May 13th News of the Day: Scanlon & Richie Make a Trade

Ian Desmond becomes the second infielder to jump from Scanlon to Richie in the last 2 months

Jeremy and Richie came to terms on a deal yesterday that would send the struggling Ian Desmond (one of Scanlon's keepers) to Richie for the red hot Nolan Arenado and the injured Ben Zobrist.

From Richie's perspective, it looks to be a move made for roster flexibility reasons, with an added sell high/buy low twist. Many questioned Richie's strategy of drafting two third baseman to go along with keeper Adrian Beltre, and when Arenado got off to a great start, and Kris Bryant started tearing up the league, those concerns were justified. Richie had to bench one of those 3 every day. The tight rosters we use nowadays don't allow for a lot of roster flexibility, and that is partly done on purpose to create a more trade friendly environment.

Scanlon saw that Richie not only had a surplus of 3B's, but a lack of a consistent SS. Richie's opening day starter, Ben Zobrist, hasn't played since April 24th, and won't be back until mid-June. So last week he picked up Alexei Ramirez, but that quickly became his weakest lineup position. Meanwhile, Jeremy's backup SS, Alcides Escobar came back from his small stint on the DL on a tear, with 4 multi-hit games in his first 5. And while Yangervis Solarte wasn't having an awful season, Arenado is definitely a step up for Scanlon at 3B.

In my opinion, it's a pretty good trade on both sides. It fills a roster need for Richie, giving him a shortstop and keeping him from benching one of his three talented third-basemen every day. And since he's getting a better SS, and his 2B and outfielders are all playing great, Zobrist is a player he has no strong need for, and is therefore just a throw-in. For Jeremy, it allows him to hang on to his 'hot' shortstop and let go of the struggling one, so that he's not wasting his UT spot on a middle infielder (Only John gets to do that). Also, Zobrist will be back in a month (maybe a little more), and Jeremy can enjoy the added bonus of having a great OBP guy who you can plug in at 6 different spots in the lineup.

Overall, I think Jeremy is going to win in terms of overall production, but I think Arenado is overperforming and will come back down to Earth (maybe via a trade to take him away from Coors), and I think Desmond will break out of his slump and get back to being a top 30 fantasy option, so I love the buy-low/sell-high outlook for Richie. This isn't quite a dollar for 4 quarters trade, but it's pretty close, and usually (this time included), I'm on the side of the team getting the better player.

But of course, it's interesting that the last two trades in this league have been between these 2 teams, and Jeremy clearly won the last one. (Effectively Beltre, Gerrit Cole, Hunter Pence to Richie for Felix Hernandez and some other bums - Benoit and Syndergaard)


In other news, Eric has effectively nullified my last news of the day by picking up Marcell Ozuna again. THAT WAS A CALL-OUT LEAGUE!!! WHY DID WE LET ERIC PICK HIM UP AGAIN! I HAD FANTASIES OF HIM TAKING THE LEAGUE BY STORM AND ERIC GETTING BURNED FOR CUTTING TIES TOO EARLY!!! ALEJANDRO DE AZA IS BETTER THAN HIM?? DANNY SANTANA??? LEONYS MARTIN??  JAYSON WERTH?? (Oh wait, that one's my bad).

April Review: Russ, 21-17-2 (5th)

Paul Goldschmidt has been The Franchise's best All-Around Player 

There’s never been a season when Russ’ pitching has outshined his hitting, but that was the story in this first month. But digging into the stats will show that he has put forth a balanced attack thus far in his self-titled ‘Revenge Season’. Offensively, Paul Goldschmidt has been the #1 player in fantasy during the 2015 season. He is in the top 8 of EVERY offensive category, something that can’t be said about any other player. He’s a big part of the reason Russ leads all teams in NSB, ranks second in Runs, and third in OBP. This team has some strong offensive numbers, but only an 8-12 record on offense, so I expect that record to regress into displaying that he actually has the 4^th best offense in the league (from a roto perspective – 40.5 pts). Goldschmidt is the only certified stud performer, but this team is DEEP. Goldschmidt, Holliday, Santana, Freeman, Kemp, and Longoria all rank in the top 50 hitters, and middle infielders Jason Kipnis and Elvis Andrus are starting to heat up. Russ is remaining patient with injury returners Carlos Gonzalez and Jayson Werth, but he has gotten by with free agent pick-up Curtis Granderson as a 3^rd/4^th outfielder while they heat up. This team isn’t putting up the HR/RBI numbers expected of them, but there’s plenty of talent here for trading. I don’t think the 40% offensive win percentage will stay with this team long.

On the mound, Russ may have painted himself into a bit of a corner keeping Matt Harvey (fresh off Tommy John sugery), drafting Jose Fernandez (Tommy John last year, DL til June), Masahiro Tanaka (every knew he was going to end up on the DL, now he is, with Tommy John imminent), Alex Cobb (He only had a shoulder strain, but now he’s getting Tommy John), and Drew Smyly (Tendonitis, but now he’s back!), and that certainly looks bad to write it all out. But pitching has been a pleasant surprise for the Commish, a month into the 2015 campaign, as his 13-5 pitching record is the best in The Franchise. Matt Harvey picked up where he left off, only further solidifying Russ’ trade deadline prowess in his first year as a seller (Goldschmidt, Harvey, and a boatload of draft picks?!?! How does anyone miss playoffs two years in a row???). Drew msyly, in limited starts, has been fantastic in all 4 starter categories, and free agent pick-ups Danny Salazar and J.A. Happ have been really impressive in spot-start situations. He leads all teams in K/9, but every other category is pretty shaky, so I expect regression in the opposite direction for Russ on D, at least until Fernandez gets back. The offensive record should improve greatly, the pitching record should get a little worse, but overall this is a pretty deep team top to bottom, that could be elite if some of the offensive stars deliver and some of these arms get off the DL.

News of the day: Eric Drops Marcell Ozuna

Seems like Ozuna Dropped the Ball

As I mentioned in Eric's April review, Marlins outfielder Marcell Ozuna was the 51st player selected in the draft, but has been nothing but disappointment since the season began. Eric's drop marks the highest drafted player to be dropped for non-injury reasons*. The timing is a little strange in my opinion, it's still pretty early to be dropping a top 100 player unless he's injured, and Ozuna recently hit his first homerun and has a respectable .363 OBP. I guess Eric's patience wore out on the once promising 24 year old. Although I wouldn't be shocked to see him picked up tomorrow.


In other news, Dan grabbed the next big Mets pitching prospect, Noah Syndergaard, after they announced he could be next in line. Young Mets pitchers have done alright in the past (see: Harvey, DeGrom), so this could be big down the stretch.

Other pick-ups included fantasy journeymen Tim Lincecum and Brandon Phillips going to Mark and Dan respectively. It's always tempting to grab those big names with big pasts when they're on a hot streak, and hope they rediscover whatever made them first and second round picks not too long ago.


*I didn't actually research this, but it sounds right doesn't it?

April Review: Andy, 21-16-3 (4th)

               Zack Greinke has Been the Ace on the Franchise's Best April Pitching Staff

                  As good as John has been on offense this season, Andy has been just as good on the mound, ranking in the top 5 of every pitching category. In terms of roto ranks, Andy would have a 50.5 out of a perfect 60 in pitching categories. Zack Greinke has been a beast and is silencing those who criticized him as Andy’s 4^th keeper selection. Greinke ranks 4^th in the majors in ERA, 5^th in Whip, and is tied at #1 with 6 quality starts. But more impressive than that is the pitching value Andy found later in the draft. Fransisco Liriano, the 127^th pick in the draft, finished April as a top 8 fantasy pitcher. Scott Kazmir, picked 138^th in the draft, is currently ranked at pitcher #13 (all ranks according to The Franchise settings via Ziguana.com). And we’re not done! His #4 Starter A.J. Burnett (UNDRAFTED!) has an ERA under 1.50 and 4 QS! Four tremendous starters on the staff puts him in rarified air, but his bullpen isn’t to be overlooked; Trevor Rosenthal is a top 5 closer who has kept ratios low (except for his 11.4 K/9) and net saves high throughout the month. This team is pitching far better than the results are showing, and the results are already damn good (13-7 in pitching), so that’s scary. Will all of these late round draft picks continue at their top-tier pace?

                

                  Maybe a better question would be, ‘Can the dominant pitching make up for some banged up and below average hitting?’ Andy’s offense hasn’t been terrible, but it has paled in comparison to his pitching attack. This offense has been bit hard by the injury bug, and has been forced to rely heavily on Andy’s 3 offensive keepers. And ‘heavily’ an understatement; Anthony Rizzo has been otherworldly in terms of offensive production - he’s producing in all 5 categories and leads all batters with a ridiculous .474 OBP (The only player ranked higher through the month of April was Paul Goldschmidt – haha!). Andy’s Blue Jays tandem of Jose Bautista and Josh Donaldson also continue to mash, and their combined stats are right on point with what was expected. After those 3 heroes, there’s a pretty hard drop in production for this offense. Some of this can be attributed to injury; first round pick Jose Reyes, 4^th rounder Jonathan Lucroy, and late fliers Alex Rios and Matt Weiters have been kept off the field for significant time due to injury, but would they make this offense elite? My answer is no, but they can certainly get to an above average level, and if the pitching can be even 80% as good as it was in this opening month, Andy will be a force this season.

April Review: Eric, 22-17-1 (3rd)

Johnny Cueto has Been Lights Out for one of April's best Pitching Staffs in The Franchise

Look no further to find the league’s best executed balance of batting and pitching for the month of April. Despite a 9-10 record in offensive categories, this was a well above average offense during the first month of the season. Keeper Jose Altuve has been a top 10 fantasy talent, delivering strong performances in 4 categories, while Justin Upton has been the high impact, 5 category performer Eric was hoping for when he drafted him with the number 2 pick. Although not quite playing to last year’s levels, Michael Brantley has been a solid contributor, and Charlie Blackmon has proven to be one of the steals of the draft thus far. Adeiny Hechavarria (WHO?) has been a phenomenal pick-up and leads shortstops in several big categories. However, this offense isn’t without a few holes, as studs Buster Posey and Edwin Encarnacion are seriously underperforming, and 51^st overall pick Marcell Ozuna has not lived up to the hype. This offense ranks no lower than 7^th in any category, and has room to improve if a couple of Eric’s stars pick up the slack.

The pitching is the real story of April for Eric’s crew. The way his guys are going this is a top 3 staff in the league. The 3 headed monster of Johnny Cueto, Sonny Gray, and Shelby Miller have a combined 13 QS and miniscule ERA and WHIP. Eric (13-7 in pitching categories), ranks in the top 3 of QS and ERA, and leads all teams in WHIP. Cueto is a keeper, but considering that Gray went 20^th (after keepers) and Miller went 155^th (after keepers), these starters are exceeding the expectations of everyone (this writer/poor-predictor included). Net saves has been the only consistent problem for Eric through the first 4 weeks, but his closers are delivering great ratios to make up for it. Eric’s start has been almost as impressive as his finish last season, and if he can keep this pitching going (maybe shore up saves?), and get some production from his April draft busts, he’ll have a shot at some unfinished business in September.

News of the Day: Brad Looking to Upset #1

Adrian Gonzalez is en Fuego, with 9 homers, 22 RBI, and a .442 OBP this Season

11th place Brad is putting the hurt on 1st place Eddie so far. We're not even halfway through the week yet, but Brad is up 8-2, and leading all teams in runs, OBP, NSB, and K/9. Keep an eye on this one to see if Perka can come back.


In other news, Richie dropped Mike Moustakas to pick up the slumping Alexei Ramirez. Moustakas was picked up by Richie just 2 days ago for $9, and didn't play a single game on his roster. Richie has been playing for a couple of weeks now without a starting shortstop while Ben Zobrist is on the DL. Ramirez is 3 for his last 18 with 1 run and 1 steal, but he has been a semi-reliable fantasy player in the past, and should break out of this slump to be a decent replacement. Those $9 though...

April Review: John, 22-16-2 (2nd)

John's Undisputed MVP for the last 75 weeks

I don’t know how he keeps doing this. He had just 3 picks in the first 9 rounds and yet here he is, second place, offense looking as terrifying as ever, and pitching holding it together just enough. I think we all knew the Champ wouldn’t put up a dud of a title defense, but I don’t think anyone expected this. Despite ranking second to Perk in offensive record (14-6 mind you), John’s offensive numbers trump anyone in the league. In roto standings, John’s offense would net him a 50.5 out of a perfect 60, three and a half points over second place. He ranks first in runs, second in homers, second in RBI, and 4th in OBP. Mike Trout is the driving force behind all of these categories, and is once again playing like the most valuable player in fantasy, but John has also gotten great production from some unexpected draft steals and free agent pick-ups. Matt Carpenter, the 61^st pick of the draft AFTER keepers, has top 10 fantasy numbers to date. Devon Travis, a mid-April pick-up, is leading second basemen in pretty much everything. Recently added Mark Teixiera has 10 home runs! And that’s not even mentioning his other 2 offensive keepers; one of whom has been tearing it up in our backyard, Manny Hanley Ramirez! Yes he just went down with a “day-to-day” injury, but Troy Tulowitzki is John’s backup shortstop, and we all know he’ll be breaking out of his slump soon…

The champ’s pitching has been much less impressive but it’s allowed him to hold his position in second place. Corey Kluber does not look like the Cy Young winner of last season, but Jake Odorizzi is making a case to fill those shoes, with 5 QS already and some great looking ratios. However, he’s been the lone bright spot among John’s starters. Michael Wacha and Tyson Ross have both been serviceable, but as a whole this rotation could use some help. In the bullpen, it’s more of the same, with one player, Joakim Soria (10 net saves already!!!) carrying the load, while the others do irreparable damage to the ratios. Much like Perk, this team is stellar offensively, with no real holes, but this team is shaky on the defensive side of the ball. Hopefully for John,  Kluber and some of the bullpen disappointments can get it together, but all they really have to do is not suck, because this offense is clicking so damn well.

April Review: Eddie, 24-12-4 (1st)

Perka's MVP: MLB Home Run Leader Nelson Cruz

Eddie has started hot this season and it’s very well deserved. With 13 draft picks in the first 7 rounds, you could argue it’s hard not to put together a great team. However, most of Perk’s April production came from guys he didn’t need to draft this year. His keepers have been on fire all month and its showing up in the matchups. All four of his keepers are offensive assets, and even with one of them limited due to injury (Carlos Gomez, 12 games played so far, but coming back soon), Perk has been able to post a 15-4 record in offensive categories, tops in the league. Nelson Cruz is leading the majors in homers, Miguel Cabrera is off to a stellar start, and Ian Kinsler is producing at an above average rate. Outside of his core 4, Todd Frazier has looked great this season, and Evan Gattis is finally starting to heat up. With Gomez coming back soon, this is an elite offense with no real holes in it.

Perk’s pitching has been middle of the road for the most part. First round pick Adam Wainwright is out for the season and that seems to have knocked his staff out of whack. His closers have been the most consistent source of wins for him, as Chapman has looked excellent and Rodney/Boxburger have looked solid. Thanks to chapman and another reliever, Betances, who hasn’t registered a net save this season, Perk’s K/9 is second in the Franchise. Outside of the bullpen, this team has a real lack of talent, with Ubaldo Jimenez serving as the current staff ace. He has been surprisingly good this year, but I don’t know if that will last. Starting Pitching will remain a need for this team unless Perk feels he can rely on saves and ratios to float him while he continues to destroy the ball on offense, and it’s working so far.