Mastersball Fantasy Forum

This seems like one of those trades wherein the scouting department sees something they can adjust etc and get him to his potential. However between Crisp, Cespedes, Reddick and Smith is he clearly #5 in a four man rotation? I've seen projections for him all over the place.

From knowing my league usually NL transfer guys can be had for a few bucks less than market value...albeit I'm not exactly sure what market value even is in an AL only at this point?

Hey Trav,

Funny, in my league, the shiny new NL guys go for more, not a discount.

I see this 5-man scrum shaking out this way:

Cespedes - barring injury he will play every day either in the OF or at DH, so really I view it as the following 4 guys for the last 3 spots:

Crisp - we know he will miss some. I also believe however, that he is in there everyday that he physically capable. I feel the biggest reason for this is his bat. Look at the OAK roster. Anyone else see a leadoff hitter on that team? Me neither. Its Coco leading off whenever his body lets him. Now we're down to 3 guys and 2 spots, and this is where it gets tricky.

Reddick - After the year he had last year, my guess is that he is the guy they WANT to be their everyday RF. Whether his bat allows this is another question. He was an All-Star in the 1st half and AAAA in the 2nd. If he can split the difference he'll play. Now we've got the last 2 guys and 1 spot.

Young - Crushes lefties
Smith - Crushes righties
They platoon until someone gets hurt. Smith gives the corner guys the occasional day off, Young does the same for Coco. Young is there for Crisp insurance, Smith for Cespedes/Reddick.

Finally, on days when Crisp and Young are both in the lineup, I see Crisp at DH and Young in CF, not that that matter for fantasy.

Anyone else?

Not really. You hit that nail smack dab on the head. Nice write up.

I do think Reddick's defense will buy him a get out of jail card when his bat goes silent for 7-10 days.

Sorry but while the player profiles are correct the positioning and way Melvin plans to use them is wrong

Smith shouldn't even be given a glove as badly as he uses it and almost all his AB will come as the DH

Cespedes (LF), Crisp (CF), Reddick (mostly RF but some LF), and Young (all three) will split all the OF at bats with each getting 400+ and Cespedes and Crisp likely to see the most, Young the least.

He hasn't given any indication that he would use Young strictly against LHP but we will see how it works out

Captain Hook wrote:Sorry but while the player profiles are correct the positioning and way Melvin plans to use them is wrong

Smith shouldn't even be given a glove as badly as he uses it and almost all his AB will come as the DH

Cespedes (LF), Crisp (CF), Reddick (mostly RF but some LF), and Young (all three) will split all the OF at bats with each getting 400+ and Cespedes and Crisp likely to see the most, Young the least.

He hasn't given any indication that he would use Young strictly against LHP but we will see how it works out

No need to be sorry man. We're just throwing ideas around here.

I have read that Young's UZR was off the charts good last year and, surprisingly (?), Crisp's was bad. There is some speculation that Young will see some time in CF for defensive purposes and Crisp can DH those days. Plus this has the added benefit of keeping Coco healthier. Thoughts on that?

AllstonRockCity wrote:

Captain Hook wrote:Sorry but while the player profiles are correct the positioning and way Melvin plans to use them is wrong

Smith shouldn't even be given a glove as badly as he uses it and almost all his AB will come as the DH

Cespedes (LF), Crisp (CF), Reddick (mostly RF but some LF), and Young (all three) will split all the OF at bats with each getting 400+ and Cespedes and Crisp likely to see the most, Young the least.

He hasn't given any indication that he would use Young strictly against LHP but we will see how it works out

No need to be sorry man. We're just throwing ideas around here.

I have read that Young's UZR was off the charts good last year and, surprisingly (?), Crisp's was bad. There is some speculation that Young will see some time in CF for defensive purposes and Crisp can DH those days. Plus this has the added benefit of keeping Coco healthier. Thoughts on that?

Certainly CY will be in CF on Coco's days off which there will be more of - like I say all four of the OF (counting Smith as a DH) will be over 400 AB

At 400ab Young becomes interesting to me, again knowing my league for some reason these guys fly under the radar. Albeit now that we have 25 of them coming over in new uniforms maybe my league will pay a little closer attention.

Drafting Friday night and just finishing up my lists tonight, trying to make my sheets legible and intuitive at a glance. Being commish inputting teams and drafting at the same time gets hectic at a live auction at times!

(Note to self: Change color of Chris Young on sheets)

Tuck this factoid in the back of your minds when trying to analyze the A's OF situation (an endeavor I have pretty much given up on after last season) - according to Cot's, both Young and Crisp are in their final year of their deals ...each has a relatively cheap club option buyout for 2014 ($1.5 mil for Young, $1 mil for Coco) - one or both of them may not be an A at the trade deadline.

da_big_kid_94 wrote:Tuck this factoid in the back of your minds when trying to analyze the A's OF situation (an endeavor I have pretty much given up on after last season) - according to Cot's, both Young and Crisp are in their final year of their deals ...each has a relatively cheap club option buyout for 2014 ($1.5 mil for Young, $1 mil for Coco) - one or both of them may not be an A at the trade deadline.

Hi Kid,

I have been mulling this same question in my mind. At what point though do these attractive contracts make them more valuable to the A's than other clubs. Meaning, if the contract is so good that most teams would want it, why not keep the guy for yourself? Obviously if they are out of the hunt in July, all bets are off. But if they contend again? I'd re-sign the one I find more attractive and take the compensatory picks for the other one.

AllstonRockCity wrote:

da_big_kid_94 wrote:Tuck this factoid in the back of your minds when trying to analyze the A's OF situation (an endeavor I have pretty much given up on after last season) - according to Cot's, both Young and Crisp are in their final year of their deals ...each has a relatively cheap club option buyout for 2014 ($1.5 mil for Young, $1 mil for Coco) - one or both of them may not be an A at the trade deadline.

Hi Kid,

I have been mulling this same question in my mind. At what point though do these attractive contracts make them more valuable to the A's than other clubs. Meaning, if the contract is so good that most teams would want it, why not keep the guy for yourself? Obviously if they are out of the hunt in July, all bets are off. But if they contend again? I'd re-sign the one I find more attractive and take the compensatory picks for the other one.

Hey ARC,

In this case, it's not necessarily an attractive contract - Young's 2014 option is 11 mil, Coco's is 7.5 mil. I can't see the A's picking up either of those options at the end of the year. I could see either or both going to a pennant chase team with the idea of the team that traded for them buying out the option at the end of the year.

To further complicate things, you have to weigh the new CBA ... no more offers of arbitration declined get you a draft pick. Now it's the average of the 125 top salaries that must be offered. Last season, that number was $13.3 mil - so you'd have to offer them more than their options would cost to get a draft pick for them - and, of course, they'd have to reject the offer. So offering them that salary could be an even bigger risk to a team with seemingly tight margins. Then add in the circumstances surrounding Kyle Lohse and you run a very real risk of them taking that offer - which is more than their options would cost.

da_big_kid_94 wrote: Hey ARC,

In this case, it's not necessarily an attractive contract - Young's 2014 option is 11 mil, Coco's is 7.5 mil. I can't see the A's picking up either of those options at the end of the year. I could see either or both going to a pennant chase team with the idea of the team that traded for them buying out the option at the end of the year.

To further complicate things, you have to weigh the new CBA ... no more offers of arbitration declined get you a draft pick. Now it's the average of the 125 top salaries that must be offered. Last season, that number was $13.3 mil - so you'd have to offer them more than their options would cost to get a draft pick for them - and, of course, they'd have to reject the offer. So offering them that salary could be an even bigger risk to a team with seemingly tight margins. Then add in the circumstances surrounding Kyle Lohse and you run a very real risk of them taking that offer - which is more than their options would cost.

Good point.

Given that Young's salary jumps from 8.5 to 11 and Crisp's only jumps from 7 to 7.5, I know who I'd want to keep if I were the GM.