Morse or Shin Soo Choo

[Kimbos Beard]

In the next pick of my keeper draft I will be able to choose between Morse or Shin Soo. Who would you prefer.

It is a 5x5 12 team league expanding to 6 keepers next year.

So far my team is

C- Carlos Santana
1B- Tex
SS- Reyes
3B - Longoria

SP - Greinke

[Bravos of Steel]

Morse, no doubt. He's got game changing stuff

[Urban Cohorts]

I think Morse is the safer bet and his production will probably be collectively better than Choo's.

However, Choo looks like a decent option for your team. The reasons being that Morse is a power guy, whereas Choo is a 5 category contributor. And with all of your current power hitters, two of which won't help much in AVG (Tex and Santana), Choo would be a good addition. He will provide above average stats across the board and should hit for a better AVG than Morse (Morse was lucky in regards to AVG in 2011 IMO). If Choo is healthy he could produce stats that are just as good as Morse's (possibly better, but unlikely IMO).

Morse is the safer pick, but I think Choo would fit your team better. If you can stomach some risk, I'd be happy with Choo. Can't go wrong with either though.

[Kimbos Beard]

I think Morse is the safer bet and his production will probably be collectively better than Choo's.

However, Choo looks like a decent option for your team. The reasons being that Morse is a power guy, whereas Choo is a 5 category contributor. And with all of your current power hitters, two of which won't help much in AVG (Tex and Santana), Choo would be a good addition. He will provide above average stats across the board and should hit for a better AVG than Morse (Morse was lucky in regards to AVG in 2011 IMO). If Choo is healthy he could produce stats that are just as good as Morse's (possibly better, but unlikely IMO).

Morse is the safer pick, but I think Choo would fit your team better. If you can stomach some risk, I'd be happy with Choo. Can't go wrong with either though.

Thanks for the thoughts. Originally I was all set on Morse, but I begun to second guess my self for the very reasons you state. My keepers offer me alot of the power stats, HR and RBI, which is exactly what I would be getting more of with Morse. So I think Choo's across the board production while maybe not as sexy as Morse numbers might be better suited.

More thoughts???

[azrael98]

This is purely speculation, but that lat injury of his makes me a little nervous.... he can still swing the bat apparently, but nagging injuries like that give me pause. That and for some reason, I still don't buy his breakout season and a half. So for those reasons, I'd go with Choo. But it's definitely close.

[HOOTIE]

Pretty close, but i like Morse more.

[KleShreen]

I have a man-crush on Morse. I'd go with him just because I think he has 40-HR potential in the very near future. More than enough to make up for Choo's 5-category benefits, IMO. At the very least, you could flip Morse (or one of your other power guys) for someone better than Choo during the season...

[Urban Cohorts]

Thanks for the thoughts. Originally I was all set on Morse, but I begun to second guess my self for the very reasons you state. My keepers offer me alot of the power stats, HR and RBI, which is exactly what I would be getting more of with Morse. So I think Choo's across the board production while maybe not as sexy as Morse numbers might be better suited.

More thoughts???

I see Morse improving this year, mainly in the R + RBI department. This is based on Werth rebounding, Zimmerman staying healthy, and Harper having an impact when he is called up. I do not think Morse will improve much upon his HR total as he hits too many ground balls. I think 30 is about right, maybe 35 with some luck.

Choo is certainly a risk, but remember that he is one year removed from two back to back top 40 fantasy performances (including pitchers). While he was healthy last year, his BABIP was uncharacteristically low, which led to not-so-great numbers. This could be attributed to either declining skills or injury (or both), but I think it was due to nagging injuries. The three things going for Choo are his age (29, prime), his lack of past injuries (2009-2010 were clean), and the improved lineup in Cleveland compared to 2009-2010. After missing significant time at the start of 2008 (with an arguably worse injury than now, elbow vs. lat) he went on to post elite numbers during the second half. No guarantee that this will happen again, but this to me proved he took his rehab seriously.

Morse is certainly the safer pick. And you can't go wrong playing it safe. But Choo could return to top form and outproduce Morse. And the difference between their current draft spots is negligible. Just go with your gut...

[sigriffey]

Choo seems more fragile of late... I'd go Morse

[khabibul35]

That's a really touch choice. My gut says Morse because I'm more of the conservative type, but if Choo comes back to his 2009-2010 levels he's obviously the better choice. I'm just wondering if last season's start + the injuries + the DUI hasn't messed with his mind a bit.