Week 8 ass HDLes- Neck Fusion is the new Tommy John

Wait, which one is Prince Fielder?

There were a handful (Antonio Alfonseca variety) of guys that muddied up our rosters this week with injuries of different natures, but none will have the impact on our fake game that the loss of Prince Fielder will have.  Or so all the talking heads on ESPN would have us believe.  Listen, any time the Rotoworld line says "purported star player x (neck) will undergo cervical fusion surgery on Tuesday," its going to have an effect on who ever owns him (Sorry Kevin) but it really isnt going to have as much of an effect as it might seem, and the Huckleberries are likely going to be better off with whoever Kevin picks up off the waiver wire than he would have been with Fielder the rest of the season.

As fantasy baseball players (and as people), many of us struggle to come to terms with changes in reality, particularly if we have a lot of something, be it time or money or something of the like, invested.  For Huckleberries and the $54 price tag that Fielder commanded at auction (granted, this wasnt Kevin buying him), I imagine it was incredibly difficult to justify dropping him outright with 13.5% of your opening budget tied up in him.  Doing so would leave you at a massive competitive disadvantage...basically giving you a $350 budget while the rest of the league plays with $400 (you arent going to find a $50 value player hanging out on the waiver wire this late in the season...I mean there is only 1 Charlie Mars Blackmon).  The best one could do would have been to hold on to that asset and pray that he turns from 1997 Cecil Fielder back into 2007 Prince Fielder. But Fielder has clearly been a different player since the beginning of 2013 than the 300/400/500 stud he was from 2009-2012 and the hopes that he would turn back into that with the change of scenery from cold Detroit to hitter's haven Texas hadn't come close to panning out.  In the past 2 weeks or so, Fielder had started coming on, racking up 7 hits in his last 6 games, but only one of those hits (a 2b) was for extra bases. 

Power? Prince needs more burgers.

Going back 28 days, Prince's batting average and OBP (288/385) look to be right in line with his career averages (285/388), but with only 4 extra base hits, his power has been completely absent (.379 slg% vs. .588 slg% career).  You can deal with 288/385/379 from a middle infielder that you pick up for $10, in fact you might be extatic with it, but for your $54 first baseman, you expect a little more.  Check out Prince's AB/HR over the past 4 seasons and see if you follow the trend I see: 2011 - 15.0, 2012 - 19.4, 2013 - 25.0, 2014 - 50.0.  I could keep going with the stats, but I think I have beaten this dead horse enough.  The point is, that Prince Fielder being injured is the best thing that could have possibly happened his fantasy owners.  Now Kevin can either DL him and decide later if he wants to keep him, or dump him on the waiver wire guilt free for someone who will actually contribute.  At first glance there are about 5 1b on the waiver wire that would be immediate and long term upgrades on the Rangers' non slugging 1b.  Kevin, I look forward to seeing what you do on the upcoming waiver day.

How not to GM.

Long term, I cannot imagine that cervical neck fusion is going to be something that Prince is able to bounce right back from and start mashing in 2015.  This is a problem for the Rangers, who owe him somewhere in the vacinity of $145,000,000 through 2020.  Think Tiger GM Dave Dombrowski is throwing parties in the Tigers headquaters right now?  He got 1 World Series appearance and Ian Kinsler out of a ludicrous contract that he handed to Prince after the 2011 season and he doesnt even need to pay it (I know the Tigers are paying a portion of it this year, but I dont think that they are in future years, and if they are it isnt a significant amount) AND he got out of the Prince game before he suffered a massive and potentially catastrophic injury.  It is almost like the sports gods needed to balance out Joe Dumars somehow, so they decided to make all of Dombrowski's decisions work out.  Anyways, at the beginning of the season I wrote that Prince was in danger of turning into Cecil, well if you check out Big Cecil's fall from grace between 1996 and 1997 and then look at what Prince has been doing from 2012 til 2014...I'm not even going to say it.

Other ass hDLes this week:

Lucroy? LeCroy?

1b Joey Votto - Backyard Superstars
Votto went down on May 16th  with what was originally termed a knee injury, but was later reclassified as a left quad strain when he was added to the DL on May 21.  It looks like Votto may avoid a several month absense, but that doesnt help Kyler who already has a bench full of ass hDLes and will have a hole at either catcher or 1b, depending on where he decides to slot Jonathon Lucroy.  I seriously almost typed Matt LeCroy...actually I did type it, then I looked at it and was like..."wait, Fat LeCroy hasnt played in years...."

RP Tommy Hunter - Backyard Superstars
This one might actually be called "euthanasia" or a "mercy killing".  Hunter was put on the DL yesterday with what the team is calling a left groin strain, but might as well be a "sucks at pitching strain."  Hunter hits the DL with a 6.06 ERA and a 1.86 WHIP but minus his closing gig...after 2 straight scoreless outings.  For Kyler and the Orioles, this might be addition by subtraction.  Hunter will likely bounce back, but it may prove that last year's dominance was the outlier in an otherwise mediocre career instead of a breakthrough.

RP Matt Lindstrom - You Can Call Me Al
Another late game option mercy killing.  Uncle Jimmy can now finally stop riding the bad Chicago closer train (Rondon is already owned, though maybe a trade???) and go after someone who is actually good at getting people out at the middle and end of games.  Lindstrom is out for at least 3 months following surgery to repair an left ankle tendon sheath, whatever that is, and takes his 1.47 WHIP and 11 Ks in 19 innings with him. Punt, Uncle Jimmy, punt.

SP Cliff Lee - You Can Call Me Al
This one actually hurts.  Lee has been his typical solid self this year with 8 quality starts in 10 turns (only 9 walks), but hit the DL retroactive to May 19 with a minor to moderate straing of his left elbow.  When the news first broke that Lee was injured, I texted Jimmy that I wasnt sure how bad it was, but that the solution likely rhymed with Shommy Shon.  It doesnt appear to be that severe and Lee will likely be back in a few weeks.  That will push Doug Fister (Fister? I barely know her.) into Jimmy's rotation for the time being.

Rougned Odor? He kinda stinks.

Finally, it doesnt fall under the ass hDLe category because he hasnt been started all year...he actually hasnt been off the DL all year...but Jurikson Profar (I often refer to him as Jerkison), reinjured his shoulder and will be shut down for an additional 8-12 weeks before resuming baseball activities.  This effectively ends the seasons for the supposed top prospect.  While it sucks that he hurt his shoulder to begin with just days before the start of the regular season, he was getting close to being activated.  He had been taking on field BP and was working on strengthing his arm... then he tried to roll over in bed and re-injured his shoulder.  IN BED.  There was a guy on my college baseball team who injured his shoulder while he was in bed and told the coach that he was rolling over, but thats not what he was really doing.  He was a big believer in the "slump buster" concept (if you dont know what that is, text me, I'll enlighten you) and had injured himself holding himself up.  Im'm not saying that is what happened with Profar, but it would be a better story.  Anyways, the Profar re-injury means more Rougned Odor for the Rangers.  That is not a made up name nor a bad German heavy metal band that plays only metal versions of children's lullabies, it is an actual Major League Baseball player, though, if you look at the stats you might not guess it.