RED SOX ADD OUTFIELDER
Reports suggest that outfielder Chris Young has signed a multi-year deal with the Red Sox for $13 million. The 32 year outfielder used to be a borderline fantasy star with three 20/20 seasons, but he hasn’t been a full-time player since 2011. Regardless, he owns solid skills that can help a big league club, especially when a lefty is on the bump. Young hit .327 with a .972 OPS against lefties last season and for his career he has a .263/.362/.474 slash line against portsiders (1,406 plate appearances). He can rip those lefties up extremely well, duh, though his struggles against righties (.224/.293/.411) hint that he will once again be used in a limited manner in 2016.
One other talent Young possesses is his ability to yank the ball with a vicious pull-happy stroke. According to David Cameron, Young has a .496 wOBA when he pulls the ball. That’s an immense, HOF level mark. What hitters have success at Fenway? Those that pull the ball of course. In fact, here’s a homer chart for Chris Young from 2015. Note that every one of his big flies would have cleared the Green Monster by a ton.
Obviously you want to use him at home against a lefty. Remember that DFS players. Season long gamers... you only want to be paying attention to Young in AL-only leagues.
The Yankees picked up Aaron Hicks early this offseason to fill in for the eventual loss of Young. It is also possible that the Red Sox could consider moving another outfielder with this signing. Jackie Bradley Jr. hit .446 over an 83 at-bat stretch last season but he’s still a .213 career hitter in the big leagues and hit .138 over his last 80 at-bats to end the year. He may be more glove than bat. Rusney Castillo is supposed to be a power/speed threat but he had a hard time finding his footing in his first year in the bigs. He hit .262 with a mere .680 OPS over 209 at-bats last season, and he is already 28 years old suggesting that his lack of success in ’15 is concerning.
MINOR DEALS
The Giants signed Grant Green to a minor league deal. Long one of my favorite AL-only reserve round selections, he could never crack the Angels lineup despite minor league success. In 622 minor league games Grant has hit .309 with a .354 OBP and .468 SLG. That’s some strong work. Over the last three seasons he’s spent an inordinate amount of time at Triple-A. Each of the past five stops he’s hit at least .306 and has been over .320 the other four stops. The kid can hit. There’s also this: he can wear many a glove in the field which should certainly help him more in the NL than in the AL. Green has appeared in 253 games at shortstop, 215 games in the outfield, 188 games at second base, 37 games at third and 35 times at first during his minor league travels. Alas, he’s only had 300 plate appearance in the big leagues the last three years with a mere .249/.283/.335 slash line. I will be adding him late in NL-only leagues. I can’t get me enough o’ Green.
The Giants signed Kyle Blanks to a minor league deal. Whereas I have an interest in Green, I have zero interest in Blanks. Go for it. Roster him at your own risk. You will almost certainly regret that decision. The 29 year old 1B/OF stands 6’6” and weighs in at about 265 lbs. When right, he mashes balls. He’s never right. Only once in seven seasons has he picked up 200 at-bats, he’s played just 44 games the past two seasons and he’s coming off a season in which he has his Achilles operated on twice. Here are his disabled list stints the start of the 2012 season. It might be longer than any person in professional baseball.
| 2015 | MLB Team | Pos | Status | Actual Team | Level | Transaction Notes |
| 8/8/2015 | Texas Rangers | LF | DL-60 | Texas Rangers | MLB | Transferred to 60-day DL |
| 6/19/2015 | Texas Rangers | LF | DL-15 | Texas Rangers | MLB | DL-15 Left and right Achilles tendinitis |
| 6/12/2015 | Texas Rangers | 1B | Active-MLB | Texas Rangers | MLB | Activated from DL |
| 5/23/2015 | Texas Rangers | 1B | DL-15 | Texas Rangers | MLB | DL-15 Cyst removal |
| 2014 | ||||||
| 10/31/2014 | Oakland Athletics | 1B | Active-MLB | Oakland Athletics | MLB | Activated from DL |
| 8/24/2014 | Oakland Athletics | 1B | DL-60 | Oakland Athletics | MLB | Transferred to 60-day DL |
| 6/24/2014 | Oakland Athletics | 1B | DL-15 | Oakland Athletics | MLB | DL-15 Strained left calf |
| 2013 | ||||||
| 8/31/2013 | San Diego Padres | 1B | Active-MLB | San Diego Padres | MLB | Activated from DL |
| 8/25/2013 | San Diego Padres | rf | DL-15 | Tucson | AAA | Assigned to Tucson (AAA) for rehab |
| 7/13/2013 | San Diego Padres | rf | DL-15 | San Diego Padres | MLB | DL-15 Left achilles tendinitis [Chronic] |
| 2012 | ||||||
| 11/2/2012 | San Diego Padres | 1B-LF | Active-MLB | San Diego Padres | MLB | Activated from DL |
| 5/2/2012 | San Diego Padres | OF | DL-60 | San Diego Padres | MLB | Transferred to 60-day DL |
| 4/14/2012 | San Diego Padres | OF | DL-15 | San Diego Padres | MLB | DL-15 Strained left shoulder |
| * Table thanks to TheBaseballCube |
Blanks, for all the hype, has never really hit at the big league level displaying a replacement level bat (.241/.322/.416). Remember that when you’re tempted to add him if he has a strong spring.
The Marlins signed Justin Maxwell to a minor league deal. The 32 year old outfielder averaged 20 homers and 14 steals per 500 big league at bats, pretty impressive, but he also owns a .220/.303/.399 slash line that has limited him to just 1,057 at-bats over seven big league seasons. He is more talent than production. He’s barely on the NL-only radar.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Thursday at 8 PM EDT and Friday at 10 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 7 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).
Player News
Kyren Paris hit a two-run homer in Wednesday’s win for the Angels over the Blue Jays.
That’s the first homer for Paris since April 9 when he went deep twice against Tampa Bay and caused everyone to lose all sense of rational thought. The 23-year-old did also single and walk to improve his on-base percentage to .311,, while the homer bumps his slugging mark to .378. There is long-term upside in Paris with flashes that suggest he can be a fantasy option. Fantasy managers should still absolutely looking elsewhere for options up the middle.
Jorge Soler hit a three-run double in the bottom of the ninth to give the Angels a 5-4 win over the Blue Jays on Wednesday.
Trent Grisham went 1-for-1 with a game-tying two-run home run in the eighth inning of a 4-3 win over the Padres on Wednesday.
While the Yankees won this game on a walk-off in the 10th inning, Grisham’s game-tying home run in the eighth was the biggest moment. He came on as a pinch-hitter for Jorbit Vibas against the usually stout Jason Adam and smashed a two-strike changeup into the right field seats. This clutch shot will only continue to push Grisham’s playing time in the right direction after he just started eight of the last 10 games, hit either first or second in each, and already has 10 homers in 31 games played this season.
Jeff Hoffman blew a save and picked up a loss Wednesday against the Angels.
Devin Williams struck out three batters with one walk and hit another in a scoreless 10th inning to earn the win against the Padres on Wednesday.
The Yankees entrusted Williams with the all important 10th inning and the inherited ghost runner on second base after their dramatic comeback. While he loaded the bases and had some tense moments, he left the inning unscathed and opened the door for them to win it right after. It should be noted that Luke Weaver came on for what were the most important outs of this game at the time, after Ian Hamilton walked two to begin the eighth inning and Weaver allowed both of those inherited runners to score. He was called upon as the fireman though and will likely get the next save opportunity. Still, this was a massive step in the right direction for Williams.
Max Fried allowed five hits and one run with no walks and eight strikeouts over seven innings in a no-decision against the Padres on Wednesday.
Fried’s excellent season continued as he set down the Padres easily besides for a mammoth solo home run by Jackson Merrill. It was no matter though, as they rarely threatened otherwise and Fried continued to find his strikeout stuff. This was his fourth outing of the year with at least seven strikeouts, a mark he only hit 10 times last season in 29 starts. Fried with a strikeout rate that’s better than league average – which is where he’s at right now – is a clear top-10 pitcher in fantasy baseball. He’s set for a two-start week coming up against the Mariners and Mets.