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ROYALS MOVES

The season is never ending, even for the World Series champions.


Wade Davis had his $10 million club option for 2016 exercised, an obvious move since (1) Greg Holland is having Tommy John surgery and (2) Davis is the best reliever in baseball the last two seasons. Over the last two campaigns Davis has thrown 139.1 of the best innings you will see. He’s not only gone 17-3, an amazing mark for a reliever, but he also has 20 saves, 51 holds, a 0.97 ERA, 0.82 WHIP and a 12.08 K/9 mark leading to a 4.35 K/BB ratio. See what I meant by the best reliever in baseball? He will open the 2016 season as the Royals’ closer.


Alcides Escobar had his $6.5 million option exercised by the club, a no doubt move after his strong playoff run (see World Series Recap). Doesn’t mean he’s a great fantasy play though. His career best homer mark is five. His career best runs batted in total is 52. He’s hit as high as .293 but his career mark is .262. He’s also stolen at least 17 bases each of the past five season. All told he went .257-3-47-76-17 in 2015 making him a moderate shortstop option in AL-only leagues. He also had a sickly .292 OBP and .320 SLG though. He’s just not good with a bat in his hands.


Alex Gordon was extended a qualifying offer by the Royals. The 31 year old outfielder turned that down and he will become a free agent, but there is still a chance he stays with the Royals on a multi-year deal. From 2011-14 Gordon’s average season resulted in a fantasy line of .283-19-79-93-13. None of that is great. All of it is very good. In 2015 he appeared in just 104 games and didn’t get to those previous levels (.271-13-48-40-2). Still, over 155 games his pace would have netted him a .271-19-72-60-3 line. Not that far off, other than the steals, and don’t forget to cut him some slack for the injuries. He will land a nice contract, I’m thinking five years, and we could be looking at something around $100 million dollars. Whether the Royals will pay that much to keep him in the fold remains to be seen.

 

GRANDERSON HAS THUMB SURGERY

 Curtis Granderson injured his thumb on a slide in the NLCS but he played through the injury. The club expects him to be fully healthy by Opening Day next season.

 
Granderson had his best season in three years, just at a point where many began to doubt the 34 year old outfielder. Granderson hit .259, a four year high, and his .364 OBP was tied for the best seasonal mark he’s posted in seven years. Meanwhile, his .457 SLG was a 3-year best as well. Granderson also went 25/10, scored 98 runs, and drove in 70. It was a heck of a fantasy season. 

 

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COMEBACK PLAYERS OF THE YEAR

 

Major League Baseball announced their Comeback Players of the Year on Thursday.

 

NL: Matt Harvey (13-8, 2,71 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 188 strikeouts over 189.1 innings)

Harvey didn’t throw a pitch in 2014 that counted as he was recovering from Tommy John surgery. He returned, looked great for most of the year, and ended up throwing more innings than any player ever in his first year back from TJ surgery. I touched on the innings pitched concerns with Harvey in Mets Pitchers and Guerrero.


AL: Prince Fielder (.305-23-98-78 in 158 games)

From 2006-13 Fielder appeared in at least 157 games each season. From 2011-13 he didn’t miss a single game. Last year he was limited to 42 games cause of a neck issue. There was some concern about whether or not his body would ever be able to allow him to return to previous levels. Well, consider that question answered in the affirmative. The 31 year old Fielder came all the way back with his slash line (.305/.378/.463) and his total of 98 RBIs was impressive. The 23 homers were a bit low, but he did hit 25 homers in 2013 so quibbling, after the effort he posted, is really just dumb. I would expect Fielder’s 12/2 HR/F ratio to climb a bit in 2015. It had never been lower than 13.3 percent over a full season.


ARAMIS HANGS EM UP

Aramis Ramirez has decided to put an end to his excellent 18 year major league career. The 37 year old third sacker hit 17 homers with 75 RBIs over 137 games in 2015 proving he can still produce offensively. Aramis will end his career with a .283/.341/.492 slash line, 386 home runs and 1,417 RBIs with 1,098 runs scored. He finished 10th or better in the MVP race three times, and he made the All-Star team three times. He drove in 100 runs seven times, 90 twice, and he had four 30 homers seasons as well (he had six other seasons with at least 25 big flies). His best effort came in 2004 when he went .318-36-103-99 with a .951 OPS. Heck of a career.

AOKI, BYRD LOOKING FOR NEW HOMES

Nori Aoki had his $5.5 million option turned down by the Giants so he will become a free agent. Aoki will be 34 on Opening Day next season and he’s coming off a campaign of only 93 games as he was bothered by ankle and concussion woes through the year. He has no power, only 24 homers in 531 career games, but he can still steal a base with at least 14 in each of his four seasons (don’t forget he failed to reach 95 games played in 2015). He hit .287, an exact match for his career mark and the 4th time in four years he’s been between .285 and .288. Remarkable really. He’s also posted an OBP between .349 and .356 every season of his career. A league specific option in 2016.

Marlon Byrd was let go by the Giants who refused his $8 million club option. The 38 year old will find a job next season, but with whom and how often he will be on the field is in doubt. Byrd hit 24 homers with 88 RBIs in 2013. In 2014 he hit 25 homers with 85 RBIs. Last season he hit 23 homers with 73 RBIs. That’s obviously consistent stuff. However, he’s seen his AVG (.291/.264/.247), OBP (.336/.312/.290) and SLG (.511/.445/.453) dip to dangerous levels last season. He will likely get a short term deal, but his chance of seeing 500 at-bats yet again are extremely small marking him as a league specific option next season (most likely).

 

Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Thursday at 8 PM EDT and Friday at 9 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 9 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).