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August 27, 2012

Value Picks

Second, Short, and Catcher for 8/27/12

by Josh Shepardson

Departures
A trade from the Diamondbacks to the A's pushes Stephen Drew (Yahoo! 18%, ESPN 14%, CBS 31%) to the “Departures” section.  The trade means that Drew will be moving from a home ballpark that plays slightly in the favor of left-handed hitters to one of the worst in baseball for them.  He also moves from an offense that is 11th in runs scored in Major League Baseball to the team ranked 25th.  He is still an option as a middle infielder in large mixed leagues, but he shouldn't be starting at shortstop in anything other than AL-only leagues. 

Like his batting average, Ruben Tejada's (Yahoo! 16%, ESPN 21%, CBS 33%) spot in the lineup has dropped recently.  On August 9, his average sat at .323.  Today, it rests just below .300.  That slide is bad news for a player who is completely reliant on hitting for average to have fantasy relevance.  As I alluded to above, he was also moved down to sixth in the Mets order for Sunday's game.  He still makes frequent contact and has a line drive rate in the upper-20 percent area, so he should hit for more average than he has been of late, but he's a fringy enough option to cut bait with and turn elsewhere for middle infield help, even in large mixed leagues. 

Hanging On
The Reds continue to trot out a leadoff hitter with a sub-.300 OBP, and as long as that is the case, Zack Cozart (Yahoo! 25%, ESPN 32%, CBS 61%) remains a middle infield option in fantasy.  His past week started off well enough and included a game-winning solo home run against Phillies' closer Jonathan Papelbon, but he fizzled at the end of the week, going just 2-for-19 from Thursday through the weekend.  Yes, that's a miniscule sample size, but if this poor stretch extends on a bit longer, it could provide manager Dusty Baker a reason to turn to someone else as the club's leadoff hitter.  Baker has been patient with Cozart, riding the hot and cold streaks, so don't jump ship yet, but monitor how he plays over the next few days and have a fallback plan in place at middle infield if he continues to scuffle along. 

Sticking Around
Owners that exercised patience with Geovany Soto (Yahoo! 26%, ESPN 12%, CBS 26%) were finally rewarded over the last seven days.  In his last six games Soto went 6-for-21 with five runs, one home run, and six RBI.  News that Mike Napoli isn't likely to be activated from the disabled list prior to rosters expanding on September 1 eliminates a potential threat to Soto's playing time for the time being.  Soto is moving his way up the second catcher ranks in two-catcher leagues.

He didn't hit a home run this past week, but Chris Iannetta (Yahoo! 5%, ESPN 1%, CBS 16%) did help fantasy owners by going 9-for-21 at the dish since last Sunday.  Don't expect him to continue to hit for average, and don't expect him to go homer-less much longer.

Even with a healthy lineup, Jeff Keppinger (Yahoo! 8%, ESPN 20%, CBS 19%) is getting regular playing time and making the most of it.  He hit his sixth dinger of the year last Monday and recorded a couple of hits in Wednesday's and Thursday’s games.  Kepp doesn't seem to be slowing down, so continue to enjoy his stellar play.