Comments on: Brewers Clear Path For Escobar

By: SleepNowInTheFire

SleepNowInTheFire — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:58:21 +0000

With consistent playing time and now Zaun instead of Kendall at the back of the order, Alcides should see more success than last year. He won’t be Jose Reyes, obviously, but he’ll be a cheap source of steals and even though he’s hitting near the bottom of the lineup, Zaun is better than Kendall was at the plate, and Weeks has good power for a leadoff hitter. Who knows, if he can keep his average up he might get a shot at the 2-hole… (I can’t see Carlos Gomez nabbing it… or the disappointing Hart, and McGehee is a backup)

By: jimbo

jimbo — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:40:59 +0000

Why? Because of what I call the “Radke Effect.” When I first started playing fantasy baseball, Brad Radke haunted me. I scoffed at the team that would take such a low K pitcher. Over my first couple seasons though I saw how much that late, reliable pick contributed to a team. Not a stud, but consistent support for the studs.

Asdrubal doesn’t stand out much in any category, but he still is top 10 value at SS (based on ESPN 5×5 player rater, and WAR). While other teams might fill their roster with ‘upside guys’, in the middle rounds I’m happy going with reliability.

I think Asdrubal is a quality hitter and getting help at batting average is sometimes unpredictable. If he hits 8 hr, has 15 steals, and puts up 75rbi/90runs? That’ll result in ‘sneaky value’ if he also helps the team in batting average.

Read the article about shortstop unpredictability? If another team wants to spend an early pick on jason bartlett next year, that’s fine by me. I’ll take a less risky position and grab cabrera at a discount. Asdrubal had more value in 09 than rollins, tejada, drew, and alexei ramirez.

Sort of a moneyball concept. Identify players with above-average production/consistency and below-average name recognition in the league. Escobar could very well be an impact player. Could be Elvis Andrus ’09.

By: Southsider

Southsider — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:01:18 +0000

8-9% BB rate MANY years in the future FWIW…

By: R M

R M — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:40:00 +0000

Why would you take probably the lowest upside draftable second baseman over a guy who could actually help a team win if he can maintain a respectable average?

By: Jimbo

Jimbo — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:13:22 +0000

Tough to count on a guy like him next year. Like a lot of really young players, he’ll probably go higher than he should…be considered a “let down” if he isn’t an all-star…then be undervalued in 2011.

He’s good enough to be a sleeper, but too high a risk for me to pass on a lot of other veterans. I’d take Asdrubal Cabrera over him for now.

By: Southsider

Southsider — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:50:45 +0000

Great analysis, considering Gutierrez just posted a 5+ WAR season with essentially JUST his glove, there is still hope Escobar develops into a very valuable commodity – maybe not so much in the fantasy world outside of SBs.

His platoon splits have been pretty lopsided as he has struggled against righties pretty much his whole pro-career. Who knows though, maybe something will click in terms of added patience and poise at the plate, he could potentially crack the 8-9% BB rate…