Posts Tagged ‘Adrian Beltre’

2010 MLB Free Agent Signings – D. Lee, Gregg, LaRoche, Dotel, Beltre

Posted by Todd Lammi on January 5th, 2011

In case you have fallen behind in your fantasy baseball draft preparation for 2011, here is a look at some of the recent MLB free agent signings that occurred over the holidays as well as one that occurred today.

From a fantasy baseball impact perspective, the biggest moves were Kevin Gregg signing with the Baltimore Orioles for two years and $10 million and Octavio Dotel going to the Toronto Blue Jays where both are the front runners to serve as the team closers.

Gregg set a career high in saves last year with the Blue Jays, closing out 37 of 43 chances successfully. His WHIP is higher than what you would want from a closer since his walk rate tends to be high. He cured his gopher ball problem fro 2009 which brought his ERA back under four.  Some owners tend to discount him because he can have some bad blowups from time to time but with a career save percentage of 81%, he should not be overlooked.

Dotel is likely to serve as the closer in Toronto after signing a one-year deal for $3.5 million. His 21 saves with Pittsburgh last year were the most he had since 2004. Despite being 37, he still managed to strike out more than a batter per inning. Was much better after the All-Star break with a 3.10 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP.

Adrian Beltre signed a five-year contract with the Texas Rangers today for $80 million, making it the second time in his career he was able to parlay a bust out season into a big contract. He has hit well at Rangers Ballpark in his career with a .306 batting average in 219 at bats with nine home runs and 34 RBI. The loser in the deal is Michael Young in keeper league formats as he will now likely be utility eligible only next season as he shifts to designated hitter full-time.

Derrek Lee is headed to the American League for the first time after signing a one-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles as the team continues to make over its infield. Not much change in terms of fantasy value for him as long as you set realistic expectations and don’t plan on him going back to his 2009 season.

Adam LaRoche signed a two-year deal with the Washington Nationals which again does little for his fantasy baseball value. He goes always in the middle to late in fantasy baseball drafts but you can always count on him for 20+ home runs and 80+ RBI.

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2010 MLB Free Agency Preview – Third Base

Posted by Ben Pasinkoff on November 15th, 2010

Let’s continue our look at the available free agents, turning our attention to third base.  There aren’t that many available third basemen, so some of these rankings will be using players from other positions.

Remember, this is ranking JUST the free agent third basemen based off of the 2010 final third basemen fantasy baseball rankings.

1.) Adrian Beltre: The lone legitimate everyday 3b on the market, Adrian Beltre will surely get a nice contract.  The two suitors for Beltre appear to be the Red Sox and Angels, with both of them also likely looking at Carl Crawford too (more on that later).  Adrian Beltre had (another) career year last year in a contract year and it would be very un-Theo like to pay a premium for a career year but the Red Sox  still would like to sign him.  The Angels missed the postseason last year and the word is they’ll spend this off season to get back there.  Since the Red Sox have Kevin Youklis to slide into third and will be interested in Adrian Gonzalez, I don’t think they are likely to get into a bidding war with the Angels, who I think will be able to sign Beltre.

2.) Juan Uribe: Went over him in our Middle Infield preview

3.) Miguel Tejada: Went over him in our Middle Infield preview

4.) Ty Wigginton: Went over him in our Middle Infield preview

5.) Jorge Cantu: Cantu was usable on the Marlins when he’d get 600 at bats in the middle of the order and by default get pretty good RBI numbers.  But his days of playing regularly are over and what we’re left with is a guy who is supposed to hit lefties but batted .234 against them this year.  Whoever needs a capable backup at first and third could use Cantu, but wherever he goes he won’t be helping your fantasy team.

6.) Jerry Hairston Jr.: Went over him in our Middle Infield preview

7.) Felipe Lopez: He’s played on 4 teams the last 2 years, so he’s enticing enough to try out but not good enough to stick on a team.  His biggest strength is his position flexibility which is nice for a National League manager but useless for a fantasy league one.

8.) Melvin Mora: Mora got a surprising amount of playing time last year on the Colorado Rockies and played fairly well, which shows you that any infielder on the Rockies should automatically be on your radar,  but he will have to be lucky to get that many at bats again this year.  Whether or not a team picks up Mora this off season, consider his placement on this list as a remembrance of his 2004 season. That year, he batted .340 with 27 home runs, 104 RBI, 111 runs and 11 stolen bases helping fantasy owners win in 2004 and ruining their teams the following years hoping for a repeat performance.

Other free agent third basemen:

Miguel Cairo
Pedro Feliz
Chad Tracy
Joe Crede
Andy Marte

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Fantasy Baseball – The Secret Club

Posted by Todd Lammi on May 1st, 2009

by Todd Lammi

There is a secret club that has been forming in major league baseball. Not a lot of people know of its existence except for its members. If you have a member of this club on your fantasy baseball team, it could help explain why your team is low in the home run category. Much like the representing of the zip code was all the rage a few years ago, the new rage in 2009 is the 04 club. As in, hey David Ortiz, how many home runs do you have this season? I am 04 the season. Here is a look at the some of the members of the current club…

David Ortiz, zero home runs, 12 RBI, .220 average. Ortiz missed seven weeks last season with a wrist injury and has not looked like the same player since. Yes he did hit some home runs in September and in spring training, but with his build and age, the power could go quickly. It is funny to see his projected stats on ESPN, zero home runs and 85 RBI. Of course I don’t expect him to end the season with zero home runs, but I think the expectation of him hitting 30-35+ should be tempered.

Bobby Abreu, zero home runs, 11 stolen bases (2 Friday night), .356 batting average. The steals are a nice surprise, he only had one last year through the month of April with three home runs. Now at age 35, the power expectation should be the mid teens.

Carl Crawford, zero home runs, 10 stolen bases, .284 batting average. The stolen bases were expected to rebound after he battled hamstring injuries last season. At the age of 27, some thought this was the year he was going to finally hit 20 home runs, but it does not appear that way. He had two home runs in the month of April last season.

James Loney, zero home runs, 16 RBI, .309 average. His numbers in 2007 with 15 home runs in 344 at bats set the wrong expectations for fantasy owners. The 13 home runs he hit last season were more in line with realistic expectations. It is tough to roster him at a power position like first base with his lack of power. He had two home runs in the month of April last season.

Adrian Beltre, zero home runs, 10 RBI, .213 batting average. Has gotten off to a slow start so far this season. Nothing out of the ordinary when checking his various stat lines compared to years past. He has had shoulder problems in past years and back in March had complained of a sore shoulder so that could be affecting him. He had five home runs a year ago at this time.

Miguel Tejada, zero home runs, 4 RBI, .304 average. He suffered a drop in power last season and it looks like it is not coming back. At age 34, it looks like his run as a power hitting middle infielder is over. Three of his four RBI he plated in one game. He had four home runs through April last season.

Jhonny Peralta was a member of the club until he hit his first home run Friday night. It was not for a lack of effort though, as he has went down on strikes 26 times in his 81 at bats this season.

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