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July 16, 2012

Value Picks

Second, Short, and Catcher for 7/16/12

by Josh Shepardson

Departures
As the weather warms up in July, so does Erick Aybar (Yahoo! 39%, ESPN 41%, CBS 53%). He hit a home run in his final game before the All-Star break and has hit one in two-of-three games after the break. The power has been an unexpected addition to his juicy batting average. Gamers across all three major fantasy baseball providers have taken notice, with his ownership going up in all. Expect his homer binge to push his ownership above levels that are Value Pick friendly soon.

After a solid start to his big league career, Derek Norris (Yahoo! 1%, ESPN 0%, CBS 13%) has cooled off substantially. He has no hits in his last 19 at-bats, including six strikeouts. Until he turns things around, he's not rosterable in re-draft leagues.

The return of a healthy Lorenzo Cain crowds the Royals outfield, meaning Wil Myers (Yahoo! 5%, ESPN 1%, CBS 36%) is likely stuck biding his time in Triple-A. Kevin Goldstein has repeatedly noted that Myers' long-term defensive home is in an outfield corner, not center field. That didn't prevent fantasy owners from getting excited when Myers started to see time in center in the minors, however. It appeared a door could be opening to Myers getting a look in the bigs by faking it in center, but with Cain back in the fold, that door is closed for now. Wishful thinkers hoping that the team may deal Jeff Francoeur to clear room for Myers should note that MLB Trade Rumors recently had quotes from Royals General Manager Dayton Moore mentioning that the club was looking to acquire major league talent at the trade deadline, not trade it away. Myers remains a stash option in large mixed leagues and AL-only formats where bench space is plentiful, but temper expectations to a late summer or September call-up.

Sticking Around
Shedding the NL-only VP label, Yasmani Grandal (Yahoo! 16%, ESPN 9%, CBS 43%) remains in the column thanks to his continued ability to hit. He's yet to show off the patience that allowed him to walk at a 16 percent rate in Triple-A—he has zero walks in the majors—but he sure has hit. As a Padre, he is batting .295/.295/.614 in 44 plate appearances. He's not going to maintain his insanely high 27 percent HR/FB rate, but he should continue to hit well enough to be a fantasy asset behind the plate.

Nothing is imminent in regards to a call-up of Grant Green (Yahoo! 0%, ESPN 0%, CBS 3%), but the surprisingly successful A's continue to fail to get production from second base, shortstop, and third base. Green continues to hit, slashing .319/.360/.447 in his last 10 games, and has played one game at second, seven games at short, and another seven at third. After having struggled to get production at first base, the promotions of Brandon Moss and Chris Carter injected life into the position. Perhaps they'll hope for the same by giving Green a look. His offensive ceiling isn't high enough to make him worthy of a stash in most leagues, but owners desperate for infield help in AL-only leagues with bench flexibility can gamble on Green getting a look in the near future.

A healthy Stephen Drew (Yahoo! 21%, ESPN 15%, CBS 38%) has started all three of the Diamondbacks’ games coming out of the All-Star break… and he is hitting well too. Drew has gone 3-for-11 in those games, smacking two doubles, and manager Kirk Gibson has taken notice, slotting Drew in the clean-up spot for Sunday’s game. Unfortunately, Drew responded by going 0-for-4. Regularly hitting clean-up would definitely boost Drew's value, but as it stands, he should be owned in all but shallow mixed leagues.