Which Sickels-backed prospects have paid off for Fantasy?
by Rotofan on Jan 6, 2011 5:10 PM EST
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With John soon to finish this year's prospect book, I thought it would be interesting how those of us who play fantasy baseball made use of his book last year.
The best example for myself: John cued me into Texas Ranger prospect Mitch Moreland. At the time, a year ago, there appeared to be no quick path for Moreland to get to the majors with two higher-profiled prospects in his path: Justin Smoak and Chris Davis. So while I marked Moreland among my under-the-radar prospects to monitor, I did not select him in my 17-man reserve draft.
Sickels had flagged Moreland for a lot of the attributes I look for in a fantasy prospect — scouts doubted his excellent performance in college, he was not athletic and didn't play a prime defensive position. The one thing he could do was hit, for both power and with patience, and in a fantasy league like mine that doesn't include defensive stats, that's a valuable commodity.
So when Smoak was traded I targeted Moreland for what little was left in my free agent budget — $3, Unfortunately my biggest rival bid $4. Soon after, needing some offense to firm my hold on second place (first was out of reach), I swung a trade in which Moreland was the secondary player. He was a real asset to my fantasy team the balance of the year, what I hope is a valuable keeper as I head towards the 2011 season and his presence created a surplus of keeper-quality first basemen that I was able to use to swing an off-season trade to fill a week spot.
So what about you? Which player or players have helped your cause that you may not have targeted without Sickels' guidance?
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Garrett Richards
Drafted him super deep in my dynasty league based on John’s straight B grade. That’s worked out well so far trade value wise, he won’t be up until June 2012 at the earliest so that hasn’t paid off any direct dividends yet.
I also drafted Danny Duffy with a middle-round pick based on John’s B grade and scouting report, he retired a few days later and felt I had to cut him to make room on my roster. Now he’s an A- and will definitely be a first-round pick this year.
On the other hand, I also drafted Eric Arnett with a late pick for being a straight B. He was cut by June 1st. So they all don’t work out as planned.
Jed Lowrie
The 2008 Rogelio Moret League Fantasy Baseball Champions!
by The Congo Hammer on Jan 6, 2011 7:05 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
That grade still looks bad
I said so at the time but since A- grades are reserved for guys with star potential, I don’t see how Lowrie ever got higher than a B+.
Dewey and KBR are just.......too........sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!!!!!
The Wolfpac is looking for new soldiers! Change your logo to the black and red!!!
by King Billy Royal on Jan 8, 2011 11:24 AM EST up reply actions
i think it's still too early to judge that
if he gets a starting job, he has the potential to be way more than an average regular. If he can hit .290 with 20 HRs a near even K/BB at second base, that sounds like a pretty good star, which is fitting for an A-
The 2008 Rogelio Moret League Fantasy Baseball Champions!
by The Congo Hammer on Jan 8, 2011 2:50 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
I am pretty sure he is not playing 2B in Boston
Pedroia may have something to say about that.
Dewey and KBR are just.......too........sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!!!!!
The Wolfpac is looking for new soldiers! Change your logo to the black and red!!!
by King Billy Royal on Jan 8, 2011 3:24 PM EST up reply actions
Tabata
John’s write up last year convinced me to stick with him for 1 more year. It paid off-Thanks.
Jean Segura, Brody Colvin off the top of my head
When he says sleeper prospect. I usually pick them up in my deep leagues. Like mentioned above, they don’t all work. But in deep leagues (30 teams, 20 -30 prospects per team) hitting a sleeper is huge.
by forloveofthegam3 on Jan 6, 2011 9:58 PM EST reply actions
One good, one bad
A couple of years ago I drafted two players highly based in large part on John’s projected development for them. One worked out astoundingly well, one did not but that’s the way it goes sometimes. The guys I got? Jason Heyward (before the 2008 season) and Taylor Teagarden. Given the screwy way that catchers tend to develop, I’m willing to give a pass on Teagarden.
How the heck would I know?
I use lots of sources and have no way of recalling how much I was influenced by Jon on each one. I think he is conservative and rarely goes out on a limb for a particular player and there is value in that.
There seem to be people who do recall specific instances in which they were influenced by Sickels. Since you don’t it’s kind of hard for you to advance the discussion.
As for going out on a limb, Sickels bucks convention and goes with his gut more than occasionally, especially deeper down the prospect list.
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