BlueClaws Blog

Getting ready for your fantasy baseball draft? Back for a second year is the Former BlueClaws Fantasy Baseball Guide, featuring several former BlueClaws that are currently either on a big league roster or in big league camp (click here for list from non-Phillies, click here for Phillies list). Here goes:

• Ryan Howard: Model of consistency has hit at least 45 home runs and driven in 136 runs over the last four years. Can’t ask for more than that. Probably your third or fourth first baseman with Albert Pujols, Mark Teixeira and Price Fielder right there. Was a BlueClaw in 2002.
• Cole Hamels: Buster Olney tweeted last week that his big fantasy recommendation was to draft Cole Hamels. He’s been working on a cut fastball with Steve Carlton. We’ll go a little deeper statistically here…last year, his strand % (pct of runners that reach and are left on base) was far lower than it has been (69 vs 76, 77 last two). There are some that believe that a sudden drop or uptick in this stat is luck-related, and if that holds for Hamels, a bounce back would serve him very well. His Ks/9 and Ks/BB were right in line with what he has done historically, good signs for a return to a high-end fantasy starter. Remember, he is only 26 (late-developing lefty theory), and sometimes it’s easy to forget that. We’re buying.
• JA Happ: Happ, who played in Lakewood in 2005, two years after Hamels, is actually older (Happ pitched three years for Northwestern). The Sporting News Rookie of the Year was very impressive, going 12-4, 2.93 last season, and 7-4, 2.88 in the second half, where he improved his Ks/9 and Ks/BB ratios. How he has a spot given to him in the rotation, which he earned last year, and will not be yo-yo’d in and out of the rotation like he was at times last season. While a sub-3 ERA is probably unrealistic in that ballpark, he is still a valuable fantasy option playing on a very good team and gaining more experience. While some youngsters hit a wall after a big year innings pitched wise, Happ threw 166 last year, which was actually just one less than 2008.
• Lou Marson: Sometimes lost in the shuffle from the 2006 BlueClaws, Marson remember was sent to Cleveland in the Cliff Lee deal in July and has a chance to be the Opening Day catcher with the Indians this year. FanGraphs has a writeup on Marson from January. Top prospect Carlos Santana hasn’t played above Double-A and had off-season hand surgery, so Marson will have a chance to win the starting job. He’s considered a contact hitter , who hit .246 with the Indians in September. You could take a flyer on him in deep AL only leagues. He’s ready and excited to have a chance.    “Absolutely,” Marson said. “You look and see that they just gave Ruiz that 3-year deal. And he definitely deserves it. He’s done a great job over there. But getting an opportunity here is all I can ask for. Now it’s going to be all up to me and how I perform during spring training.”
• Carlos Carrasco: A member of the 2006 ‘Claws with Marson, he’s competing for two spots with three others in Goodyear, Arizona at Indians camp. “We do have a number of guys competing for that spot so we’ll have to see how camp takes shape,” Indians AGM Chris Antonetti said. “But we’re very encouraged by what we saw developmentally with him last year when he came over and pitched for us in Columbus. He pitched deep into games a number of different times and showed some really good stuff.” His Ks/BB ratio was almost three last year, and even though he had an 8.87 ERA in September last year with the Tribe, sometimes it pays to be careful off of a very small sample like that. Ron Shandler’s Fantasy Baseball Guide says the upside for Carrasco is: Rookie of the Year. That seems like a stretch. He’s likely to open at AAA, but still keep an eye.
• Michael Taylor: Obviously, he can hit (stats here). Now, he has a chance to show it at the highest level. That said, he has less than two-months at AAA and probably needs a little more time there before coming up. He is not listed on today’s Athletics depth chart, for what that’s worth. So what does it mean fantasy wise? He’s a late-round buy-low type of player this year with a chance to be very good. The comparisons have been to Jermaine Dye, but it takes some time. I think he’s a safe investment late in a draft, and if you stash him on your bench for a few months, and then keep him into 2011, you could have yourself a real nice player for a few years.
• Domonic Brown: This was Phillies beat writer David Murphy in a BlueClaws Blog Q&A from before the Winter Meetings: People in the organization we talk to like Domonic Brown. They view him as a future star, a Carl Crawford type impact guy. Brown, of course, is the best prospect left in the system after the Cliff Lee & Roy Halladay trades. Is he ready for the big leagues and your fantasy team just yet? No, he hasn’t yet played an inning in Triple-A. But could he debut late or if there is an injury? Absolutely. Phillies people think he is going to be a star, and if Jayson Werth doesn’t come back, he’s probably why. But from a fantasy perspective in 2010, it’s best to wait, or draft late and stash. His time is coming.

Good luck!