Dynasty rankings: Top 25 fantasy players, age 25 or younger, 2012

Dynasty leagues are among the most enigmatic in the entire land of fantasy sports, and I’m of the mind that they represent the game in its true form most successfully.

You must build from the bottom up, target depth and roster balance, and sell high and buy low when necessary. Most importantly, you must think years ahead, and make rebuilding projects and keenly timed all-ins at your own risk. An injury or physical or mental setback that sinks your top prospect in Double-A will hurt you much in the same way it would the Pittsburgh Pirates. No one knows how your minor league talent will shake up, and what steals you might find in your supplemental minor league draft. Welcome to the world of dynasty league baseball. It’s a ruthless, enticing, and incredibly time-consuming—and did I mention awesome?— form of the simplistic game we’ve all come to know and love.

Thus, Josh Shepardson, Ben Pritchett and I have put together our lists of the top 25 of players under the age of 25 at the present date (all players born on Jan. 6, 1986 or later are eligible). The parameters for last year’s rankings are the same in 2012. A refresher, from Josh Shepardson’s 2011 presentation of these rankings:

The league scoring we used as a guideline was a 5×5 roto league that includes two catchers, one corner infielder, one middle infielder one utility player, five outfielders, nine pitchers of any type (with a 1,250 innings pitched cap) and the other standard positions.

Because of the age limitations in these rankings, don’t be surprised when you don’t see Evan Longoria, Carlos Gonzalez, David Price or Adam Jones, to name a few (the first three graduated from this list in 2011). I think I speak for many of my fellow rankers when I say that the aforementioned four are all excellent dynasty league players, and Longoria in particular is among the top of the crop, even at age 26.

With that said, please do scrutinize, argue, react, agree/disagree, and question our rankings in the comments below (or at our respective e-mail addresses). We encourage all reactions, as always.

The e-mail addresses of the authors of these rankings:

Josh Shepardson:

Ben Pritchett:

Nick Fleder:

Rk     Ben Pritchett          Josh Shepardson            Nick Fleder

1      Stephen Strasburg      Justin Upton               Stephen Strasburg
2      Clayton Kershaw        Stephen Strasburg          Brett Lawrie
3      Carlos Santana         Clayton Kershaw            Justin Upton
4      Justin Upton           Felix Hernandez            Clayton Kershaw
5      Felix Hernandez        Mike Stanton               Desmond Jennings
6      Brett Lawrie           Bryce Harper               Starlin Castro
7      Andrew McCutchen       Mike Trout                 Mike Stanton
8      Mike Stanton           Brett Lawrie               Matt Moore
9      Mike Trout             Carlos Santana             Felix Hernandez
10     Jason Heyward          Eric Hosmer                Carlos Santana
11     Yu Darvish             Andrew McCutchen           Jesus Montero
12     Eric Hosmer            Desmond Jennings           Andrew McCutchen
13     Bryce Harper           Jay Bruce                  Eric Hosmer
14     Matt Moore             Matt Moore                 Bryce Harper
15     Jay Bruce              Madison Bumgarner          Mike Trout
16     Tommy Hanson           Buster Posey               Madison Bumgarner
17     Pablo Sandoval         Starlin Castro             Pablo Sandoval
18     Dustin Ackley          Matt Wieters               Jay Bruce
19     Mat Latos              Pablo Sandoval             Paul Goldschmidt
20     Buster Posey           Jesus Montero              Jason Heyward
21     Starlin Castro         Elvis Andrus               Michael Pineda
22     Jesus Montero          Jason Heyward              Buster Posey
23     Mike Moustakas         Dustin Ackley              Matt Weiters
24     Michael Pineda         Michael Pineda             Elvis Andrus
25     Desmond Jennings       Yovani Gallardo            Dee Gordon

       Next Five:             Next Five:                 Next Five:
26     Alex Avila             Mat Latos                  Craig Kimbrel
27     Madison Bumgarner      Brandon Beachy             Yovani Gallardo
28     Neftali Feliz          Jason Kipnis               Dustin Ackley
29     Cameron Maybin         Freddie Freeman            Mat Latos
30     Elvis Andrus           Dee Gordon                 Brandon Belt

       Five More:             Five More:                 Five More:
31     Paul Goldschmidt       Alex Avila                 Cameron Maybin
32     Brandon Belt           Tommy Hanson               Julio Teheran
33     Travis Snider          Yu Darvish                 Yu Darvish
34     Dayan Viciedo          Cameron Maybin             Daniel Hudson
35     Devin Mesoraco         Mike Moustakas             Jason Kipnis


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Josh Shepardson
12 years ago

I’ll address all of the posts in greater depth later, but in short, my ranking of Jason Heyward has less to do in belief of his skill set, and more to do with concerns of his durability.  The first thing I saw when checking his FanGraphs page was a note of him having an MRI on his back to determine if there was any damage in there that could explain his shoulder soreness.  That’s a huge red flag for me.  Keith Law pointed out how the shoulder soreness completely destroyed his swing mechanics this year, and the proof is in the pudding.

Andrew
12 years ago

Clayton Kershaw is literally the top pitcher in fantasy baseball. He’s going #1 among SPs in NFBC drafts!

Yes, Strasburg has #1 SP upside, and his peripherals have been otherworldly when healthy. But why take the potential best pitcher in fantasy baseball when you can already have the best pitcher in fantasy baseball?

In short, to rank Strasburg before him makes absolutely no sense. I would love to be in a dynasty league in which someone made this colossal mistake.

Brad Johnson
12 years ago

Colossal is a…colossal…overstatement. Your argument has merit, but the difference between Strasburg and Kershaw – regardless of which is better – is quite small. You’d have to be colossally averse to health risk in order to see any noticeable difference in future value.

And if you’re that risk averse, you’d be taking a position player.

Nick Fleder
12 years ago

Andrew, while I respect your opinion, you don’t pay for the past but rather the future. Next 5 years, I’ll take Strasburg. New elbow, better peripherals (small sample size is backed by unbelievable scouting accolades, incredible stuff. No debate: Kershaw is incredible, but Strasburg can be better, and I think will be in the next five years.

Andrew
12 years ago

This is a different Andrew from the last one but the same as comment #3.

Scouting Accolades all rave about the stuff and the poise of Strausberg, I will give you that.  What you’re neglecting to mention is the Flaws in his mechanics everyone points to leading to elbow and shoulder issues down the road.  Work Ethic and Durability also concerns.

So for the next five years you’d prefer to have a guy with mechanical and work ethic flaws that could lead to further injuries. Or a guy with back to back 200 inning seasons with improved metrics every time?  All of this for a slightly higher K% and a slightly lower WHIP?

No thanks.

Sign me up for Kershaw all day.

Brad Johnson
12 years ago

Where have you seen complaints about his work ethic?  From what I’ve heard he has an excellent work ethic.

Andrew
12 years ago

Work Ethic mostly related to Diet…the nickmane “Fatsberg” made it’s way around

BleacherGM
12 years ago

Hi Guys, I thought it’d be cool to average out the 3 rankings;
1   Strasburgh
2   Upton
3   Kershaw
4   Lawrie
5   Felix
6   Stanton
7   Santana
8   McCutchen
9   Trout
10   Harper
11   Hosmer
12   Moore
13   Jennings
14   Castro
15   Bruce
16   Heyward
17   Montero
18   Sandoval
19   Bumgarner
20   Posey
21   Gallardo
22   Pineda
23   Ackley
24   Latos
25   Andrus
26   Darvish
27   Wieters
28   Hanson
29   Goldschmidt
30   D Gordon
31   Maybin
32   Moustakas
33   Avila
34   Belt
35   Kipnis
36   Beachy
37   Feliz
38   Freeman
39   Kimbrel
40   Mesoraco
41   Teheran
42   Snider
43   Viciedo
44   Hudson

and then I did my own top 35;
My Rank   Player
1   Upton
2   Kershaw
3   Felix
4   Stanton
5   Strasburgh
6   Lawrie
7   Santana
8   McCutchen
9   Hosmer
10   Jennings
11   Harper
12   Trout
13   Moore
14   Bruce
15   Castro
16   Heyward
17   Pineda
18   Darvish
19   Sandoval
20   Montero
21   Moustakas
22   Bumgarner
23   Posey
24   Gallardo
25   Wieters
26   Kipnis
27   Hanson
28   Feliz
29   Ackley
30   Latos
31   Andrus
32   Goldschmidt
33   D Gordon
34   Teheran
35   Maybin

sorry its a long comment, but pretty cool to see the average – Nice Work Guys!!

Ben Pritchett
12 years ago

I started thinking about the Strasburg vs. Kershaw debate, and I realized that if I was drafting a team this year I’d probably take Kershaw over Strasburg in a beginning keeper league but I’d rather have Strasburg on a redraft team if that makes any sense I love the potential and I will always give the benefit of the doubt to a guy with just one huge injury. You can’t automatically label him an injury risk because of one injury albeit Tommy John surgery.

Also in regards to that nickname “Fatsberg”, he picke that up at SD State well before he was ever the prospect he is now. He worked his butt off to get in the shape he is now and ive heard nothing but rave reviews about all his intangibles.

And to address concerns about Strasburg’s mechanics, they were saying before he got drafted that he had ideal mechanics and only since he’s gotten hurt have I heard this whole I-told-you-so argument. So, I take much of that with a grain of salt. They say the same stuff about several other pitchers that have never had injusy problems I.e. Tim Lincecum. Maybe I’m just that much of a risk-taker, but Strasburg is still special.

Matt Veasey
12 years ago

Fun fact: 6 years from now, when we’re looking ahead to a new “Roaring Twenties” and no matter what this year’s elections hold, Obama will be yesterday’s news? Bryce Harper will STILL make this list, still be under 26 years old. As an owner of his in my longtime Dynasty League, it puts a smile on this 50-year old face smile

Andrew
12 years ago

OK, colossal was a strong word choice. I guess I’m just too risk-averse by nature to even consider taking Strasburg over Kershaw. At any rate, love the post.

Also, for what it’s worth, here’s Keith Law’s Top 50 Players 25 or Under from a real baseball perspective…

01. Justin Upton, Diamondbacks
02. Andrew McCutchen, Pirates
03. Mike Stanton, Marlins
04. Buster Posey, Giants
05. Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers
06. Starlin Castro, Cubs
07. Eric Hosmer, Royals
08. Stephen Strasburg, Nationals
09. Madison Bumgarner, Giants
10. Brett Lawrie, Blue Jays
11. Mike Trout, Angels
12. Jason Heyward, Braves
13. Cameron Maybin, Padres
14. Dustin Ackley, Mariners
15. Desmond Jennings, Rays
16. Logan Morrison, Marlins
17. Brett Anderson, A’s
18. Alex Avila, Tigers
19. Pablo Sandoval, Giants
20. Michael Pineda, Mariners
21. Elvis Andrus, Rangers
22. Jay Bruce, Reds
23. Brandon Belt, Giants
24. Jaime Garcia, Cardinals
25. Mat Latos, Padres
26. Neftali Feliz, Rangers
27. Wilson Ramos, Nationals
28. Trevor Cahill, A’s
29. Freddie Freeman, Braves
30. Derek Holland, Rangers
31. Zach Britton, Orioles
32. Austin Jackson, Tigers
33. Aroldis Chapman, Reds
34. Daniel Hudson, Diamondbacks
35. Justin Smoak, Mariners
36. Gerardo Parra, Diamondbacks
37. Rick Porcello, Tigers
38. Peter Bourjos, Angels
39. Jhoulys Chacin, Rockies
40. Tommy Hanson, Braves
41. Hank Conger, Angels
42. Jeremy Hellickson, Rays
43. Colby Rasmus, Blue Jays
44. Danny Espinosa, Nationals
45. Jemile Weeks, A’s
46. Ivan Nova, Yankees
47. Brandon Beachy, Braves
48. Mike Leake, Reds
49. Craig Kimbrel, Braves
50. Mike Minor, Braves

Josh Shepardson
12 years ago

Kershaw/Strasburg:

I think we can all agree, both starters are incredibly desirable in keeper/dynasty formats.  In general, I tend to slant toward hitters in these formats over pitchers, and in submitting my rankings to Nick, mentioned that it physically pained me to include three pitchers in the top 4.  That said, those pitchers are tremendous.

With that in mind, if I’m going to start a dynasty league roster with a pitcher, I’m shooting the moon.  Someone addressed Strasburg’s conditioning above, and that is an issue of the past, as another reader was quick to point out.  As far as mechanics go, I’m beginning to believe mechanics experts may not know their… from a a hole in the ground.  Obviously, it is probably better for a pitcher to have a low effort delivery than a high effort one.  Beyond that, I’m starting to lean in the direction of some pitchers being built to pile up innings, and other not.  So far, Kershaw has shown the skill and good fortune of remaining healthy to rack up innings pitched, and Strasburg has not.  But, I don’t think that means there is no risk of Kershaw breaking down.  Pitching is inherently bad for the shoulder/arm/elbow. 

When both pitchers are healthy, there is no argument that Strasburg has been the better pitcher.  Yes, he has just 7 starts under his belt, but in those seven starts he has been better in all three facets of controllable pitcher skills. His K/9 is nearly two full batters higher than Kershaw’s in his career, and more impressively, his K% is 6.6% better.  Kershaw has made strides in both marks, but still lags behind Strasburg.  Kershaw also trails Strasburg in walk rate, and ground ball rate.  Kershaw had his best walk rate by a wide margin this year, but it was also his first year below 3.50 BB/9.  Maybe he’ll sustain that, but maybe he won’t.  Comparatively, Strasburg’s walk rate in his healthy rookie debut was 2.25 BB/9, and was better post Tommy John surgery at 0.75 BB/9 (which is not sustainable). 

The potentially bigger gap could come in groundball rate.  Prior to his injury, Strasburg sported a 47.8 percent groudball rate.  Post surgery he had a flyball centric approach, so there are questions about where he’ll land on that spectrum.  At this point in Kershaw’s career, though, it looks like his groundball rate is safe to project in the low-40 percent range (was up to 43.2 percent in 2011, a mark that was better than those in 2009 and 2010). 

All-in-all, the total package favors Strasburg.  To neglect to acknowledge there is a health risk attached to him would be wrong, but just how much greater is that risk that Kershaw?  I’m not sure that can be quantified, plenty of pitchers have returned from TJ and not had further health issues.  The biggest question for me was answered when he got back to the big leagues this past season.

MH
12 years ago

Thanks for the kind words Ben!

In regard to your point about Dee, I’m not sure the Bonifacio comparison completely holds up.  Gordon has more raw speed than Bonifacio for one.  He probably also has more job security.  More likely the Marlins find someone better for their outfield than the Dodgers do at SS.  Also, Dee Gordon likely leads off for the Dodgers, meaning he could get 700+ PAs.  Jose Reyes in his first full year is a good example of what can happen with a player with elite speed getting 700 PAs despite a poor OBP—his OBP was .300 even and still stole 60 bases that year.  As long as Dee is leading off for the Dodgers, I have a hard time seeing him get less than 50 SBs unless he has, like, a sub-.280 OBP.  He may never drive the ball like Reyes, but that shouldn’t effect his SBs projection (if anything it might help, since he’ll be reaching first more often than second or third).

Really, I just am not a fan of Andrus, which you seem to agree with.  I have no doubt he’s the better IRL player right now, but for fantasy purposes, I don’t see a whole lot of difference with Dee.  Andrus may score more runs and have an extra homer or two, but I actually think Dee could steal 10+ more bases which makes up a lot of that difference.  I’d probably have them both in the 25-30 range. 

As for the Strasburg debate, its not necessarily that his conditioning in particular (as opposed to any other pitcher) is an issue, its just that we’re making a huge assumption that throwing 200 innings isn’t going to in some way adversely affect his numbers—not necessarily significantly, but to assume it will have 0 impact seems foolish to me.  He’s never thrown more than 125 innings in any professional season (meaning any season where he’s pitching every fifth day).  If he could throw 100 innings per year, I have little doubt he could maintain his other-worldly peripherals, but that’s only slightly more than a reliever workload.  After he gets up over the 180+ mark, whose to say his numbers don’t go from completely immortal to simply Demi-God like?  That’s basically where Kershaw is already at, and we have little indication that he can’t keep it up for quite a while longer.  Can Strasburg keep his velocity up over that kind of workload, or will his average fastball go from an unbelievable (for an SP) 96 down to a simply excellent 94?  What about that 92 mph slider?  I can’t think of any SP who could maintain that, and the only one I can think of who even compared was Kerry Wood, which isn’t exactly a promising example.  Might batters start to get a better read on it if it dips down to 88 mph?  What about when Strasburg has to pitch in cold weather?  Is he going to lose some feel for his changeup or curve?  Is he going to have to compensate for that by throwing his slider (putting more stress on his arm) or fastball (making him more hittable) more often?  How might that effect him later in the season?  These are all significant questions that bring up some substantial doubts and we have no real information to use in answering them. 

Again, if I had to bet on which pitcher was going to have multiple 250 K, sub-1.00 WHIP seasons, it’d be Strasburg, but the chance of either pitcher doing that for a few years in a row pretty slim.  If I had to bet on who was going to have multiple 205 K, 1.10 WHIP seasons, it’d be Kershaw by quite a bit, and that’s not to say Strasburg is an awful bet to do that, just that there’s quite a bit more chance he falls short of that threshhold at some point in the next few years, or even that he gets hurt and misses significant time again. 

Strasburg is unique because its so rare that there’s a pitcher who has such insane upside while also carrying so much risk.  Almost always, pitchers who have the potential to be the #1 pitcher in fantasy have some kind of established floor.  Not so with Strasburg, at least not in the same sense.  I need to see him hold up for at least one 180+ season and continue to perform better than Kershaw across the board before I’d start to think about ranking him higher.

Brad Johnson
12 years ago

Let’s play with some numbers. Let’s say Strasburg has X% chance of being 10% better than Kershaw, Y% of being equally as valuable, Z% of being 10% worse, and N% of suffering career changing injury. Kershaw has M% chance of career changing injury.

What do X, Y, Z, N, and M equal to you? I’m asking anyone.

Nick Fleder
12 years ago

@SIDA

Once again, these lists are for future value (under 25, lest you forget), not past performance. Yes, I can see the point in regards to Kershaw vs. Strasburg, the former of whom has several years of excellent service time to his name, but the fact is Hellickson’s ROY win was pretty much smoke and mirrors, and everyone on this list has more upside and has a better shot to be a better pitcher than Hellickson over the next five years (or position player for that matter).

Your argument is based entirely on the fact that rookies who haven’t logged much service time should be behind players that haven’t; that’s patently false, though I respect your opinion and clear passion for this game. If this is Mat Latos’ ceiling (in Great American, his 2010 is no doubt his ceiling, and I’m of the mind that he will never reach those numbers again in his new home park), and if Matt Moore has the potential to be a Kershaw-esque pitcher—I’m sorry, but I’m ranking Moore considerably ahead of Latos. Bumgarner is superb—a #1 fantasy pitcher in re-draft leagues—but he had injury concerns in the minors, and velocity concerns in the minors, and I question his K upside, as sparkly as the ERA will be.

If we want to focus on Hellickson, I’ll simply cite his FIP and xFIP (4.44 and 4.72). He had a 1.4 WAR. He’s a below average pitcher at this point. You’d have to, in fact, rank at least 30-40 pitchers, in my mind, ahead of him—and that number is totally arbitrary. There might be 50 pitchers I take above Jeremy Hellickson next year. He might take a step forward, but I think these 35 guys have a better chance to do so.

Ben Pritchett
12 years ago

@SIDA!- First of all “SIDA” means “AIDS” in Spanish. You might want to come up with another tag. I don’t know if that was intentional.

I’m going to leave the debate of Strasburg vs. Kershaw alone. That topic is growing tired. I think all writers’ POVs are displayed throughout the comments section on this topic.

I am, however, going to address Jeremy Hellickson’s absence from this list. Now SIDA, if you want a list with Hellickson in it, you are on the wrong site. Go to ESPN or CBS or something. The Hardball Times prides itself on being a site dedicated to advanced metrics, and a guy like Hellickson doesn’t appeal to us. What’s amazing is, I’m probably the least stringent on my Sabremetric criteria when evaluating for fantasy purposes than the other guys, but Hellickson’s lack of decent sabr-stats is too evident to ignore.

Who led the Majors in BABIP against? Hellickson. Who was 2nd in the Majors at strand rate (LOB%)? Hellickson. Who are the top five in worst xFIP? Wade Davis, Brad Penny, JEREMY HELLICKSON, Jason Hammel, and Mike Pelfrey. His 9.3% walk rate and miniscule 1.4 WAR are “atrocious”. He’s lucky and that luck made up for some bad pitching. I would say he was the luckiest pitcher in baseball.

The trends go on and on. If you want somebody to salivate over Hellickson, you’re not going to find them here. I could argue a better argument for Mike Leake or Jhoulys Chacin than Hellickson. I would also grant that there should be a case made against me for not including NL ROY Craig Kimbrel, but I have trouble ranking a closer in dynasty rankings. Also Julio Teheran or Arodys Vizcaino could get some consideration but the list is only 35 players long. I feel like dynasty rankings should be predominantly hitters since I feel like that with pitchers it’s easier to find fillers.

I am the one that ranked Travis Snider. The other two guys did not. My ranking of Snider is more of a feeling that it’s time for him to come into his own. His struggles in 2011 can’t be ignored, but Snider is also a guy that has dominated these lists in years past. If not for a wrist injury that ended his comeback campaign, we might have him much higher on this list.  He’s still 23 and doesn’t turn 24 until February. If he struggles in 2012, he can officially be dropped off this list for 2013. However, I think he wins the starting LF job over Eric Thames in the Spring and has a much better season. His 30/20 .300 talent is still too exciting to give up on yet.

Since, we seem to be talking bets, I’ll bet that Hellickson doesn’t outperform any pitcher on my list in 2012.

MH
12 years ago

@Brad

I’d say (if we’re totaling these up to 100% so assuming you mean “at least 10%” more/less valuable for X and Z and “within 10% of value” for Y) its something like X=25%, Y=45%, Z=30%.  What I think is important to remember is that most cases that fall under X, though, include primarily outcomes where Strasburg is 10-15% better than Kershaw, while Z includes a larger variety of outcomes, although in many of the X outcomes Strasburg’s performance is also off the charts good while Kershaw’s performance is pretty stable among the outcomes in all three groups. 

As for the other two, I’m not sure what the exact rate of pitchers who suffer career altering injuries is, but let’s say its 15%.  Then I’d say N=~17% while M=~12%.  My reasoning is this—Strasburg may not be more likely than the average pitcher to suffer any particular injury at this point, BUT, he is now at risk for Tommy John #2, which has a much higher career-mortality rate than Tommy John #1.  Even if Kershaw got hit with the Tommy John stick, he’d still have a great chance at recovery, while there’s quite a bit more risk of a less-than-full recovery if such a thing befell Strasburg, and even in a Dynasty format owners would have a very difficult decision of how to handle him.  This is a VERY IMPORTANT part of this discussion.  Right now, the severity of Tommy John for Strasburg is MUCH higher than non-TJS survivors, and I think this issue is, though not huge in terms of probability, is getting overlooked.

I also think Kershaw is probably slightly less likely than the average young pitcher to get hurt—he’s never been particularly overworked, he was built up under efficient, controlled conditions, and he has the profile of a guy who has positive health prospects.  Obviously, the 12% number suggests I think this only has minimal impact, but not meaningless.

With those numbers in mind, I think its pretty clear that long term, I go Kershaw>Strasburg.  That could change by next year, but given what we know now, that’s how I’d go. 

Onto the Hellickson issue—I think there’s something to be said for considering Hellickson for this list, and although presented a bit…rudely…@SIDA has some valid points.  Hellickson is an interesting case in that there are very few pitchers who have his above average SwStrike% and a below average K/9.  There are a few implications here I think:

1.  His low BABIP means his K/9 is a bit depressed compared to his K%.  Under normal BABIP conditions, it likely would have been closer to 6.0.  Roto fantasy is one of the few situations where we actually are more interested in K/9 than K% because of the innings limit, but K% is still a better predictor of future K/9 than past K/9 is. 

2.  It means he has much more upside in Ks than the average Low-K pitcher.

3.  A lot of that upside is going to be related to Called Strike% and F-Strike%, which were both sub-par for Hellickson but were strengths in the minors.  These are both (in particular the latter) important elements of BB% as well, so an increase in Ks might bring with it a decrease in BBs.  This means his upside projection is less linear and a bit more exponential than a lot of other pitchers. 

4.  His minor league track record his quite strong—there are a lot of pitchers on this list who seem to (and probably do) have more upside, but I think the fantasy community in particular may have soured on Hellboy in particular because they perceive him as overvalued in redraft leagues. 

All that said, I’d still have a tough time ranking him.  He wouldn’t be in my top 25 I don’t think, and I’m not sure if I’d even get him in the 25-35 range.  Like you guys, I would probably have more high-risk guys who have less major league exposure.  But, at the same time, I would expect him to wind up higher on this list when we’re looking at it in hindsight in a few years and a few of those high risk guys completely flop.  Its just that right now we have no way of identifying who that will be, so its difficult to project Hellickson ahead of them given the risk of regression he carries with him as well. 

Also, I think Andrew had a good catch with Wilson Ramos, who is getting criminally overlooked across the board this year.  I think I’d also have him around ~30 too.  I understand the temptation to rank him behind Mesoraco, but I think I’d take Ramos.  There’s limited supply on catchers who project for regular playing time, and Ramos is one of the few catchers who is both young and should play in around 120 games for quite a few years.  Not sure that’s clear with Mesoraco (I’d hope he does, but, well, Dusty Baker and small sample sizes can be a bad mix, and I’m not sure that’s just a 2012 problem either).  Additionally, while Mesoraco’s numbers in the minors may be better, Ramos showed some really temendous improvements this year in terms of zone control, and they have similar power potential.

Zeus
12 years ago

I love these lists and GREAT job. 
How is LoMo not on all 3 list (16 on Laws) never mind completely off all three?  He has shown power (wrist injury slowed it) and great plat discipline skills.  He has 25+hr/290ave with more upside.

Sal
12 years ago

I traded for Heyward last year (gave up quite a bit) and rode him through the whole season.

I’m in a 7 keeper 10 team league with other quality options to keep. At this point I should just let go and hope I can redraft him…correct?

Josh Shepardson
12 years ago

@ Sal

That really depends on a number of things.  Is the league a standard 5×5 format?  Is there any cost associated with each keeper, or a limit on how long they can be kept?  What are the starting lineup positions (i.e. is it a 5 OF league, are the outfield spots specifically broken down LF/CF/RF)?  Where do you select in the draft?  Who are the other keeper options?  In a vacuum, I don’t believe Heyward will be a top-70 player in 5×5 formats in 2012.  That said, he has the talent that he certainly could be, and as soon as 2013 we could be talking about a top-25 talent if everything comes together. 

My biggest concern with Heyward has nothing to do with his development or talent level, and everything to do with his health.  This is the note on his FanGraphs page that concerned me (per Rotowire):10/10/2011: Heyward underwent a series of MRIs in the cervical spine area, to see if there was a structural problem causing pain in his shoulder. Those MRI’s were negative, the Braves’ official site reports.

The fact the MRI’s were negative is good, but the fact they were taken because he had shoulder pain is no bueno.  If you’d like to e-mail me specifics, I’d be happy to give you as thoughtful a follow up response as I can, otherwise, I hope this helped.

Nick Fleder
12 years ago

Heyward’s injury concerns certainly had him lower in these rankings than he was last year, but I also don’t love his upside. Sure, he’s a superb glove and has all the tools to succeed and be a superstar, but he strikes me as a better real-life player than fantasy-player. He plays in the deepest position, unless you go LF/CF/RF (I don’t generally), he probably won’t top 20 stolen bases in his peak, and I question how consistently he’ll hit for a high average; after all, his .277 rookie showing was aided by a .335 BABIP, and he consistently put up high average only aided by ridiculously high BABIPs in the minors.

So again, he strikes me as someone who will be a perennial All-Star, but probably because he’ll be playing a wicked left field, running the bases extremely well, and playing above average offense. But I don’t think his fantasy upside is immense.

SIDA!
12 years ago

These lists are atrocious. I am not even sure where to begin, but since I have to start somewhere….let’s start with the absence of Jeremy Hellickson.

You know, the kid that just won the AL ROY by posting a sub 3.00 ERA, a fantastic WHIP and doin’ it in the hardest division in baseball. An ERA that was good for EIGHTH place in the rankins in the AL and would have been good for NINTH in the NL.

Let me guess…you are going to dock him because “he was statistically lucky” or his strikeouts weren’t there? I laugh when fantasty geeks place a premium on “potential” and on guys that have never stepped foot on a MLB diamond over guys that actually have produced.  Hellickson posted more than 1k per IP during his entire minor league career.  Not just at one level…but every stop along the way. What were Verlander’s strike-out ratios? It took him basically 600 MLB innings to get to his current K rate.

Strasburg over Kershaw is laughable. One of the other posters had it right.  Whatever you think his “higher upside” is relative to Kershaw…which is up for debate…it does not offer up enough to compensate for the risk.

How much more upside does Strasburg have? Is he going to post a sub 2.00 era for his career?  Kershaw has the lowest batting average amongst all active pitchers since he has been in the league.  Over his ENTIRE career he is the hardest pitcher to get a hit against.

The absurdities go on and on. Where is the logic?  On one hand, guys who haven’t played one game in the majors are ranked higher than actual producers, and solid producers at that.  And then you rank “elite” prospects that have been underwhelming over other guys that have actually produced. 

Shut it down already!

SIDA!
12 years ago

@Nick

Coming off of 2009, was David Price an average pitcher at best?

FIP 4.59
xFIP 4.43
WAR 1.3
BB/9 3.79

Or do those stats only count for Hellickson?

Josh Shepardson
12 years ago

@ SIDA!

I always wondered who thought Bartolo Colon was deserving of the Cy Young in 2005, and now I know.  I mean the guy won 21 games!  Seriously though, I wasn’t aware there were leagues that awarded fantasy points based on hardware.  I remember when Eric Hinske won a ROY award.  He’s been a fantasy stud ever since. 

Could you please enlighten me to how well ERA predicts future performance when stacked up against FIP, xFIP, tERA, SIERA and any other number of advanced metrics?  I also find it curious that you are trolling a fantasy article and referring to the authors as fantasy geeks. 

It’s pretty easy to see you are the poker player that gets all his chips in the middle pre-flop with K/Q and brags to his buddies how he outplayed A’s when he somehow backdoors a win.  I’ll never get upset with that guy, because in the long run, I make money off him.

Spinning this away from feeding the troll, I will point out that there are some positives to draw from Hellickson (beyond his shiny surface stats).  His change-up is a legit out pitch (18.7 percent whiff rate), and his curveball isn’t a bad second strikeout offering (12.7 percent whiff rate).  His fastball, however, is not a swing and miss pitch (4.6 percent whiff rate on his four-seamer, 3.6 percent whiff rate on his two-seamer).  As he becomes more familiar with major league hitters, and perhaps further refines his pitch sequencing, I expect his strikeout rate to jump.  That said, throwing a fastball that hitters know won’t get empties swings may prevent him from reaching the lofty bar he set in the minors.

Nick Fleder
12 years ago

Touchè. I mean, he was an average pitcher at best coming off of his 09 season, but I was being too closed minded about his future prospects.

This doesn’t take away from the fact that you’re being incredibly closed-minded about service time requirements and past performance dictating future success. Yes, Hellickson may be a top notch pitcher at one point, but his 2011 success—which you cited as reason enough for him to deserve an appearance on this list—was largely smoke and mirrors. I can’t find a legit argument for his Cy Young worthiness, and in purely fantasy terms, he possesses very little upside to drool over. The fact is, though, that the names above (on all three lists), particularly the pitchers, were considered carefully and decided to have considerable more upside than Hellboy in the next five years or so.

Sure, maybe it’ll be a glaring omission when we look back next year, but you lobbying for his inclusion is much like us betting on upside plays without ML service time. You’re betting JH will take a step forward like David Price, just like we are with Darvish, Teheran, and Moore. I’ll take any of my three any day, thank you.

Nick Fleder
12 years ago

“his future prospects,” pertains to Hellickson, for clarification.

SIDA!
12 years ago

@Ben

FWIW, I agree with you that young closers should be devalued (all closers should be devalued…way too much volatility). So, I don’t have any qualms with that.

I do find it amusing that you take a swipe at ESPN and CBS rankings while professing to be a more astute analyst of the fantasy game because you actually look at the really important stats. You proceed to regale me with a litany of reasons why Hellickson isn’t even on your list and then nonchalantly decide to drop the “I like Travis Snider because I feel it is his time” argument.

Seriously?

Verlander didn’t go sub 4.00 on FIP or xFIP until 2009, his fourth full season in the league. Did Hellickson show higher than normal walk rates last year? Absolutely.  It was his first full year in the majors…I mean…guys get to have some growing pains…like…er…Travis Snider, right?

However, Hellickson had superior control throughout his minor league career and he wasn’t exactly terrible in the walks department last year anyway. David Price posted a 3.79 and a 3.41 coming into 2011.

Your suggestion that I take a bet that Hellickson will not outperform any of the pitchers on the list is ridiculous.  Why are you just limiting it to pitchers…and not the entire list?  You guys didn’t rank pitchers and hitters separately.

More to the point…how the hell could I possibly beat any of you guys with such a subjective bet.  It is a moving target over here.  You make a list of players and rank them for a 5×5 roto league…except that apparently 3 of those 10 categories don’t count (ERA, WHIP and AVG).

Let’s be concrete and specific. All three of you have Yu Darvish ahead of Hellickson and Matt Moore ahead of Mat Latos.

I will bet all three of you a $100 each on the following:

Yu Darvish does not post a sub-2.95 ERA (Hellickson’s first year number)
Yu Darvish does not post a sub-1.15 WHIP (Hellickson’s first year number)

Matt Moore does not post a sub-2.93 ERA (Latos’ first year number)
Matt Moore does not post a sub-1.09 WHIP (Latos’ first year number)

Both pitchers have to pitch more than 150 innings.  If they fail to do so, you lose the bet.

That is $100 per each category, per person.  $1,200 risk for me and $400 for each of you.

And I would love to make a Travis Snider bet.

Yu Darvish has been playing against the best that Japan has to offer for years and you guys think he is vastly superior to a lucky and mediocre pitcher like Hellickson.  And Matt Moore is the Second Coming of Kershaw.  Thankfully, he isn’t the Second Coming of Strasburg…or else there is no way I would have made this bet.

FWIW, if you guys publicly agree to this prop bet I will look into finding an escrow company to hold my money.

SIDA!
12 years ago

I am a fantasy geek, that is why I am on here.  I was referring to the propensity of other fantasy geeks to blow their wad all over guys that have never even played at the MLB level or have a small sample set.

And I never said that just because a guy wins hardware that that equates to legitimate bonifides being handed out to that player. I don’t believe wins is a measure of a pitcher’s talent.

Hellickson was an elite prospect with an excellent pedigree that had produced exceptionally well at EVERY level he has played in.  Then he produces at the highest level in the best division.  What was his swing:miss rate in the minors?  What was Verlander’s when he was coming up?  Again, I am not saying that he will be Verlander-esque.

But you guys are going to seriously say that Travis Snider has more long term value than Hellickson?  Really?!

What is Yu Darvish’s MLB statline….crickets.

Making an argument and presenting facts to support those arguments is not trollish behavior.  Get over yourself.

Nick Fleder
12 years ago

I’m shocked that Matt Moore ahead of Mat Latos brings up debate, but I will repeat this one more time that *past performance does not dictate future success*, and this is list is NOT ranking past performance but where we think the players will lie, value wise, over the next ~5 years. Mat Latos’ rookie numbers are completely irrelevant. Relevant, however, is the fact that he pitched in PETCO for his entire career and now shifts to Great American. He has a career 3.57 ERA away from PETCO, and while I like him as a pitcher and concede that I may have him a bit low on this list (for the record, we’ll all submit updates and explanations over the next week or so), I will defend vigorously placing Matt Moore ahead of him.

Moore has never posted below an 11.52 K/9 at any substantial stay at any level; he blew people away a la Strasburg instantly in the majors, and in the playoffs, and I would argue that his WHIP upside is greater than Latos’. He strikes out a ton more guys, lets fewer balls in play, and was on the low side of the BABIP mean line (~.300) throughout his minor league career. Three above average pitches; regular appearances on top prospect lists;  a friendly home park. There is nothing to balk at there, in my evaluation. Latos has an unfriendly home park—if you want to chalk it down to that alone, do it—but he also has less upside in my mind.

MH
12 years ago

@SIDA

I think there’s some creedence to that argument, but Price is a bit different.  He had a considerably better strikeout rate, he gets some points for raw “stuff,” being a #1 overall pick, being a lefty, and having a more neutral batted ball profile (as opposed to Hellickson who is an extreme fly ball guy).  Even if I think the sabermetric and hardcore fantasy communities may be overlooking Hellickson a bit (as opposed to the more average redraft fantasy community where he’s being overvalued), he doesn’t have Price’s ceiling, and he’s much harder to project.  I wouldn’t expect much more than a 7.0-8.0 K/9 this year, a mid-high 3.00s ERA, and a 1.2-1.3 WHIP, and there’s lots of room for him to be quite a bit worse than that.  There’s fantasy value in a pitcher like that, but that’s about as optimistic a projection as you can realistically give him without making assumptions that there isn’t strong evidence for yet, and its well below the ceilings/values of all the pitchers on these lists.  You can maybe make an argument that its better than some of the position players, but even that’s close, and there are other pitchers I’d take before Hellickson anyway.  I’m pretty sure I’d wind up siding with the guys here that when in doubt, go with the hitters, especially given the way the major league run environment has been trending.  Pitchers like that are much less scarce than they were a few years ago, so there’s a premium on ceiling when talking about pitchers in dynasty formats, especially deeper into the rankings.  I couldn’t put him ahead of guys like Hanson, Hudson, Teheran, Darvish, etc., who are the guys you see in the 30-35 ranges above, and there are quite a few prospects/young guys I’d take first.  Off the top of my head: Shelby Miller, Derek Holland, and Mike Minor for sure, then probably Jon Niese (who is basically Hellickson’s inverse—a guy with excellent peripherals but mediocre results) and Robbie Erlin (now that he’s in SD), and that’s about where Hellickson starts to enter the conversation.

Nick Fleder
12 years ago

@Zeus

I can’t speak for the other writers, but I considered LoMo. He clocked in around ~40 if we expanded the list. Couple of concerns with him: outfield is incredibly deep, so I’d prefer a pitcher or position player in the infield above an outfielder always; that is, unless the outfielder has incredible power upside or the much-desirable five-tooled label. That said, I can see an argument for LoMo over, say, Maybin, and I’ll consider that strongly in my revisions.

Back to LoMo, though: his HR/FB is a huge red flag—it’s a stat that jumps all over the place, but not typically such a jump as ~3% to ~18%. (http://www.hittrackeronline.com/detail.php?id=2011_4469&type=hitter) A quick look at that link, though, will support many of his home runs as being of the “No Doubt” or “Plenty” variety. He found a way to tap his power; whether he changed his swing to do so, I don’t know. It’s hard to explain, otherwise, his all-over-the-place BABIP.

And his 2010 batting average was highly aided by a .351 BABIP—and still managed to be a less-than-impressive .283. Though his 2011 batting average was hurt considerably by bad luck on balls in play, it looks to me like the .260 range is where his average will stand.

All told, he definitely does have .290 – 25+ upside if he can put it all together at once and capitalize on his minor league numbers, an his attitude might help him get out of Miami (which would be helpful… the new dimensions are not more friendly to power hitters by any means). I think he’ll see an appearance on my revision.

SIDA!
12 years ago

@Brad:

He has a 3-5% chance at being 10% or more better than Kershaw and I would say a 25-30% chance (if that) of being as good as Kershaw.

You and others may think that is crazy, but let me explain.

What percent chance does Mike Stanton have of hitting 10% more homers in a season than Barry Bonds monster season? What percent chance does Stanton have of hitting 10% more homers than McGwire’s 70? 

A 10% improvement upon elite numbers is a herculean task. 

Kershaw just won the triple crown of pitching and is elite in just about every measure save for walks per 9.

How realistic is it for Kershaw himself to be 10% better than what he did last year?

Nick Fleder
12 years ago

@MH

Incredibly well-said. “Pitchers like that are much less scarce than they were a few years ago, so there’s a premium on ceiling when talking about pitchers in dynasty formats, especially deeper into the rankings,” is something that I’ve totally ignored in my comments, but of course factored in. Pitching is incredibly deep; yes, in any given draft, that could mean you skip the elite boys and snag a superb staff in the later rounds, but in dynasty leagues, you’re looking for incredible return on value and upside. High-ceiling guys are obviously the ones to deliver. Ask yourself who has a chance to perform like a Kershaw, like a Halladay, like a Wainwright, and I’d wager Moore, and Bumgarner over the Hellicksons anyday.

MH
12 years ago

@Nick

I’m not sure I entirely agree with your assessment that past performance is irrelevant.  After all, future projection is largely based on past performance. I agree that we’re obviously not attempting to rank past performance, but it is certainly part of the discussion.  I also agree that I’d take Matt Moore over Latos, but I wouldn’t knock Latos too far back.  His HR rate should rise playing half his games in Great American, but he’s also been a low BABIP guy in a park that would seem (I don’t have figures) to possibly inflate BABIP (big park, moderate-warm dry air), and he isn’t such a pronounced fly ball pitcher that the HR will destroy his ERA.  He also does work two fastballs, and although his two-seamer was less effective in 2011 than 2010, it was more effective in 2010 than is four-seamer.  Using that pitch more, along with his changeup, could help adjust for the ballpark change.

Zeus
12 years ago

LoMo has great Bb/k rates in the past and the power loss was due to the wrist. He still hit a lot of doubles in 2010
I think SP is deeper and higher risk than OFers. Look how many top SP prospects vs OF prospects.
Have you seen he tweets…. He is a crazy dude. #nohomojustlomo

Josh Shepardson
12 years ago

@ SIDA!

“You know, the kid that just won the AL ROY.”  I didn’t write that, you did.  Asking where logic is, and suggesting that these lists were put together without thought is trollish behavior.  Presenting that a player had a good ERA in 2011 does little but suggest you can read a leader board.  I’d be willing to bet the bank on the 2012 ERA leader board not being a mirror image of that in 2011. 

To suggest that a player can’t succeed at the major league level because they haven’t had a chance is silly (i.e. Yu Darvish).  As for Hellickson, he wasn’t initially an elite prospect and actually lacks pedigree.  He became an elite prospect by befuddling minor league hitters.  His first prospect ranking in Baseball America was 9th in the Tampa Bay organization in 2007 following a tremendous NY-Penn League season.  He didn’t crack the Rays top-10 prospects until 2010, when he ranked 2nd.  He opened this year as their top prospect. 

I like Hellickson, and think he can be a very good pitcher, but he’s never going to sniff his 2011 production again unless he makes advancements in control and strikeout rate.  There is something to be said about a bulldog mentality and going after hitters.  At the same time, Livan Hernandez has a gamer mentality and I’m not going to be snapping him up in fantasy leagues. 

Your response to Brad is reasonable.  Taking shots at the lists using words like laughable, calling people geeks, and using hyperbole is childish behavior.  There shouldn’t be room for that on any message board, and thankfully it isn’t common place here at THT.  Just keep it respectful, no one minds debate and disagreement, that’s half the fun of these rankings!

Nick Fleder
12 years ago

@MH

I don’t mean to knock on Latos so much. He’s a superb pitcher, but I think it’d be silly to imply he has the same upside as Matt Moore. And I didn’t mean to say past performance is irrelevant, but rather, that past performance does not dictate future success. Really, all I was trying to argue, in regards to SIDA, was that the argument “Hellickson shouldn’t be ranked *because* he’s played a year while Yu Darvish has no service time” is silly. Take out the specific names—which can be argued—and that assessment is wrong in my mind.

@Zeus

No argument on the crazy dude point. The tweeting may get him in trouble at one point, but for now, they’re entertaining as hell. I do like his skill set—the BB% over 10 is always a plus—and would like him more if someone places him at his natural 1B. His LF is atrocious, and the Marlins might trade him because of that, or trade him because of his attitude. Remains to be seen. But yeah, look for him in the ~30 range in my update.

Nick Fleder
12 years ago

In my “Hellickson shouldn’t be ranked *because* he’s played a year while Yu Darvish has no service time,” quote, change shouldn’t to SHOULD. My bad for the confusion.

Ben Pritchett
12 years ago

@Zeus- I also considered LoMo in my rankings. I think he was more of a casualty of the numbers than actually deserving of being left off this list. As is obviously debatable, 30-45 in a dynasty format rankings can almost be interchangable. It’s relative to personal preference, risk tolerance, and strategy. He’d definitely be in my top 45.

@MH- Wilson Ramos’ upside isn’t that great. He’s little more than an NL Only backstop, and I don’t think he sees much higher of ceiling than what we saw last year. Look at the 15 HRs. He’s never shown that kind of power previously. I must say I am a fan and have rostered him last year on both my NL Only leagues. I just don’t think his upside merits a top 35 spot on this list. I mean there’s guys like Mesoraco, Wilin Rosario, and Ryan Lavarnway all in the same range of ranking the under-25 catcher position in my opinion.

SIDA!
12 years ago

@MH

Price had exactly a 1.0 K/IP ratio in the minors. Hellickson had a 1.09 over a far greater sample set of innings.

As Price has matured in the majors…he has shown he can get the K at the major league level.  He very well may end up being an all around more dominant pitcher than Hellickson.

But it is very difficult to hit these moving targets.  Depending on who I talk to here, Hellickson better minor league stats don’t count over Price.  His major league stats don’t count because a sabermetric says his “real” numbers were “flukey”.  When I show his “flukey” numbers were just as “flukey” as other guys that are ranked higher or are bonifide studs, it doesn’t count.

@Nick

Your dynasty philosophy is why I would beat you hands down.  You don’t take players based on their upside alone.  You take guys based on their upside ceiling and the probability of them making it there in addition to assessing what their likely performance will be and the probability of that happening.  Guys like you in leagues all across America place far to great a premium on potential/ceiling.

Your Lambo in the garage looks really nice and sexy.  Fortunately, my Audi S8 actually has a full tank of gas. If you want, I can call AAA for you.

SIDA!
12 years ago

@Nick

Once again, my statements are being twisted to create straw man arguments.  I did not say that Yu Darvish should not be ranked simply because he hasn’t played in the majors or that Hellickson should be ranked simply because he has played in the majors.

What I articulated was that Hellickson should be ranked because he has played in the majors…and actually performed and posted great numbers…great numbers in categories we actually count in fantasy baseball leagues.

I have no qualms with ranking players who have never played over players how have played in the majors..but it is relative.  You cannot discount or ignore the performances of those performing at the major league level when you are assessing the prospects of players at the major league level.  It is ridiculous.

There is always going to be subjectivity and nuance to rankings.  With that said, you have to assess the probability of the expected outcomes and to a man each of you place way to high a probability on these guys that have never played actually outperforming those who played and played well.

In the twisted and illogical world you guys are operating in, you sell short actual MLB performances because they weren’t up to some exemplary standard in favor of the possibility that someone might be lights out.

I am pretty much done here. I suspect none of you will take me up on the bet I have offered.  Is that correct?

Ben Pritchett
12 years ago

@SIDA!- First smart thing you’ve said is pointing out my unsubstantiated love for Travis Snider. That’s the beauty of lists. I can like Travis Snider’s potential for a dynasty leagues and not like Hellickson’s future. That’s why we have opinions. My opinion of Hellickson is stat driven. My opinion of Snider is talent driven. Snider’s success has been limited because of his head not his skills. I can live with that.

Hellickson has been a fine pitcher, but you really need to stop comparing him to Verlander. They don’t even pitch the same. Verlander is a power pitcher that can hit 100MPH in the 9th. Hellickson couldn’t hit 100 if he attached a rocket to the back of the ball as it left his hand. He doesn’t have the TALENT of Verlander. We give Verlander a longer leash because of that potential. I will grant you that Hellickson is nice fly ball pitcher that has potential to find some gains in strikeouts. He does a good job of mixing his changeup in with his 91MPH fastball. But you are fooling yourself if you don’t see the same potential of inflated ERA and WHIP in future years.

In dynasty formats you want to focus your analysis on both past and future statistics. I think you are too obsessed with arbitrary stats like ERA, WHIP, and W. I may be too obsessed with projecting the future. But I’d rather miss on a great future that I have less knowledge about then project a future I know could be rough like Hellicksons.

Pertaining to the bets, you know we can’t do bets like that. But I did say that my pitchers on my list would outperform Hellickson in 2012. Something you obviously missed in the prop bets you offered. It’s easy to take lucky past stats and use them as a reference point. Naturally as “fantasy geeks” we project for the future. It’s not what have you done for me; it’s what are you going to do for me. If you think Hellickson is going to do more from 2012 and beyond than the rest of these pitchers on our lists, more power to you. I think you’re wrong. You think I’m wrong. I’ll be right, and we’ll never hear from you again. It’s just like when I said the Marlins would finish last in the NL East last year, and I caught serious hell. None of those guys email me and apologize. So we’re used to it, SIDA!.

I do, however, love the participation and passion. That’s why we do what we do and why you come here for our accessability. It’s easy to put out lists and not have any accountability. I will look for you in future articles.

We should have writer’s positional rankings coming out soon. Those will be fun to debate I’m sure.

MH
12 years ago

@Nick

Absolutely, can’t disagree with that at all.  I have some trepidation about Darvish, but he’s young and shown consistent improvement over numbers that were already flat out dominant.  If you were to ignore what other Japanese pitchers wound up doing in the majors and simply ranked them based on projections at the time they came over, Darvish would pretty easily come out on top.  I think you and Josh are dead on with him, while Nick is being more aggressive with him than I would. 

I’m a little surprised you left Hanson off though. He’s tough to rank, for sure, but I don’t think I’d have him outside of the Top 35.  Definitely behind Gallardo and Latos, but aside from Moore I don’t think I’d have anyone who still has their rookie eligibility intact I’d put ahead of him.

Out of curiousity, where would you put Danny Duffy?  I can’t see him as top 35 but he’s definitely interesting.  I’d probably put him around and possibly above Hellickson too. The he reminds me of a bit is Jon Lester, and Duffy’s numbers to this point are actually a touch better than Lester’s were.  I actually have him as a mid-deep sleeper in redraft leagues for this year, and there’s a part of me that really wants to draft him as one of my last pick in most leagues, but in all the mock’s I’ve done pitching is just so deep that I wind up with other guys that are slightly safer and have similar upside when I actually get to that point though.

Ben Pritchett
12 years ago

@MH- What! No love for my Yu Darvish ranking? Darvish has been the one guy I’ve staked my “expert” flag on this year. I think people that compare him to past Japanese/Asian pitchers will find out they are wrong. He doesn’t have a herky-jerky delivery. He’s calm, borderline cocky. He throws mid90s with stellar off-speed pitches. He wants the ball. I think he’s as close to an American pitcher as Nolan Ryan is as to a Texan. My only worry about him is his innings load, but most say that he doesn’t pitch with the frequency and extremism of Daisuke or other Asian pitchers.

I will be drafting Darvish on all teams if possible as my number 3-4 starting pitcher. He’s worthy of a number 2-3 in AL Only leagues.

SIDA!
12 years ago

LOL @Ben the psychiatrist and the statistician.

Why would I take you on your bet when you have an entire list of players and yet you instead pick from just the pitchers you ranked?  How about I make a bet that Hellickson is more valuable to the Rays this year than Snider is to his team this year?  Will that make you happy? Afterall, Snider is on your list.

I find it amusing that you want to denigrate Hellickson’s numbers as being lucky and praise the ceiling of Moore and Darvish…but yet you don’t think they can even match Hellickson this year.  I’ll leave it to the readers to decide.

I put my money and my team roster (owner of Latos and Hellickson since they were in the minors) where my mouth is and you want to wimp out on the bet.  How about this…since you are so enamored with Darvish and Moore, why don’t you tell all your fantasy readers what their ERA and WHIPs will be this year…you know…just to help those of us who play in leagues that count ERA and WHIP amongst the 5 picthing categories.

You don’t need an email from me apologizing. You will have my money safe and locked away in an escrow account.  And even if you take my money by winning the bet, I will even be gracious enough to come back here with a mea culpa.

You can post all the lists that you want and say all the things that you want to say, but the number one way to cut through all the bullshit is to put money on the line.  I have put forth the opportunity to put your money where your words are and used the first season bench mark of two players to be measured against the first season bench mark of two players whose “ceiling/potential” you love.

Hell, I will let you use Hellickson’s numbers against both Darvsh’s and Moore’s numbers. 

I’ll let your readers enjoy the inanity of your Travis Snider musings and your views on talent.  I am sure Greg Maddux would be shocked to learn he managed to put together a Hall of Fame career with such little talent…

SIDA!
12 years ago

I pointed out the ROY followed by…his ERA and WHIP, both of which were near the top in the AL (8th and 13th, respectively). He didn’t win ROY because he won popularity contest.  All of these awards generally speaking have their flaws, but let’s not pretend Hellickson stole it from some other more deserving player.

He also had the second best batting average against in the AL. Only Verlander was harder to hit. Or was that luck, too?  But luck only showed up when he pitched and not any other TB pitcher? On his own team he bested Price in ERA and matched him in WHIP.  And he nearly equaled Shields in ERA.

Finishing in the top 15 in ERA and WHIP in your league can’t just be dismissed as inconsequential or irrelevant because you feel his fastball doesn’t get the misses it should (in his first full season no less).

For seemingly the last three years I have been reading about how Ricky Nolasco is undervalued or a sleeper or someone to target because such and such stat is the true barometer of his skill set.  How has that worked out?

And not to pick on you for the Travis Snider ranking…since I have latched on to that…but can you or anyone else tell me what mystical mysterious saber-rattlin-statistics and derivatives we are looking at to rank Snider above Hellickson?  Apparently, ERA and WHIP don’t count for jack for Hellboy and obviously batting average doesn’t count for much for Snider.

I never said that never having played a game at the MLB level means one can’t succeed.  You are creating a straw man argument. 

Logically it is impossible to make that argument because if it were true there wouldn’t be any MLB players.

Yu Darvish might very well succeed in the states but how can any of you honestly rank him above Hellickson at this point in time? If anything, the dismal track record of Asian players being able to transfer their skill set to the States should produce a “believe when I see it” level of skepticism.

What I did articulate was the ridiculousness of these rankings placing an inordinate value on potential and possiblities over guys that have actually done it.  There is a long list of players that were supposedly can’t miss and yet, they missed.  I am not saying that Hellickson will outperform every single guy on that list nor am I saying that Strasburg will not eclipse Kershaw.  You must factor in the probabilities of such and frankly, owners in fantasy leagues overwhelmingly slobber over the theoretical potential of players.

You say you like Hellickson but that he is never going to sniff 2011 again.  Okay…and?  Maybe guys on your list should actually post a stat line comparable to Hellickson’s 2011 before you place them above him. Actual performance at the level we are grading their respective values at should count for something. 

Oddly, it seems readily apparent that for the most part you guys think that if a guy is good in his first year he sucks, but if he has never played or sucked early in his career he is the Second Coming.

Matt Moore looks awesome. I love the kid. But there is no rational justification for placing him ahead of Felix Hernandez and why is he ahead of Bumgarner and Latos on all lists? Bumgarner and Latos come in and are either dominant or above average their first two full seasons in the bigs and has a studly 9 innings it carries more weight than 300-400+ innings?

You say you play poker and would love to take my money.  Good god…someone devise a way for us to make some bets so we can put some long term props on the line.  I’ll wager some money on some of these.  I am sure we could find an escrow account to keep the money safe.

Ben Pritchett
12 years ago

@SIDA!- Enjoyed the post until the reference to Greg Maddux. I know you didn’t compare Hellickson to Greg Maddux. If you did you just lost all the credibility you have manage to muster in all this.

“Why would I take you on your bet when you have an entire list of players and yet you instead pick from just the pitchers you ranked?  How about I make a bet that Hellickson is more valuable to the Rays this year than Snider is to his team this year?  Will that make you happy? Afterall, Snider is on your list.”

What does this have to do with dynasty, fantasy baseball? Furthermore, where do you say that Hellickson will outperform the other pitchers on this list that you say he should be ranked with? I’m having trouble sifting though the I-want-to-bet stuff and getting to what you are really saying. I know now why you have so much love for Hellickson/Latos, but if I’m you in your dynasty league, I would be looking to move them quickly while profit is high. There won’t be any better time than now. I can guarantee that.

Good luck thouh in all seriousness. Debate is what really helps make this list so fascinating, but we really need to move on to other players.

SIDA!
12 years ago

@Ben

Where did I say anything about Hellickson being the next Maddux? You are the talent scout around here telling us that “throwing hard” or batting near the Mendoza Line equates to talent. You are the one that suggested hitting 100 on the gun equals talent and that softies like Hellickson can’t cut it. Yet, inexplicably I didn’t see Aroldis Chapman on the list. Maybe he is over 25. I can’t check now. 

My comment that Hellickson will be more valuable than Snider to their respective teams was a general comment and I also mean that Hellickson will be more valuable to fantasy owners than Snider.

And please don’t try to minimize my arguments in support of Hellickson and Latos on the grounds I own them. I’m not the one who is citing “feelings” as substantiation for Snider.

My comments in this thread have been clearly articulated.  It is clear that you three want to argue that Darvish and Moore are better than Hell/Latos and yet none of you apparently feel that either can match them in the first year’s performance. Do you guys think that Darvish or Moore will be better in their second years than Hell/Latos were in their first? Do you guys ever anticipate Darvish or Moore putting up better than a 2.95 ERA or a 1.15 WHIP?

Clearly, you guys are afraid of putting money on the table. Maybe I will get lucky and at least get a projection out of each of you.

Since I probably won’t even get a projection and you guys understandably want to change the subject…maybe someone can explain to me why Cueto isn’t on the list and Gallardo is?

Ben Pritchett
12 years ago

@SIDA!- Cueto was honestly an oversight. I forget how young he is, and he barely made the cut-off on a 1986 birthday. That’s a good catch. I’d actually have him just behind Latos but behind Gallardo. You won’t find any more Cueto lovers in the writer’s staff. I don’t know Fleder’s position, but I was the only one that liked Cueto and CJ Wilson entering the 2011 season. They aren’t sabrmetric darlings. They were also cheap, something I don’t think can be said about Hellickson. That plays a role in my like/dislike as well.

MH
12 years ago

@Ben re: Ramos

I half agree.  I don’t think he has tremendous upside in any single category, but what he does offer is a solid production floor and a nice amount of upside in every category (aside from SB of course).  I’m not sure where the power knock comes from.  He hit 39 HR in 1600 minor league PAs through age 22 and had a .146 ISO.  That’s about 11 HR per 435 PAs, so the idea that he evolved into a guy that could hit 15 HR over that span really isn’t that far fetched.  His HR/FB was probably a bit inflated, but I would also expect his GB% to decrease as he continues to develop. Considering the drastic increase in walk rate that went along with his slight power surge and respectable contact rate, I think there’s reason to believe he’s made some substantial improvements. 

I have him as a fringe starter in single catcher, 12-team mixed leagues with potential for a bit better.  He lacks Mesoraco’s ultimate upside, but not by as much as you might think, and catching is so scarce that taking a chance on a guy like Mesoraco—who has more risk in both production and playing time—over Ramos isn’t as useful as doing something comparable with the much deeper SP class.  The fact that he can give you a solid power and AVG and plays for a suddenly respectable offense and has no real threat to his playing time alone makes him useful, and I’d have him pretty safely ahead of Mesoraco. 

@SIDA

“In the twisted and illogical world you guys are operating in, you sell short actual MLB performances because they weren’t up to some exemplary standard in favor of the possibility that someone might be lights out.”

This isn’t really necessary, I’ve actually tried to agree with you on some issues while offering up my own opinions where I differ with you.  No need for insults. 

I’m well aware of Hellickson’s minor league track record, but the point is that there were some pretty glaring red flags in his major league season that portend general regression.  Do some pitchers overcome that an improve?  Of course, David Price is a fine example.  And I think Hellickson will to some degree as well.  The other issue is that minor league stats only provide so much indication of upside.  The scouting info is also important here, and clearly favored price after his more modest rookie season. 

What’s you’re projection for Hellickson, if I may ask?  Doesn’t have to be exact or scientific, but what do you expect his numbers to be in the four standard roto categories that apply to SP. 

“I suspect none of you will take me up on the bet I have offered.”

No, I would not take those bets.  There are maybe 2 or 3 pitchers in all of baseball that I would consider betting on having an ERA below 2.93 and a WHIP below 1.09 (FWIW, Matt Latos is not one of them).  The following bet I would certainly consider:

Matt Moore will have more fantasy value than Matt Latos over the next three seasons.

That’s what’s at issue here.  Would you take that bet?