Laika

It's not like it's COMPLETELY out of nowhere. 2013 = worst wRC+ since his rookie/sophomore seasons, worst HR total and ISO since that same time, and an ALARMING spike in GB% (I'm guessing groundballs don't turn into singles very often for country breakfast). But yeah, those are mostly hindsight, post facto indicators. I do think it's fair to conclude that his talent level isn't what it used to be though. Or, something has changed in his approach. It's like him and the entire f***ing Royals roster have been specifically told to beat the ball into the dirt. They are 2nd highest in GB% in baseball, behind only SDP. Worst ISO in baseball by almost 0.020 points...

If everybody wants to wait a month then we can, but last year we did it right after the MLB draft. If a player doesn't sign you can still keep him.

Tip - own less Padres hitters. It's ok though, look at my last 5 SP: Danny Salazar - NA Jorge De La Rosa Brandon Cumpton Jake Arrieta Eric Stults 20 team mixed leagues bro. Hard.

Crazy. Someone on a Toronto sports forum went to the same Toronto school as you. CRAZY.

Gallo and Sano is a huuuuuge package of fantasy upside. I love it long term for speedy.

Kevin: Please call up George Springer as soon as next week. Warm regards, ~~~N~~~

I have big SP needs. I'll send you a pigeon.

I'd give you any # of prospects and picks that your heart desires, + Danny Salazar. plus Alex Gordon plus a 24 plus a bj

Well said. They are powerful tools for player evaluation, but they aren't the end all be all, nor do they purport to be. Trying to predict/project what players will do is only their purpose in the most shallow and superficial sense. The real utility lies not in the conclusions of projection systems, but in how and why they got there, taken in conjunction with information like scouting reports. There is A LOT of information and data that projection systems can parse much better than humans, but at the same time, there is also A LOT of information that humans can interpret more effectively than projection machines. Knowing which is which separates the Friedman's from the Anthopouli.

I got your back too, bro. *fist bump*

To hold runners duh

I emplore you not to look at Papelbons peripherals. Should've kept Jimmy instead of trading him for a measly draft pick upgrade.

I remember trading some B- closer right before he asploded last year to Spanky for Joel Peralta. I seem to have a knack for that.... There's also Pap Smear who I traded before he became a useless piece of junk. Forget what I got for him though.Might have been underwhelming.

A quick glance at the results and most of the picks have had no real impact. Obviously Tanaka and Abreu have killed it, Guerrero killed it in AAA before losing a piece of himself, and some of the other prospects taken have the same value that they had during the draft. Spanky is still holding onto Domonic Dunne. I got K-Rod 58th and he's been phenomenal. Carlos Ruiz 41st has been a viable OBP catcher. Salty stands out for Havok. Not much else aside from some decent relievers taken in the upper 3/5 of the draft.

And I thought my Wandy Rodriguez waiver pick was such solid value... Damn.

Hilariously ironic that everyone who thinks Sanchez will bust wants to trade him for Jeff Samardzija. Shark had a 1.63 K/BB in the minor leagues, over almost 500 innings. Just a 6.3 K/9, and a fairly bad 3.9 BB/9. In a nutshell, I'd take Sanchez' minor league peripherals (1.87 K/BB, 9.0 K/9, and 4.8 BB/9) over Samardzija's. At least Sanchez is demonstrating the ability to miss a decent amount of bats, along with limiting runs (take it as a poor proxy measurement of inducing weak contact) and getting ground balls (56.3% according to MLB. Shark's minor league GB% not readily available but his major league mark is a pedestrian 45.4%.). [No, I'm not saying that trading Sanchez for Samardzija would be dumb.] Some people get way too caught up in Sanchez' K and BB rates. He's probably simultaneously overrated by scouts and underrated by SABR minded stat-line "scouts". In my view, guys with great s*** who don't K/BB very well in the minors like Sanchez, Chris Archer, Zack Wheeler, and Archie Bradley aren't significantly different from guys like Syndergaard and Stroman that do. They'll all get to the big leagues, probably run into bumps in the road, and have to make adjustments. Over 60% of highly regarded pitching prospects disappoint. It's a crapshoot. Names out of a hat, practically. Development is not linear and peripherals don't translate to the big leagues in a linear fashion. Some guys with good minor league peripherals struggle to post great K and BB rates in the big leagues (ex., Danny Duffy, Hellickson, Matt Moore, Dan Straily). Others do the opposite, although it's certainly much more rare (Samardzija, Lance Lynn?, Josh Johnson, ROY HALLADAY).

Jason Vargas is pretty bad. I know his ERA has been palatable in recent years, but his DIPS always seem to be well over 4. That's replacement level in our league - Vogelsong represents that right now as a free agent, and I grabbed George De La Rosa in desperation a week ago. As far as Markakis goes, he's worth a little bit but a 10HR 0SB OF is extremely unsexy. Most contending teams probably have OF full of better options at this point.

As he should! In a fantasy sense the dude is kind of 50's across the board, which of course = core piece for Boxy. Slightly ticked my three CF carousel pieces have all been worse so far.

I'd just like to take this opportunity in time to point out that Boxy only owns his 2nd best bat / 3rd best player overall because I felt sorry him and advised him to pick the guy up.

Well you're sweeping offense with a ~.660 OPS, so lady fortuna can't hate you that much.

Could definitely jettison K-Rod and a surplus bat for rotational help.

Maybe not absolutely terrible relative to the league, but it's legitimately terrible vs. preseason expectations, what it looked like before the season, etc. Mostly due to unexpectedly poor performances and s***** luck, I think, but we'll see.

My team is legitimately terrible. Also, wow, Shelby Miller is a f***ing mess. Sad. Joe Kelly probably bumps him from the rotation when he comes back.

Mikey Olt totally is

Yes. I'm ready to get trade raped again. Send me a wise bouquet of offer flowers in celebration of Salazar's demotion and the crooked fact that I gave up on Trevor Bauer preseason.