flat.  Don’t be surprised to see them right their ships in 2010.  They should come at a discount but don’t be afraid to be a little bit aggressive on these guys.

Rising
Kurt Suzuki and Miguel Montero are two guys to look into once the elite are swept off of the board. Each made some nice strides last season and should build on those improvements in 2010.

Falling
Russell Martin did not instill confidence in those who gave him a second chance after his disappointing 2008.  Value is constantly preached in fantasy sports and, Martin is a guy who could potentially provide a nice return on investment.  However, I remain a doubter.  Bengie Molina has produced more than any of us could really have expected over the past couple of seasons.  How much longer, though, can a 35-year old catcher who swings at anything maintain fantasy relevance?

Sleeper
Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Jesus Flores are two guys who should be available in the later rounds of your draft or even on the waiver wire.  I’m not predicting big things but they are two guys who could potentially deliver some sort of value for a minuscule price – the definition of a sleeper.

YANKEE SPOTLIGHT

Jorge Posada – .285/.363/.522/.885__55-109-22-81-1__48/101

2009 – Brutal behind the plate at times (hopefully your league does not penalize for defense), Posada still produced with the stick.  Even at 37-38, he remained productive and decently healthy.

2010 – Posada will turn 39 in August, well beyond the age of when we expect players – let alone catchers – to decline, if not fall off the map altogether.  Some players are special though and maybe Posada is just one of those guys.  If he falls to you, don’t be afraid to pull the trigger but, keep in mind that the Yankees will be resting him frequently.  Some of the rest will come in the form of DH duties but there will be plenty of days when he is not in the lineup at all.

Final Call – Posada is being selected, on average in the 11th-12th round*.  Nobody will look at you funny if you draft him there but, personally, I would rather spend a little extra on someone who will play more or wait on someone later in the draft with a little less risk.  I’m a bit concerned about how the Yankees’ plans to rest him will impact fantasy lineups.  Unless he completely falls off, Posada’s numbers should be solid again in 2010.  However, completely falling off is something that tends to happen to catchers at his age.

*Note – In the drafts that I have done since making this post, Posada has been drafted significantly later than the 11th-12th round range that I previously stated.  Instead, I see him lasting into the late teens and early-20’s which is a great place to look into Posada.