{"id":3705,"date":"2011-04-26T09:30:43","date_gmt":"2011-04-26T14:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/?p=3705"},"modified":"2011-04-26T12:47:09","modified_gmt":"2011-04-26T17:47:09","slug":"trade-bait-zobrist-crawford-kinsler-puma-and-konerko","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/archives\/3705","title":{"rendered":"Trade Bait: Zobrist, Crawford, Kinsler, Puma, and Konerko"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/zobeshawk.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-3706\" title=\"zobeshawk\" src=\"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/zobeshawk-220x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"229\" height=\"312\" srcset=\"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/zobeshawk-220x300.jpg 220w, http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/zobeshawk.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 229px) 100vw, 229px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Playing fantasy baseball is fashionable for many reasons.\u00a0 It appeals to not only rad people, such as myself, but also has qualities that attract the nerdiest guy you know from your AP stats class back in high school.\u00a0 People love the stats, and people love trying to predict the future.\u00a0 If they didn\u2019t, then why are psychic hotlines so popular?\u00a0 For me, though, it is not really about the stats.\u00a0 It is all about playing the role of the Fantasy GM.<\/p>\n<p>I am sure that there are others who feel this way.\u00a0 Maybe it is just the fact that I am now a baseball coach\/manager, or maybe it is because I can\u2019t stand being drug through the mud for another season as an Astros\u2019 fan.\u00a0 Whatever the reason, I love to play the role of the GM.\u00a0 The best part about being the GM: the trades.\u00a0 Oh, yes.<\/p>\n<p>Trading is maybe the most exciting part of any fantasy season.\u00a0 I love trying to negotiate a deal on a buy low candidate or trying to convince another owner that so-and-so is not really as good as he thinks he is.\u00a0 Or maybe I just want some new blood in the lineup.\u00a0 Regardless, I love trading and think that it is one of the most crucial components to a successful fantasy season.<\/p>\n<p>With the one month mark rapidly approaching, I would like to introduce the first article in a new series I plan on putting out every other week this year.\u00a0 I call it, <em>Trade Bait<\/em>.\u00a0 It is a list of some players that I would like to acquire, as well as guys I am getting rid of as if they were the plague.\u00a0 I will also start each article off with the list of trades that have gone down in the Denslow Cup before introducing each list.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">First Trades of the Year:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>April 6, 2011 &#8212; <strong>Tits and Giggles<\/strong> receives: <strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/player_search.cgi?search=Mike+Stanton&#038;utm_source=direct&#038;utm_medium=linker&#038;utm_campaign=Linker\">Mike  Stanton<\/a><\/strong>; <strong>Quade Steak Burritos<\/strong> receives: <strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/choosh01.shtml?utm_source=direct&#038;utm_medium=linker&#038;utm_campaign=Linker\">Shin-Soo  Choo<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/f\/freesda01.shtml?utm_source=direct&#038;utm_medium=linker&#038;utm_campaign=Linker\">David  Freese<\/a><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Tits and Giggles<\/strong> won this trade.\u00a0 In our league, power trumps speed due to how many categories it affects.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>April 25, 2011 &#8212; <strong>Dingo Teryiaki<\/strong> receives: <strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/u\/ugglada01.shtml?utm_source=direct&#038;utm_medium=linker&#038;utm_campaign=Linker\">Dan  Uggla<\/a><\/strong>; <strong>So Fresh \u2018n So Sheen Sheen<\/strong> receives: <strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/z\/zobribe01.shtml?utm_source=direct&#038;utm_medium=linker&#038;utm_campaign=Linker\">Ben  Zobrist<\/a><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>I am not sure what to think of this trade.\u00a0 My own team was involved and the one that made the proposal.\u00a0 I know I gave up a fourth-rounder for a seventh-rounder, but I just have this gut feeling that by the end of the year, the Zorilla will rank ahead of Uggla at 2B.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Guys I\u2019m going after:<\/span><\/p>\n<p>1. Ben Zobrist: Everyone knows what the Zorilla is capable of.\u00a0 But, just in case, here are a few reasons why you need to get him now.\u00a0 His GB\/FB rate sits at 1.48 compared to a career average of 1.17.\u00a0 His GB% currently sits 9.5% higher than his career average.\u00a0 His contact rate is 9% lower than any year he has played in the show.\u00a0 He is also currently swinging and missing at pitches in the strike zone at a rate double that of his career average.\u00a0 Regression to the mean suggests that Ben Zobrist will be just fine.\u00a0 Oh yeah, he has two bombs in the last two games.<\/p>\n<p>2. <strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/crawfca02.shtml?utm_source=direct&#038;utm_medium=linker&#038;utm_campaign=Linker\">Carl  Crawford<\/a><\/strong>: Chances are that Crawford\u2019s owner is not willing to sell low; he could be willing to deal him, though.\u00a0 Anything you can bring back for this quality of player, at a price that is even somewhat lower than draft day value, can be considered as a winning the trade.\u00a0 His BABIP is a ridiculously low .194 right now (career BABIP=.329), he is swinging at fewer bad pitches than he normal, and he is hitting good pitches at the same rate as his career numbers would suggest.\u00a0 Crawford will soon catch a few lucky bounces on some batted balls, and then it will be too late to get him for anything cheaper than a first-round pick.<\/p>\n<p>3. <strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kinslia01.shtml?utm_source=direct&#038;utm_medium=linker&#038;utm_campaign=Linker\">Ian  Kinsler<\/a><\/strong>: What is not to love about the potential of a 25\/25 guy?\u00a0 When he starts the season hitting .228, there is immediate potential for a buy low scenario.\u00a0 The Rangers\u2019 second baseman\u2019s BABIP sits at .206, almost 100 points below league average.\u00a0 That alone indicates that Kinsler should have no problem getting back to the .275-.280 hitter that he is.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Guys I\u2019m getting rid of:<\/span><\/p>\n<p>1. <strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/berkmla01.shtml?utm_source=direct&#038;utm_medium=linker&#038;utm_campaign=Linker\">Lance  Berkman<\/a><\/strong>: For starters, Berkman can\u2019t possibly have any more value than he does right now.\u00a0 His BABIP sits at an astonishing .370 compared to his lifetime BABIP of .318.\u00a0 He is striking out at a rate almost 10% lower than he normally does, despite swinging at more pitches outside the strike zone than ever before\u2026and did I mention he is 35-years-old?\u00a0 Sure he is hitting behind <strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/pujolal01.shtml?utm_source=direct&#038;utm_medium=linker&#038;utm_campaign=Linker\">Albert  Pujols<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hollima01.shtml?utm_source=direct&#038;utm_medium=linker&#038;utm_campaign=Linker\">Matt  Holliday<\/a><\/strong>, but I just see no way that he can keep this pace up for a whole year.<\/p>\n<p>2. <strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/rodriwa01.shtml?utm_source=direct&#038;utm_medium=linker&#038;utm_campaign=Linker\">Wandy  Rodriguez<\/a><\/strong>: He plays for my Astros, so you know he will not rack up more than 12 wins.\u00a0 He has a FIP of 4.08.\u00a0 Hitters contact rates on pitches both in and out of the zone are higher than they have ever been against him.\u00a0 Perhaps what is most concerning is that only 48% of all his pitches this season have been in the strike zone.\u00a0 I think Wandy falls below TMR\u2019s famous Wandy line this year.\u00a0 Try selling based on the following stat: 8.8% of all strikes thrown by Wandy are being swung at and missed; the second highest rate in his career.<\/p>\n<p>3. <strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/konerpa01.shtml?utm_source=direct&#038;utm_medium=linker&#038;utm_campaign=Linker\">Paul  Konerko<\/a><\/strong>: <a href=\"..\/..\/..\/..\/..\/archives\/2786\">Re-read my pre-season projection<\/a> for Konerko, notice that it is the exact opposite of how he is starting the season, and realize that now is the time to get the largest return on your investment.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Playing fantasy baseball is fashionable for many reasons.\u00a0 It appeals to not only rad people, such as myself, but also has qualities that attract the nerdiest guy you know from your AP stats class back in high school.\u00a0 People love the stats, and people love trying to predict the future.\u00a0 If they didn\u2019t, then why [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[76,1300,17,6,11,13,14,2164],"tags":[619,147,346,494,63,202,1180,539,391,3465,205],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3705"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3705"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3711,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3705\/revisions\/3711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}