Around the Diamond
June 9th, 2011 | by Ray Flowers |
One guy is trying to make history while a former all-star is just trying to stay in the lineup. Another all-star could be headed to the DL, someone can’t figure out how to manage his weight properly and there are some white hot players the last two weeks that deserve a mention.
Asdrubal Cabrera has been the second most valuable shortstop in the game behind only Jose Reyes. Cabrera is on pace to hit .302 with 32 homers, 113 RBI, 108 runs and 18 steals. There is only one shortstop in the history of the game to produce a season as good as that in all five categories, and that is Alex Rodriguez who did it twice. Obviously history doesn’t bode well for Cabrera being able to keep up this pace, nor does a review of his previous levels of production. Consider his homer and RBI totals each year of his career (all levels for each season).
2006: 4 homers, 36 RBI
2007: 11-79
2008: 10-60
2009: 6-68
2010: 4-32
I don’t have any idea how you go from that to 30-100, do you?
I saw X-Men First Class last night. A really good flick, even for those of you who don’t have an affinity for superhero movies. I also learned that January Jones ain’t a bad looking lady at all. Where have I been on that one?
In one of the more vexing cases this season, Jason Bay is hitting .207 with two homers over 164 plate appearances thanks to a recent run of 23 hitless at-bats. Bay has hit at least 21 homers with 84 RBI and 78 runs scored in each of his five big league seasons of at least 145 games played. Moreover, in four of those seasons he hit at least 30 homers with 100 RBI and 100 runs scored. At just 32 years old his struggles this year are befuddling to say the least. The guy has been flat out awful since joining the Mets hitting .244 with eight homers, 57 RBI and 68 runs scored in 134 games with the club.
Dustin Pedroia might need surgery on his right knee that could reportedly keep him out for four or more weeks. A career .299 hitter, Pedroia is struggling along at .247 and has looked little like the player we expect at the dish. Oddly though, he’s on pace for a career best steal total, he already has 13 (career best 20), despite the knee issue and the surgery he had on his foot last year.
Did you see the ridiculous story that Francisco Rodriguez lost 15 lbs over the last week after having two teeth removed? Even crazier than that is the ludicrous notion espoused by K-Rod that he was unaware that he lost the weight. Those two points lead me to two points. (1) Don’t they have milkshakes in New York? It’s completely asinine to suggest that K-Rod couldn’t keep his weight on cause he had teeth removed. You don’t have to eat steak to keep your weight up, especially when you have access to the elite in the medical profession to help to guide you in how to keep the weight on. (2) How fat is K-Rod if he didn’t notice that he lost 15 lbs? If I gain or lose five pounds my clothes don’t fit.
Only two lefties are in the top-25 in terms of batting average against versus right-handed batters since the start of 2009. They both pitch in the NL. They both are in the NL West. They are Clayton Kershaw and Jonathan Sanchez. For those of you with a curious bent, Kershaw is 9th on the list while the Giants lefty is one spot ahead of him in 8th.
The last two weeks…
Michael Bourn has eight steals.
Nelson Cruz has blasted six dingers leading to 13 RBI and 11 runs.
Kelly Johnson has six homers, 11 RBI and 13 runs scored.
Andrew McCutchen is hitting .417 with 10 RBI, 12 runs and four steals.
Mitch Moreland is hitting .405 with three homers.
Daniel Murphy is hitting .467.
Miguel Olivo has 15 RBI, one more than the 14 of Carl Crawford.
David Ortiz is hitting .405 with five homers, 11 RBI and 12 runs.
Corey Patterson is hitting .356 with three homers/steals and 13 runs scored.
By Ray Flowers
Tags: Andrew McCutchen, Asdrubal Cabrera, Clayton Kershaw, Corey Patterson, Daniel Murphy, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Francisco Rodriguez, Jason Bay, Jonathan Sanchez, Kelly Johnson, Michael Bourn, Miguel Olivo, Mitch Moreland, Nelson Cruz, X-Men
By Ricky S on Jun 9, 2011
Ray,
First of all I’m glad you finally showed Nelson Cruz some love. Does this guy have the talent to be a top 5 OF or what? Just stay healthy!
Anyways, I have a strategy question. In a head to head league, say for instance you have Pedroia. Your team was in first, and in your opinion you had the perfect balance of power and speed (as shown by your record). Your final UTIL spot was taken up by Coco Crisp. Pedroia goes down. I can plug in Aaron Hill to put in Pedroias MI spot, but he doesn’t have Pedroias skills. I am considering picking up Dee Gordon, who has the same skills as Coco Crisp, in order to start Brantley instead of Crisp in the UTIL spot. That way I have the same kind of skills from Dee Gordon/Brantley as I did with Pedroia/Crisp. Agree or disagree with the strategy? Would you just plug in Aaron Hill and leave in Crisp or do what I am considering?
P.S. Not an X-Men fan, but did you see Hangover 2? Thoughts?
By Ray Flowers on Jun 9, 2011
Ricky S – what do you mean I “finally” showed Nelson Cruz some love? Clearly you haven’t been listening to me on the show where I always support him, or reading my work. In my top-300 to start the year I had him at #19 overall.
http://baseballguys.com/2011/03/11/top-300-for-2011/
Even with his poor start to the year, I still listed him as my #10 OF ROTW – http://baseballguys.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/ROTW-HIT-May30-2011-BBGuys5.pdf
Gordon has similar skills to Crisp, but skills don’t always equal production. Gordon could take off or he could be hitting .211 in a month. You never know how these things go with rookies.
Haven’t seen Hangover II, but I loved the first one.
By Ricky S on Jun 9, 2011
Ray,
I think we have different definitions of “love”. Most fantasy experts like this guy, but only rank him #10-15 in OF because of his injuries. He’s healthy right now. If he continues to stay healthy, what does Ryan Braun do that he doesn’t? Cruz has been stealing bases (2 in the last 8 games) and that number will go up as long as he continues to be healthy. He’s closer to a .300 hitter than he is a .230 hitter as he currently sits right now. I just think with his skill set, he should be at least a top 5 OF, especially in that lineup and park. I didn’t mean to say “finally”, just that maybe his ranking is a little low. If he stays healthy, expect to see him push for the top OF spot ROTW. Could be a Joey Votto type who qualifies at OF.
By Ray Flowers on Jun 9, 2011
Ricky S – There’s no comparison between Cruz and Braun if for no other reason than Braun is a “A” for reliability, Cruz a “C.”
Cruz has tons of talent no doubt, but it matters little if you aren’t out there every day.
By brad on Jun 9, 2011
was offered beltre and victorino for batista and oswalt
would you do this deal is if fair i am in 15 team mixed my homers are ok runs and rbis could move up my pitching in ok but oswalt is one of my better pitchers others are lilly cain beckett and porcello
let me know he is not jumping at deal
By Ricky S on Jun 9, 2011
Ray – I’ll give you that. Braun is definitely more reliable….and thanks for mention on the radio as “the guy I argued with about Nelson Cruz earlier” lol. I’ll take all the publicity I can get. Anyways, just for fun, give me a projection. Right now Nelson Cruz is .237, 14 HR, 33 RBI, 3 STL. Assuming he stays healthy for the teams’ remaining 99 games, what do you see his final numbers looking like? Just for (you know whats) and giggles.
By JB on Jun 9, 2011
Ray: Rookie fantasy player in need of expert trade opinion. 12 team mixed league. I’m currently in 4th. I’m doing well offensively (leading/near top in R, HR, RBI and OPS)with an offense that includes Weiters, Hosmer, Weeks, Tulowitzki, Rollins, Adrian Gonzalez, Bautista, Morse, & Boesch among others. I’m leading in saves (Soria KRod Kimbrel and Valverde). My starting pitching needs serious help, since I’m dead last in ERA and WHIP (Cahill, Britton, Tomlin, Norris, Zambrano, Colon). Last place guy in my league has proposed to take Weiters and Tulowitzki and give Cliff Lee and Theriot. I’m worried about giving up my offensive edge if I lose Tulo, but Cliff Lee would provide a boost to my ERA and WHIP. Last place guy also has Granderson and Crawford, but they are not on the table now. I could pick up FAs Santana, Arencibia or Olivo to replace Weiters, and I’d have to drop or trade a pitcher. Help on this trade?
By Rob on Jun 9, 2011
Hi Ray,
Okay, so I think I’m warming up to the idea of trading Bautista (playing him at third). Would you offer someone the following trade?
Give: Bautista, Morse, Cahill
Get: Youkilis/Prado, Rasmus, T.Hanson/Greinke
Which side of that would you be on and which three from the splits would you try to get (if you had your druthers)? I see you have Prado ranked higher at second than Youkilis at first but how would you rank both at third given their eligibility there?
Also, this is a points league H2H 10 team. As always, your advice is very much appreciated!
By Ray Flowers on Jun 9, 2011
Brad – Beltre/Victorino for Bautista/Oswalt.
If you are counting on Lilly and Porcello as your third and fourth pitchers if you deal Oswalt, I don’t think you should do it. If the situation was different I would take that duo, but you can’t afford to lose the ace level pitcher from your thin staff.
By Ray Flowers on Jun 9, 2011
Ricky S – I don’t like making projections for numbers, because no matter what anyone tells you, they have no idea.
Let’s assume 90 games from Cruz from here on, so I’d say he finishes the year at .275-31-85-75-10.
By Ray Flowers on Jun 9, 2011
JB – Yeah, you need major help on SPs. Tomlin, Britton, Cahill and Colon are all guys I would be shopping, hard.
See: http://baseballguys.com/2011/05/25/how-is-this-happening/
Wieters/Tulo for Theriot/Lee
You need pitching so badly, I say you have to do this deal even though I really dont like it that much. It makes it easier to know you could get such a strong catching option off waivers. Here is my list : http://baseballguys.com/2011/05/30/rotw-rankings-hitters/
By JB on Jun 9, 2011
Thanks Ray. I’m trying to see if I get get a sweetener on the deal. In the meantime, are any of the guys on my waiver wire (some of whom are in your ROTW rankings) worth picking up in place of my current crop mentioned previously: Scott Baker, Harang, Danks, Gee, Stauffer?
Also, what do you think of dropping/shopping Mark Reynolds and picking up Moustakas?
By Brian on Jun 9, 2011
Ray any thoughts on Paul goldschmidt? is this for real? is he an impact bat? i saw an article where they compared him to stanton, could he be the next stanton? thanks for the toughts
By Nick on Jun 10, 2011
I’m in first place, with a powerful lineup, but thinking about making a trade…
Giving up Bautista, Gordon, Madson and Lohse for
Longoria, Zimmerman, Ubaldo and Lincecum…
Do you approve?
Thanks.
By Randy on Jun 10, 2011
Is Braun for Pujols a fair trade at this point? Pujols potential 3rd base eligibility is an exciting prospect…
By Chad on Jun 10, 2011
Ray- I was offered a one of the following pitchers for Patterson (TOR):
Collmenter, Floyd, Nolasco, Bedard.
Who would you take if any. Also I was thinking of adding Dobbs to trade to acquire Heyward. What’s your thoughts?
By Ray Flowers on Jun 10, 2011
Nick – I do not like eight player deals.
That being said, Lohse and Gordon are just blah options in my mind. The four guys you are getting could all be all-stars the rest of the way. This is EASILY a great deal for you based on talent alone. You’d be crazy not to do it.
By Ray Flowers on Jun 10, 2011
Randy – Depends on your league rules, but 3 starts, 4 games at 3B for Pujols is potentially close to really exciting. Braun for Pujols is a fair deal, but I would not make it based on Pujols qualifying at third base cause you never know.
By Ray Flowers on Jun 10, 2011
Chad – If you can trade Dobbs for Heyward, do it without a second thought.
Pitchers you listed, Collmenter does NOT belong in that group. Not even close.
I’d add the other three. My rankings are here – http://baseballguys.com/2011/06/03/rotw-rankings-pitchers/
By Ray Flowers on Jun 10, 2011
Brian – Goldschmidt is legit. That is one power bat that guy has. I wouldn’t say he’s “the next stnaton” because right now what is Stanton? I mean, the guy hasn’t even played a full season yet. I’ll say this, Goldschmidt has a shot to be a 30 HR bat, so in that sense he and Stanton do have a lot in common.
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110608&content_id=20222148&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb
By brad on Jun 10, 2011
I was offered chipper or magahee for pierre
do you think this is fair or makes sense?
Also Chipper is slightly hurt not worth the risk?
By Ray Flowers on Jun 10, 2011
Brad – When is Chipper not hurt? The guy has been injured for 15 years, just how it is with him.
Are you desperate at 3B? I don’t see Chipper of McGehee as being anything other than placeholders at 3B.
Pierre has been bad, no way around it, but he still possesses the ability to steal a ton of bases.
By jb (not JB) on Jun 13, 2011
Hi Ray, Just need the level headed opin of someone else who doesn’t care for the Vancouver Canyucks. In a ten team roto league with 5 keepers is Kendry Morales at all keepable?
By MT on Jun 13, 2011
Do I start Uggla over Rollins?
By Ray Flowers on Jun 14, 2011
jb – I would not keep Morales in a 10 team league with 10 keepers. No chance. Obviously that rules him out of your setup. I don’t know how anyone could make an argument to keep a guy who is missing a year and a half of action. Pass.
By Ray Flowers on Jun 14, 2011
MT – Don’t understand your question buddy. Can I get a bit more detail?
By jb (not JB) on Jun 16, 2011
Good Morning Ray, A question about Matt Holliday. Do you see him returning to 28-90-100 or is he turning into a Nelson Cruz? Great when he’s not injured…
*** Boston Bruins Stanley Cup Champions ***
By Ray Flowers on Jun 16, 2011
jb – Holliday has never been really been injured before. Since the start of 2006 Holliday has played the 8th most games of any outfielder. There is no reason to expect him not to be an elite option or to play the rest of the season without injury.