The Shallow & The Deep Special ODE TO THE A’s Edition

By Adam Forsyth

The Deep

Rajai Davis – Outfield (CF/RF)

This former 38th-round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates has loved the move to the American League and while it was just a short trip across the San Francisco Bay , it has totally revived this talented speedster.

Thriving in O-Town, Davis has been a force to be reckoned with since the All-Star break, thrashing the opposition at a .326 clip. With little to non-existent power, Rajai does his damage on the base paths by running wild and helping the A’s and their humble offense create runs.

In his 92 appearances, the 28-year old Connecticut native is 29-for-37 (78%) in stolen base attempts, which puts him ahead of some premium base running threats; such as: Curtis Granderson (77%), Ichiro (75%), Shane Victorino (75%) and Chone Figgins (74%) to name a few. If at some point he is given the full green light, Davis could swipe 50+ bags in a full season.

Davis will however need to improve his output within his own division if he plans to take it to the next level. He has struggled against AL West foes, Anaheim , Seattle and Texas , hitting only .234 (15/64) this season.

Have no fear though, as regardless of this information, Davis definitely has all the ingredients to be a nice speed add to your roster as the season comes to a close and deserves consideration as a late round speed pick in your 2010 draft.

The Deeper

Cliff Pennington – Shortstop

A prototypical Oakland A’s type player, Pennington isn’t going to amaze too many out there with outlandish, eye-popping statistics. I think that it is fair to say that with this former Texas A & M shortstop, what you see is what you get.

Although he raked at college, (which lead to his first round selection, 21st overall) hitting to the tune of .346 in his three years at A & M, Pennington’s transition to pro ball hasn’t been without a hitch. Needless to say, while he won’t be a liability with the twig, to assume that he will have a plus .330 batting average wouldn’t be fair.

As a matter of fact, the light-hitting prospect will probably settle in around the 260-.275 range year-to-year (currently hitting .263 with the big club through 95 AB’s), be a solid contact hitter that doesn’t strikeout a lot and has a good eye at the dish (nearly a 1:1 BB:K ratio). Simply stated, Pennington can put the ball in play, throw down a bunt when necessary and play sound defense. All are elements that have made the career of Oakland GM Billy Beane such a success.

The 25-year old Texan has a touch of speed and can be counted on for double digit swipes, even upwards of 25+ if given the chance to run with regularity. Not keeper-esque numbers all around per se; but definitely someone not to allow fly completely under the radar at a tough fantasy position moving into 2010. It appears as if the current audition to finish this season is to prepare him for the job which may officially be his to lose now that Orlando Cabrera is out of the picture.

The DYNASTY

Brett Wallace – Third Base

The key member of the Matt Holliday deal, Wallace is sure to give the A’s a push to have him on their 2010 opening day roster. One simple indication could be their need for another power bat, as Oakland currently has only three active roster players with more than six home runs! Yes, that’s right, SIX HR’s. Free-swinging Jack Cust and his 145 whiffs has 20, Kurt Suzuki has 11 knocks and Adam Kennedy with 10 are the only A’s players to circle the bases with even a hint of regularity.

Enter this hot-corner blue chipper that the Cards’ certainly didn’t want to dish; however, in order to get a player of Holliday’s caliber was more than likely the only way to the Billy Beane would pull the trigger. With 18 long balls this season, spread through AA and two-AAA teams, Wallace is showing signs of comfort at the plate as well as his .298 career minor league average would indicate through nearly 700 AB’s.

Wallace has average defensive skills and could even be more comfortable as a first baseman. I’m sure that Daric Barton (or future FANTALYTICS article member) Chris Carter would have something to say about that. One way or the other, the A’s are at least looking to add more young talent to their mix in hopes of shaking off the struggles of the past three seasons. Expect this California kid to be considered a major cog in that development, bringing this small market dynamo back to the top of the AL West.

By Adam Forsyth

The DYNASTY

Jason Heyward – Outfield

Some guys, you can just tell they possess the “It” factor. Meet Jason Heyward.

Recently turning 20, Heyward has been tearing it up since joining the Braves farm system, and could be in position to challenge for an OF spot in the 2010 season.

Climbing his way up to AA-Mississippi, Heyward is currently hitting .364 through 130 AB’s, launching six long balls and adding an addition 15 extra base hits (12 doubles and three triples) to round out a .643 SLG. Percentage.

With Garret Anderson only under contract for this season, Heyward will at least post a challenge, along with other super prospect Jordan Shafer for a roster spot. Not overly powerful, he seems to have a bit of everything and being a fairly complete player and will hit for a solid average. Has a touch of speed that will allow the Braves to become a more aggressive team on the base paths.

Expect his arrival sometime in 2010, with the potential to make it out of camp (a la Shafer this season) in a move that may hinder his development. The Braves have been making moves that may provide a little clearance for him to jump in early, so don’t be surprised if he is given every opportunity to lose the roster spot, rather than earn it.

The Deep

Alcides Escobar - Shortstop

Speed, speed and more speed? Yes, that is what you will be getting in this sure-handed shortstop that was originally drafted for his range and glove in the toughest infield position in baseball.

This undrafted Venezuelan has risen to the ranks of above average when it comes to using the stick after the Brew Crew took a chance on a skinny kid that couldn’t really hit much turning into an offensive threat. Now, we’re not going to suggest that he is going to hit .300 anytime soon; however, he could slip into the .280 range and with his stellar glove keeping him in the Brewers line-up, the rest of the talking shows up in the stolen base column.

Swiping 176 bases in five and a half minor league seasons, Escobar currently only has one stolen bag since being called-up; however, with the Brewers not typically known as a running team, (2nd last in the league with 43 SB’s) this slick running middle infielder can be the one to introduce them to that type of game.

With J.J. Hardy out of the mix, it’s been made abundantly clear that the Brewers are ready to move forward with Escobar as their future man at Short.

By Ryan Roach

The Shallow

Howie Kendrick - (2B)

After starting the season absolutely atrocious, Kendrick’s fantasy owners felt like the one’s with pie in the face. Howie was sent down to the farm to regain his swing and collect some confidence.

That is exactly what he managed to do at Salt Lake City .

Now that's he's back up with the big club, Howie looks to regain the .300 + AVG. and ring up stats across the board in that potent Angel offense.

With hits in 5 of his first 6 games since being called up, there can be no where to look but up for Kendrick’s 2009 season.

The Deep

Jed Lowrie - (3B, SS)

Nobody is more excited for the "Return of the Jedi" than myself. Lowrie showed great strides in 2008, but has been derailed by injuries for most of the first half of the season.

Now that he's finally healthy, and Julio Lugo won't be stealing any at bats, Lowrie looks to take the field this weekend in hopes to help the Red Sox fill their hole at Shortstop.

Lowrie has a great eye at the plate, and as he showed in his rookie season, he has a knack for coming up with timely hits in the clutch. Something Beantown will need down the stretch if they are to fend off the New York Yankees in the AL East.

Although he doesn't have overwhelming power, Lowrie could be a Red Sox sparkplug in the second half (as he was last year), while providing fans at Fenway with big hits when necessary - and Fantasy owners solid results for those having trouble netting production from 2009 fantasy baseball's  particularly weak crop of shortstops.

By Ryan Roach

The Deep

Mat Latos - (SP)

Cannon for an arm, & cool “tats” – what’s not to like?

The San Diego Padres have given a strong indication that they'd like to see some of their prospects in the second half, and none of them have us more excited than Matt Latos.

Latos possesses brilliant stuff and has dominated the minors this season (8-1 with a 1.37 ERA and a K:BB of 73:12).

Given the fact that Latos will call his home Petco, his numbers could be dazzling, even if the wins aren't there.

If you have a top waiver priority in your league (Yahoo leagues have yet to add him) Latos is a pitcher worthy of targeting; especially in a keeper league!

The Shallow

J.J. Hardy - (SS)

J.J. Hardy is a tough player to own for an entire season, hence why he's on the majority of waiver wires. Nevertheless, J.J. typically strings together a nice hot streak, which he appeared to be entering prior to the All-Star break.

Over the last month, he's 26/90 at the plate with 5 Homer's and 14 RBI's (With a double, triple, dinger and 8 RBI's coming in his last 3 games).

With Prince Fielder swinging a hot bat, he seems to be reaping the benefits of pitchers not wanting to pitch to the Home Run Derby winner, but rather to Hardy.

By Scott Woodall

The Shallow

Martin Prado – (1B/2B/3b)

Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto. Thank-you very mucho, Martin Prado!

Fantasy Baseball has enjoyed the addition of a few nice 2B/3B options in recent weeks.

We mentioned the Milwaukee Brewers Casey McGehee not too long ago, and today we are on board with the Atlanta Braves punchy little Venezuelan – Martin Prado - who actually covers the entire diamond (less SS) as far as eligibility (1B/2B/3B). T

The cat is already out of the bag on the recent NL player of the week, but he still remains widely available in most fantasy formats.

If you need a boost to batting average, or play in a league that uses on base percentage as a stat category, you could do far worse than carrying this Atlanta Braves utility knife, who seldom strikes out, & nets plenty of walks, base hits and doubles…lots of doubles!

Prado has supplanted Kelly Johnson who has landed on the DL, and with his ability to play across the diamond he should get plenty of bats the rest of the season, especially if the bat stays hot. Hitting in front of Chipper & McCann should give him plenty of opportunities to succeed…so don’t be tardy on Marty if he’s still available on your waiver wire.

The Deep

Everth Cabrera – Shortstop (SS)

Need Cheap Speed?

Hmmm…without intentionally trying to sound like a drug dealer we have a solid solution…even though Andy Behrens of Yahoo beat us to the punch. Oh Andy, we love ya man, but we think waaaay too much alike sometimes, and are growing tired of you stealing our thunder!

Anyways…if Emilio Bonifacio doesn’t get your blood flowing, despite his recently added SS – well, here’s another idea…

The San Diego Padres have a new spark plug named Everth Cabrera – who could easily steal somewhere between 20 to 25 bases in the second half of the 2009 season, and possibly even more if he can retain the lead off spot he’s been hitting from of late.

Last season the speedster stole 73 bases while playing for Ashville of the South Atlantic League. Until the Colorado Rockies decide to give Eric Young Jr. a call up, this may be your answer to stock piling bargain priced waiver swipes!

It’s always sweet to net some cheap stolen bases – especially from middle infield spots, & since the switch hitting SS doesn’t have much competition for the shortstop position in San Diego, it makes him that much sweeter!

Everth currently has 7 steals already in his short stint with the Pads, and has only been caught stealing only once.
With that in mind & not to mention the triples chances he should garner while playing in the spacious confines of San Diego’s Petco Park, we think it’s time to take a closer look at this Road Runner! Beep Beep!

We thought we would allude to a couple other ball players that were recently drafted in the 2009 Major League Baseball draft, besides the Nationals number one overall pick Stephen Strasburg.

The Draft Pick

Dustin Ackley – Outfielder/First Base (LF/CF/RF/1B)

Hailing from UNC, Ackley has spent the last two seasons crushing college pitching, while hitting over .400 in the process. Taken #2 overall in the 2009 MLB Entry Draft, Ackley is full of talent. He has 5-tool capability and has versatility in a number of positions, such as the entire outfield and even first base.

The Seattle Mariners have a gem in Ackley, and will likely keep him in the minor league system for the next year or two to expand his already developed tools. Look for Mr. Ackley to come onto the scene in late 2010 or possibly 2011.

The Deeper Draft Pick

Grant Green – Shortstop (SS)

The Oakland A’s got a steal, when Green slipped to them at the #13 spot in this year’s draft.

Grant Green has exceptional talent and his range in the field is astounding. The USC product is a diamond in the rough and now that he’s in a system that loves to promote their young studs, I would expect the A’s to take the same approach with Green as they did with their previous top prospect shortstops (Miguel Tejada, and Bobby Crosby); promote quickly. My feeling is that Green will end up producing somewhere in the middle of those two; think Ryan Theriot with power.

The Deep

Editors Note: In case you missed it, we are featuring an ALL Deep Fantasy Baseball Pick-ups week in what we are referring to as Deep Shark Week! But we intend to return to making both a Shallow and Deep player suggestion once Fantasy Week Eleven kicks off.

Gordon Beckham – Shortstop/Third Base

Don’t let the hitless start that Gordon Beckham has displayed with the big club influence your opinion of him too much. Remember, he is the second coming of…you can finish that with whatever you have previously read about him!

Truth be told though; Becks was rolling in AA-Birmingham, hitting a shade under .300 with decent numbers across the board. This encouraged a move up to AAA-Charlotte where he continued his white hot start by destroying the offerings of International League pitching at a .464 clip (even if it was only seven games and 28 AB’s)

This display eliminated what loudmouth White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen thoughts were of adding the talented 22-year old as basically Beckham has earned the right to be called up. And if Gordo has anything to say about it, it will likely be for the remainder of the season. Even with a healthy Josh Fields and Chris Getz in the mix, Beckham will more than likely be able to figure out what it takes to remain in the bigs and get a shot at what many pre-season predictions believed, the AL R.O.Y.

Fantasy managers are salivating, as Beckham literally destroyed the ranks of the NCAA for three years at Georgia , and while the power hasn’t necessarily followed him since turning pro he carries the same kind of all-around capabilities and eye at the plate that just cannot be taught. Should the power come, Becks has the all-around talent that is somewhat rare to find in middle infielders. (that is assuming he finds his way there)

Who knows, perhaps the addition will spark the ho-hum Sox offence and give them an additional bat that doesn’t always depend on the long ball for run support.

The Deeper

Sean Rodriguez – Second Base (3B/SS?)

Speaking of power…With the Anaheim (I refuse to call them Los Angeles) Angels current infield set-up struggling to find a power stroke (14 total HR’s by their IF positional players), on the farm with Brandon Wood and Sean Rodriguez leading the way, the Salt Lake Bees infield resembles that of a Murderer’s Row with an impressive 44 ‘taters through 54 team games.

So why is there such an inverted display of power between the big club and their affiliate? Well, we all know that power doesn’t always translate, even from the highest level of talent in the minor leagues, but seriously that is a tremendous difference. Sean Rodriguez was given a sniff last season hitting mostly in the ninth spot of the line-up to protect him and relieve him of any pressures and he seemed to struggle in his 59 game audition.

You would hope that that wouldn’t be an indicator that he can’t hit major league pitching and I would challenge the kid in another call-up placing him in a more hearty line-up position, perhaps a bit of protection from Vladdy, or Morales to allow him to see some pitches. Mike Scioscia is a very bright manager and the staff in Halo-Ville is top-notch, I’m sure that they can settle the differences and have Rodriguez become a successful fantasy contributor.

If I were Howie Kendrick, I would start knocking the ball around soon with some real enthusiasm; otherwise the sound of footsteps behind him could suddenly place him in fantasy anonymity. Rodriguez is the real deal and his power up the middle is something that is rarer than a Honus Wagner rookie card. Alright, maybe not that rare, but I’m sure you get what I am saying.

Ben Zobrist - 2B/SS/LF/RF

At the beginning of May, Ben Zobrist was viewed as a utility Short Stop with a little speed, and ‘maybe’ some pop in his bat, who unfortunately never garnered enough at bats for much fantasy baseball attention.

With some injuries to the Tampa Bay Rays key starting players (Pat Burrell, Akinori Iwamura, and Jason Bartlett) Zobrist has emerged into a bonifiable mixed league swiss army knife, capable of lending a hand to just about anyone’s roster right now. It remains to be seen how the playing time will divvy once Burrell & Bartlett return from the DL, but for now “Zobi”, who just added second base eligibility has become a very useful fantasy baseball commodity. We featured Tampa ’s cult hero last month in The Shallow & The Deep. 

Notable May waiver wire gems who we also considered for Megalodon of the Month were – Los Angeles Dodgers Juan Pierre, Texas Rangers Hank Blalock, and Chicago White Sox Paul Konerko.

May 2009 - CHUM of the Month

Chris Davis – 1B/3B

The burly Texas Rangers first baseman has experienced an awful start to 2009. Drafted as a high round pick by many who were banking on the strong mans power swatting ability – Davis has not been able to cut the K’s that have plagued him all season. Davis was recently benched for a couple games to try and fix the holes in his swing, and with a lot of MLB games left to play in 2009 there’s still a solid chance the big guy rights the ship. If an owner has become disenchanted by the power hitting lefty’s penchant for the whiff – you may want to see if you can grab him for a deep discount, as it’s likely only a matter of time before the Rangers 1st basemen goes on a home run tare.

By Ryan Roach

The Deep

Elvis Andrus – Shortstop (SS)

Primarily rushed to the bigs for his defense, the Texas Rangers Elvis Andrus has been swinging a pretty sweet bat lately.

Since the beginning of May, Andrus has raised his batting average 30 points, to a respectable .283. And is currently hitting .317 at home. If you’re hurting at SS and you’d like a cheaper version of Ryan Theriot, then look to the wire to see if anyone has grabbed Elvis Andrus. You simply can’t go wrong with a talented Ranger hitting in Arlington half the season...especially when the temperature begins to rise in the steaming Texas heat!

The Shallow

Michael Cuddyer – Outfielder (RF)

Last season aside, Michael Cuddyer’s career has been a model of consistency. Never exceeding a AVG. above .300 in a season, Cuddyer somehow manages to spot an average in the high 2’s and is hitting in a comfy lineup with the likes of Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer in front of him.

With 5 Home Runs in his last 8 games, Cuddyer is coming on strong the past couple weeks. That, and the fact that the Minnesota Twins righty has a hit in all but 5 games in May, means his bat is heating up at just the right time.

Note: As were writing this post...Michael Cuddyer left the game with an undisclosed finger injury...so you may want to keep close tabs on the severity of this injury!

By Scott Woodall

The Shallow

Ben Zobrist SS/LF/RF – & almost 2B

With Akinori Iwamura being bull-dozed on a play late in yesterday’s game by the Florida Marlins Chris Coghlan, it appears the fantasy baseball communities wishes for Ben Zobrist regular duty, should be on it’s way…we think…

MOO HAA HAA HAA!

Unless Joe Maddon is the Devil in Buddy Holly specs, he’ll be employing the rising pinch-hitting stud as the Rays every day second baseman beginning this week. We thought the regular duty would have began when Pat “The Bat” Burrell hit the DL over a week ago, but Maddon foiled us with his affections for the "Two Gabes" – Gross and Kapler.

Zobrist only needs one more 2B start to gain second base eligibility, and a couple more botched line-up cards with Longoria, and he’ll add 3B to his growing arsenal of positions. DeRosa like multi-eligibility won’t mean squat if he doesn’t produce, but he’s been fantastic early on, and should provide enough speed and plenty of pop to be a welcome addition to those who are particularly starved on middle infielder spots!

Note: If Rays coach Joe Maddon continues to hornswoggle Ben Zobrist out of regular duty even after the latest Iwamura injury (appears to be quite serious), it may be time Ben soothes the Joe Maddon fantasy wreaker demon with the some Christian Rock ditties Ben’s cutie wife Julianna Zobrist has been known to croon!

The Deep

Andy LaRoche – Third Base (3B)

Hey remember me? Brotherly love didn’t get off to a rousing start in the city of Pittsburgh , as the younger LaRoche stumbled out of the gate to begin 2009. But the prized former LA Dodgers prospect seems to be finally showing us a taste of the masher he was throughout his minor league career.

LaRoche has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games he’s appeared in, raising his average .44 points in the last ten days. The strong right handed hitter still has only connected on two jacks this season, but the much more aggressive approach at the plate has garnered him some great results so far this month. Third Base is not exactly a bountiful position this year – so keep a close eye on honest Andy – he may be finally starting to live up to some of his hype!