Teahen could be very good if he qualifies at 2B - which is a strong possibility.
I think Crisp is overrated going into this year. He's getting drafted earlier now than he was when he was looking like the full-time leadoff guy for the Red Sox. He is what he is, and it's not anything special offensively.
Ditto Dejesus.
In terms of breakouts, Gordon and Butler have been mentioned. I also think Jacobs could have a real good season. He's moving for a massive pitcher's park so his power could jump a bit (though he was a bit lucky in the HR department last year). His BB and K rates regressed last year. At 28, let's hope it was merely an anomaly and he can get back at least to his ''05-'07 levels. His BABIP was also only .265 last year compared to over .290 for his career.
So with a little improvement and some luck, I can see Jacobs getting to .270/.325/.525 with 30+ homers. At a minimum, he's an ideal 1B fantasy platoon (a underutilized fantasy strategy) since he's a career .269/.329/.521 hitter vs righties and averages about 33 homers per full season against them.
What happened to all the Billy Butler love around here? He's still only 23 and although he has 772 Major League ABs until his belt, there's lots of room for growth.
His Pre- to Post-All Start Break splits also give some reason for optimism. In roughly the same number of at bats, he had 9 Post ASB home runs to 2 before the break. His second-half batting average was more than 50 points higher and his second-half OPS, a respectable .817, was 175 points higher. He also had almost twice the number of runs and RBIs in fewer second-half at bats.
He consistently destroyed minor league pitching and the fact that he didn't have a Braun-like emergence onto the MLB scene shouldn't make us forget his potential.
Curtis Pride wrote:Teahen could be very good if he qualifies at 2B - which is a strong possibility.
I think Crisp is overrated going into this year. He's getting drafted earlier now than he was when he was looking like the full-time leadoff guy for the Red Sox. He is what he is, and it's not anything special offensively.
Ditto Dejesus.
In terms of breakouts, Gordon and Butler have been mentioned. I also think Jacobs could have a real good season. He's moving for a massive pitcher's park so his power could jump a bit (though he was a bit lucky in the HR department last year). His BB and K rates regressed last year. At 28, let's hope it was merely an anomaly and he can get back at least to his ''05-'07 levels. His BABIP was also only .265 last year compared to over .290 for his career.
So with a little improvement and some luck, I can see Jacobs getting to .270/.325/.525 with 30+ homers. At a minimum, he's an ideal 1B fantasy platoon (a underutilized fantasy strategy) since he's a career .269/.329/.521 hitter vs righties and averages about 33 homers per full season against them.
Jacobs was my thought too. The park adjustment alone will give him a strong boost, and he is very under the radar compared to some of the sexier candidiates. He has a good chance of putting up better numbers that Butler.
Not sure about HR numbers or RBI numbers, but I think Aviles could be a very useful fantasy player. In Yahoo he's eligible at 2B & SS. And could prolly steal 15 bags while batting over .300. If he scores even 80 runs and can muster up 10 HR's, I think he's very useful. I in fact took him in a 14 team H2H draft. By the time I took a SS there wasn't much around, so I went with him hoping for an upside....but hey, the guy hit .325 last year. If nothing else I hope he helps keep my BA up.
"When I knocked a guy down, there was no second part to the story."
For Fantasy Purposes I think Gordon has the most upside while Butler is the safest pick of their young players. I picked him up off of waivers a few days ago in a league and stashed him on my bench. I'm hoping for a good AVG and solid SLG from him.
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by Curtis Pride » Tue Mar 24, 2009 1:34 pm 
