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).