Week 17 Waivers

So I know that it is now Thursday, and I still havent hit up the waiver recap.  It is silly when real life gets in the way of fantasy.  I will try to put together a longer post later tomorrow, but for now, here is a quick rundown of the waiver transactions for week 17.


First...TRADE!!!  One of the benefits of being late, this trade has now processed.
UCCMA gets SP.RP Tanner Roark
Les Moles get OF YoAnus Cespedes

Fantasy imitating reality?  YoAnus traded for a pitcher (though the real life pitcher in the trade was a slight bit, kinda a ton, better than Roark.  As for our league trade, Uncle Jimmy loses an OF he hasnt been starting and picks up a pitcher that he may or may not start, but gives him some flexibility this season.  Long term, I cannot imagine Roark being one of the 10 most important/cost effective players on Jimmy's team, but there is still a lot of baseball to play (and a long offseason).  Tom gets an OF so he doesnt have to start both Leonys Martin and Chris Coghlan anymore (seriously...they are 2 of the best 3 OFers he has) and hopefully Ben Revere can be sent back to the place where not knocking in runs is beneficial (Canada?).  Losing Roark hurts, but not much, and Tom has a couple of pitchers he can slide into the spot currently occupied by more Tan (Tan-ner...get it...the bad jokes never stop!).  Tom's team has already been one of the better in the league (especially lately), and he jsut got a lot better.  I understand the deal, and both sides get something out of it, but because of what it does for this season, I have to give the carrot to Tom.  Les Moles > UCCMA.

Second...I posted last week about John and Tom being like our very own Ambiguously Gay Duo, but on Monday I got the following email from John and Tom's Supervisor with the picture attached:

Hi Louie,

So John sent me this below (the blog entry about them) – I did find it quite humorous. It then dawned on me that you need to see how this Ambiguously Gay Duo tends to dress alike. I wish I could send you their amazing reactions toward each other when they find this outcome when they arrive. Notice the portly grins on their faces noting that none of this bothers them.

Hope you find this equally enjoyable.

 

So, yes, John and Tom's boss knows about our blog and thinks its funny.

Third, the rest of the waivers:

1b/OF Lucas Duda - $4 - KIODL - Drop C Yadier Molina
And let the games begin.  We know that Yadie is out for the rest of the fantasy regular season, but we also know that he is one of the best offensive catchers in the game when he is healthy.  Will someone pick him up for cheap just to stash him?  I am guessing so.  The only question in my mind is how long do we collectively push it off and who steps up and claims him first.  Duda has quietly had a solid year, with 19 HRs as the Mets primary 1B.  Duda has improved steadily through his career and gives John a solid backup to PooHoles and his trio of OFers.

OF Jorge Soler - $3 - Bob's ATers - Drop 1b,3b Casey McGehee

It was fun while it lasted, Casey.  But if Bob cant make you better, no one can.  Soler is a bit lesser known than many of his fellow Cubs prospects, but he was the Cubbies big Cuban signing back in 2012, around the same time that the A's were signing YoAnus and the Dodgers were signing Yasiel Puig.  They have taken slightly different paths to the Majors.  Still, Soler turned 22 in February and has been sidetracked by injuries.  This year, he started in Rookie Ball, then jumped straight to AA where he proved to be a slight bit better than the competition.  He hit 415/494/862 with 9 2bs, 1 3b, and 6 HRs in 22 games (79 plate appearances) before the Cubs decided that AAA might be better.  So far in 8 games there, he has hit 316/435/737.  All signs point to him being up in September when the rosters expand as he is already on the 40-Man roster...and he may very well never go back down (hopes this Cubs fan).  Go and watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuMLtkLZ4Mo . 

 

SP Andrew Heaney - $3 - Bob's ATers - Drop SP, RP Wade Davis

By all accounts, Heaney is one of the top left handed pitching prospects in the game.  He didnt show it during his first trip to the Show (as my team's ratios know all to well) posting a 6.53 ERA and 1.45 WHIP with only 13 strikeouts in 20 innings.  Not the dream introduction he was hoping for when some saying his impact would be like a left handed Jose Fernandez.  Heaney is in AAA right now and will likely be back with the big club by the end of the year, but this is clearly a future play for Bob.  Davis...well, I cant really figure out why Davis was the one on the chopping block.  In the past 30 days, he has thrown only 10 innings, but his ERA is 0.00, his WHIP is 0.70 and he has 13 Ks.  I guess you could say that he isnt throwing enough, but he has actually thrown a bit more than some of the other RPs on Bob's team.  I guess Davis is learning a hard lesson....Bob's a dick.

 

C Yan Gomes - $1 - Bob's ATers - Drop C Wilin Rosario

Rosario was a buzzy preseason catcher pick...hitting 49 HRs over the past 2 seasons (845 at bats) will do that for you.  But when you only walk 40 times in the same period, it is difficult to sustain that power, as pitchers will learn very quickly that they dont need to throw strikes to get you out.  This year, it has caught up to Rosario a bit, as he is hitting only 240/276/400, though he does have as many walks this year (15) as he did last year, only in 180 or so fewer at bats.  Gomes, whom I desperately want to call Yoda for some unknown reason, had a breakout 2013 and has been largely the same hitter this year, only with more at bats.  He has decent pop (18 2bs, 14 HRs) and solid contact skills (.281 average) albeit with less than stellar on base skills (.323 OBP).  I am a bit surprised that Bob is going to roll with Gomes as his primary catcher, though I am not surprised he is going with Gomes over Rosario.

 

2b/SS/OF Ben Zobrist - $1 - MBHB - Drop 2b Brian Dozier
Last Sunday was a sad day for me.  It was the day I finally realized that I needed to rid my life of Brian Dozier.  We had experienced a good run together, but the last 30 days had gotten a bit ugly, with Dozier hitting a sucktacular 230/262/420 with 12R, 10RBI and a pair of SBs.  While the average wasnt far off his season line, he stopped drawing walks or stealing bases, the two things which had bouyed his value for much of the season.  Meanwhile, Zobrist hit 337/427/500 over the past month (an entire month of 300/400/500) and generally turned back into the player everyone thought they were getting at the beginning of the season.  Zobrist has been a little light on the RBI (31) and the SB (7), but MBHB needs AVG,OBP and SLG badly, and he can help there greatly.  It's all about the Benji's Baby...unless you mean Molina or Gil...or former Giant Mike Benjamin...then its not about them, not even remotely about them.