August 6, 2012

Value Picks

Second, Short, and Catcher for 8/6/12

by Josh Shepardson

Departures
The non-waiver trade deadline came and went, and Chase Headley is still a member of the Padres. That means no path was cleared for Jedd Gyorko (Yahoo! 1%, ESPN 0%, CBS 10%) to receive regular playing time in the majors. Gyorko has done plenty to earn a look this year, and I fully expect he'll get that shot, but without guaranteed steady playing time when he reaches the bigs and an uncertain call-up date, he can safely be cut loose in most redraft leagues.

Gyorko isn't the only member of the Padres to appear in the departures section this week; he's joined by Yasmani Grandal (Yahoo! 11%, ESPN 2%, CBS 36%). An oblique strain forced Grandal to the 15-day DL on July 31, and initial reports are that he's recovering quicker than expected and may be ready to take some swings as soon as today. Owners with room on their DL should stash him, and Grandal is worth keeping on benches in NL-only leagues and in two-catcher mixed leagues, but he can be dropped in shallower formats.

The A's dealt Kurt Suzuki to the Nationals, but George Kottaras (Yahoo! 1%, ESPN 0%, CBS 2%) will not be the primary beneficiary. The team has opted to recall Derek Norris from Triple-A Sacramento, and they've announced that he'll be the team's starter and receive the bulk of the work behind the plate. As a backup, Kottaras doesn't offer enough to be a worthwhile catching option in fantasy leagues.

Having cooled off, Stephen Lombardozzi (Yahoo! 3%, ESPN 7%, CBS 13%) doesn't have the secondary skills to warrant ownership in most leagues. He provides little power and not much stolen base upside. He has hit just .250 over the past seven days with only one walk. Look elsewhere for middle infield help.

Hanging On
When I began prepping this week's article on Saturday, Stephen Drew (Yahoo! 20%, ESPN 14%, CBS 33%) was in the “departures” section. A 2-for-4 effort that day and his first home run on Sunday, however, earned him another week in the “hanging on” section instead. Drew owns a career slash of .267/.329/.436—a far cry from his .202/.286/.303 line this year. The funny thing is that Drew is posting the highest line drive rate of his career at 35 percent, which exceeds his previous career high (in 2006) by 11 percent. He is making contact at the highest rate of his career, and he's chasing pitches out of the zone at the lowest mark of his career. Small sample size warnings are in order, but he isn't as bad as his surface stats would suggest.

Sticking Around
Since being activated from the disabled list, Chris Iannetta (Yahoo! 5%, ESPN 1%, CBS 14%) has started five of eight games at catcher. He has hit one home run and worked walks at a high rate but, as he has for most of his career, done so with a bad batting average. His fly ball-heavy approach (64 percent fly ball rate since returning) will help his power play up but is likely to keep his average down as well. Good pop and a poor average is what Iannetta offers fantasy gamers, and nothing he's doing now indicates he can't provide that.

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