by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor)

After a relatively quiet start to the Winter Meetings things got churning a little bit yesterday, with a slew of pitchers on the move.  While there was some late night bullpen movement (Jeurys Familia to the Mets, Joe Kelly to the Dodgers), the early part of the day was dominated by the starters.  Let’s take a look at who made some moves and what their upside is:

Charlie Morton to Tampa Bay
The team that started the opener trend made a fairly large investment in a starter, giving Morton a 2 year, $30 million contract.  Clearly they aren’t going to pay that much money not to utilize him as a true starter, joining Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow at the top of the Rays’ rotation. Read more

by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor)

It wasn’t a complete surprise that Andrew McCutchen landed in Philadelphia, what likely caught people off-guard was that he landed a deal worth 3 years and $50 million.  For a player of his age and clearly not the elite player he once was, it’s a large sum of money.  That’s not to say that McCutchen doesn’t still have value, especially moving to a hitter friendly environment.

The power is going to be the key, since we can’t bank on him suddenly rediscovering some speed (though he could continue to swipe 10+ bases for now).  Just look at the split that McCutchen has shown in regards to his home runs over the past few seasons:

by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor)

It was a bit of a surprise that the Reds opted to cut bait on Billy Hamilton, though his inability to develop at the plate made it difficult to hold out hope.  No one is going to question his defensive ability and he has the upside of being the elite base runner in the game, though if he’s not getting on base how much can he tap into it?

Just looking at his OBP over the past five seasons tells the tale:

• 2014 – .292
• 2015 – .274
• 2016 – .321
• 2017 – .299
• 2018 – .299

Now he’s going to change organizations, heading to Kansas City.  The Royals are clearly trying to catch lightning in a bottle, which makes sense, as they rebuild.  At 28-years old Hamilton could be a long-term piece, or if he shows development could be flipped for a solid return. Read more

by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor)

There were high hopes for the Rangers’ Nomar Mazara entering 2018, coming off a 2017 campaign that saw him hit .253 with 20 HR and 101 RBI over 616 PA.  However, instead of taking that next step forward he instead appeared to stagnate as he missed time due to injury and finished the year with an incredibly similar stat line:

489 At Bats
.258 Batting Average (126 Hits)
20 Home Runs
77 RBI
61 Runs
1 Stolen Bases
.317 On Base Percentage
.436 Slugging Percentage
.298 Batting Average on Balls in Play

Was it really a stagnant season or does it set things up for him to emerge as a true post-hype sleeper?  While the rest of your league mates may be prepared to label him as “overhyped”, now may be the perfect time to turn your attention in his direction.  Let’s take a look: Read more

by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor)

Ian Desmond has long been seen as having high-end potential, and moving to Colorado a few years ago the expectations only grew.  Unfortunately he’s fallen flat more often than not, and while we could write off his first season as a Rockie due to a wrist injury what about his second campaign?  It’s a mixed bag, to say the least:

555 At Bats
.236 Batting Average (131 Hits)
22 Home Runs
88 RBI
82 Runs
20 Stolen Bases
.307 On Base Percentage
.422 Slugging Percentage
.279 Batting Average on Balls in Play

Obviously he was able to produce both power and stolen bases, but it came with a hideous average and significant questions.  A career .264 hitter there’s reason for optimism, right?  Maybe, but maybe not.  Let’s take a look at his ability across the board and see what we can expect: Read more

by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor)

After a breakout 2017 with the Orioles there were high hopes for Jonathan Schoop entering 2018.  However whether he was playing for Baltimore or Milwaukee (where he landed after a Trade Deadline deal), all Schoop did was disappoint along the way:

• Orioles (367 PA) – .244, 17 HR, 40 RBI
• Brewers (134 PA) – .202, 4 HR, 21 RBI

Prior to the trade he at least continued to make consistent contact (20.2% strikeout rate), and while his Hard% wasn’t impressive (26.6%) it’s easy to point towards a .262 BABIP as the reason for his struggles.  Sure the luck was still down after the trade (.259), but the bigger issue was the jump in his strikeout rate to 30.6%. Read more