Anthony Franco99 posts

With the 2017 season now officially in the rearview mirror, and with the Houston Astros first-time champions, we turn our attention to the 2018 fantasy baseball season. Each week, I will be evaluating one player’s stock for next year. This week, we focus on Jackie Bradley Jr., another former All-Star with a somewhat depressed stock potentially on the trade block this offseason. Jackie Bradley, Jr. 2017 statistics: .245/.323/.402, 17 home runs, 8 stolen bases General Overview Jackie Bradley Jr.’s primary calling card is…

With the 2017 season now officially in the rearview mirror, and with the Houston Astros first-time champions, we turn our attention to the 2018 fantasy baseball season. Each week, I will be evaluating one player’s stock for next year. This week, we look at Josh Harrison, a former All-Star whose stock had fallen somewhat in recent years but who demonstrated some encouraging signs of a turnaround in 2017. Josh Harrison, Pittsburgh Pirates, 2B/3B 2017 statistics: .272/.339/.432, 16 home runs, 12 stolen bases General Overview…

With the 2017 season now officially in the rearview mirror, and with the Houston Astros first-time champions, we turn our attention to the 2018 fantasy baseball season. Each week, I will be evaluating one player’s stock for next year. This week, we look at Wilmer Flores, a player whose career-defining on-field moment had nothing to do with his performance, yet who may soon develop a mainstream reputation that goes beyond an unusual display of emotion. Wilmer Flores, New York Mets 2017 statistics: .271/.307/.488, 18 home…

With the 2017 season now officially in the rearview mirror, and with the Houston Astros first-time champions, we turn our attention to the 2018 fantasy baseball season. Each week, I will be evaluating one player’s stock for next year. This week, we turn our attention to Christian Yelich, a 25-year-old star who figures to be bandied about in trade discussions over the coming months. Christian Yelich, Miami Marlins 2017 statistics: .282/.369/.439, 18 home runs, 16 stolen bases General Overview Quite a bit of attention in…

With the 2017 regular season now officially in the rearview mirror, we turn our attention to the 2018 fantasy baseball season. Each week, I will be evaluating one player’s stock for next year. This week, we'll look at Jake Lamb, a first-time All-Star coming off of his second consecutive dismal second half. Jake Lamb, Arizona Diamondbacks 2017 statistics: .248/.357/.487, 30 home runs, 6 stolen basesBeginning in 2016, Jake Lamb fundamentally reinvented his profile, boosting his average exit velocity by about two miles…

With the 2017 regular season now officially in the rearview mirror, we turn our attention to the 2018 fantasy baseball season. Each week, I will be evaluating one player’s stock for next year. This week, we focus on Scooter Gennett, arguably the 2017 season’s most successful waiver claim. Scooter Gennett, Cincinnati Reds 2017 statistics: .295/.342/.531, 27 home runs, 3 stolen basesAnother player whose power output was exponentially improved the season, Gennett launched 27 home runs in a stellar offensive season in…

With the 2017 regular season now officially in the rearview mirror, we turn our attention to the 2018 fantasy baseball season. Each week, I will be evaluating one player’s stock for next year. This week, it's a breakout player who was a key contributor on one of the league’s four remaining teams. Marwin Gonzalez, Houston Astros 2017 statistics: .303/.377/.530, 23 home runs, 8 stolen basesMarwin Gonzalez was largely an afterthought in most fantasy leagues entering the season. A potential bench option given his…

With the 2017 regular season now officially in the rearview mirror, we turn our attention to the 2018 fantasy baseball season. Each week, I will be evaluating one player’s stock for next year. We’ll begin with one of the major’s youngest players, a Braves rookie entering his age-21 season coming off of a fantastic 250 plate appearance debut. Ozzie Albies, Atlanta Braves 2017 statistics: .286/.354/.456, 6 home runs, 8 stolen basesAlbies was a consensus top prospect entering the season, ranking 11th overall for Baseball…

Player Rater Report Each week this season, I have looked at ESPN’s Player Rater for the past 15 days to identify players surprisingly performing above expectations and to analyze the reasons for and sustainability of their overperformance. With the season all but complete, and nine of the ten postseason spots locked down, this presents a good opportunity to look back at the league’s top players this year as a whole.As for the predictive value of this exercise, it is worth noting that the position most accurately…

It can often be difficult to place into context how well (or how poorly) certain players have performed recently. A glance at ESPN’s Player Rater, which attempts to quantify a player’s overall fantasy value by analyzing their performance in each facet of the game, can focus targets for fantasy owners looking for help on the waiver wire. Of course, when dealing with small sample sizes, a player’s results can be fluky, but placement at or near the top of these lists could be indicative of a substantive change to a player’s…