A’s Trade Former Top Prospects for Jed Lowrie

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Jonathan C. Mitchell

Jed

The Oakland Athletics, in a  move to bolster their major league roster, acquired shortstop Jed Lowrie and right-handed reliever Fernando Rodriguez from the Houston Astros in exchange for catching prospect Max Stassi and former top prospects Chris Carter and Brad Peacock.

The Oakland A’s signed Hiroyuki Nakajima to be their shortstop in 2013 but, before the trade, were slated to give second base duties to Scott Sizemore and third base duties to Josh Donaldson. With none of the three players mentioned above having a proven track record of success in the majors, adding someone like Lowrie, who can play all three positions, was something Billy Beane needed to do for his contending club.
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2012 MLB Rookie Watch: NL Central

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Michael Schwartze

The other day I kicked off the first of a series of posts in which I will take a look at rookies who should or could have an impact in 2012. I will be going by division by division taking a look at rookies for each team. I will make my pick for the rookie whom I think will have the biggest impact as well as other guys to watch for. In the first article I took a look at the rookies in the NL West and up next is the National League Central.
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Astros Get Lowrie and Weiland for Melancon

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Jonathan C. Mitchell

The Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox have reportedly agreed to a deal that will send relief pitcher Mark Melancon to the Red Sox in exchange for shortstop Jed Lowrie and starting pitching prospect Kyle Weiland. This is another move where we see a team turn a reliever with recent success into young talent with upside.

The Red Sox were in the hunt for a reliever after Jonathan Papelbon signed with the Phillies and may have felt the asking price for Ryan Madson was too high as was the asking price in trade for Oakland closer Andrew Bailey. The Red Sox turned to Melancon who has a 92-94 mph fastball with good sink and also throws a solid curve and cutter.

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2011 Fantasy Rankings: Shortstops

Posted on March 16, 2011 by Jonathan C. Mitchell

Shortstops, ah, the shallowest of all the positions. You will notice in my rankings how shallow the position is because there are only two players in Tier 1 and none in Tier 2.  In fact, it is so shallow that Tier 5 starts at the 12th ranked SS, meaning at least one owner in a 12-team mixed league draft is going to be very weak at the position.

There is little hope with guys gaining shortstop eligibility outside of Sean Rodriguez and he is no guarantee to put up better numbers than anyone in the top 20.

With that, here are my rankings for shortstop:

 Rank  Player  Tier
 1  Hanley Ramirez  1
 1a  Troy Tulowitzki  1
 3  Jose Reyes  3
 4  Jimmy Rollins  3
 5  Derek Jeter  3
 6  Alexei Ramirez  3
 7  Stephen Drew  3
 8  Rafael Furcal  4
 9  Ian Desmond  4
 10  Elvis Andrus  4
 11  Starlin Castro  4
 12  Mike Aviles  5
 13  Asdrubal Cabrera  5
 14  Tsuyoshi Nishioka  5
 15  Juan Uribe  5
 16  Jason Bartlett  5
 17  Yunel Escobar  5
 18  J.J. Hardy  5
 19  Eric Aybar  6
 20  Cliff Pennington  6
 21  Reid Brignac  6
 22  Alcides Escobar  6
 23  Yuniesky Betancourt  6
 24  Marco Scutaro  6
 25  Miguel Tejada  6
 26  Jhonny Peralta  6
 27  Alex Gonzalez  6
 28  Jed Lowrie  6
 29  Ryan Theriot  7
 30  Omar Infante  7
 31  Maicer Izturis  7
 32  Alexi Casilla  7
 33  Dee Gordon  7
 34  Grant Green  7
 35  Jason Donald  7

 

Three I’d Reach For Reason
Troy Tulowitzki Will make a legit run at top SS. If I had the 2nd pick it the draft I’d fight between Tulo and Han-Ram. 
Stephen Drew Very underrated, could a monster 2011. Might take him over Jeter & Alexei if I’m feeling froggy.
Jason Bartlett Career LHP splits: .318/.383/.444 and 40% LHP in NL West. I’ll take that late in a draft.

 

Three I’ll Let Pass Reason
Elvis Andrus Zero power and kills me in my OPS league. I’ll let others reach for him.
Alcides Escobar A poor man’s already poor Andrus. Only if I’m desperate. Ranked WAY too high.
Miguel Tejada If I have to take him then something went very very wrong. Only useful in NL-only formats.

 

Top 3 Rookie SS Reason
Tsuyoshi Nishioka Should hit for AVG and could be a double digit contributor in homers and steals.
Dee Gordon With Fucal’s injury history he could be next in line and offer cheap steals.
Grant Green Could be up this year and brings a good bat for the position.

-Jonathan C. Mitchell can be found writing about the Tampa Bay Rays at his other site Figure Filbert and on twitter at @FigureFilbert

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2011 Fantasy Rankings – Secondbasemen

Posted on March 5, 2011 by Jonathan C. Mitchell

Seconbase is surprisingly deep with 3-4 category players but also deep with injury prone stars, up-and-down former All-Stars, and the ever-hopeful “breakout” player. Gonna keep this one short and skip to the rankings.

Here are my rankings for seconbasemen:

Rank Player Tier
1 Robinson Cano 1
2 Chase Utley 1
3 Ian Kinsler 1
4 Dustin Pedroia 2
5 Dan Uggla 2
6 Rickie Weeks 2
7 Kelly Johnson 3
8 Ben Zobrist 3
9 Brandon Phillips 3
10 Martin Prado 3
11 Brian Roberts 3
12 Gordon Beckham 3
13 Aaron Hill 4
14 Ryan Raburn 4
15 Howie Kendrick 4
16 Chone Figgins 4
17 Neil Walker 4
18 Mike Aviles 4
19 Tsuyoshi Nishioka 4
20 Sean Rodriguez 5
21 Placido Polanco 5
22 Ty Wigginton 5
23 Juan Uribe 5
24 Reid Brignac 5
25 Eric Young Jr. 5
26 Alberto Callaspo 5
27 Orlando Hudson 5
28 Mark Ellis 5
29 Jed Lowrie 5
30 Danny Espinosa 5
31 Carlos Guillen 6
32 Freddy Sanchez 6
33 Ryan Theriot 6
34 Omar Infante 6
35 Dustin Ackley 6

 

Three I’d Reach For Reason
Ian Kinsler Injuries always hold him back but he has potential be the #1 2B in fantasy. 30/30 in 2009.
Ben Zobrist Ugly BABIP in 2010 and could be a 20/20 guy that will contribute in 4-5 categories.
Ryan Raburn Should be a very solid 4 category play.

 

Three I’ll Let Pass Reason
Robinson Cano I see him going in the top 15 in a lot of drafts and I would rather wait on Utley, Kinsler, or Weeks.
Brandon Phillips Power and Speed dropping and he does not get on-base at a high clip. Hurts in OPS leagues.
Omar Infante Won’t hit like he did last year and does not provide much outside of AVG.

 

Top 3 Rookie 2B Reason
Tsuyoshi Nishioka Should hit for AVG and could be a double digit contributor in homers and steals.
Danny Espinosa Good power and some speed but will not hit for AVG or get on base at high clips.
Dustin Ackley Best 2B prospect should see Bigs this season.

-Jonathan C. Mitchell can be found writing about the Tampa Bay Rays at his other site Figure Filbert and on twitter at @FigureFilbert

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