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Fantasy Skipper: Players to target in 2009 drafts - White Sox
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I just need to begin by saying WHAT A GAME!!! What an unreal comeback. The Red Sox should be unstoppable now. I can’t believe I even doubted them for a second. Miracles happen at Fenway… no one can explain it, they just do. This is honestly a GREAT PLAYOFF SERIES for Major League Baseball... so was the Dodgers/Phillies series, but the Dodgers didn't have the starting pitching (and they haven't all year) to make that go any more than five games.
In any event, I will begin the clean-up Fantasy Skipper with the last of the 2008 A.L. postseason teams, the Chicago White Sox. The two players that I’d like to focus on are actually the obvious guys… the team leader in HR’s, R’s, and RBI’s, Carlos Quentin, and the guy that lead the team in W’s and was their most consistent starter, Gavin Floyd.
Carlos Quentin was a steal for the Sox, and fantasy owners alike.
Carlos Quentin had a sensational fantasy season. Think about where he was drafted (or the fact that he was most likely picked up of waivers between weeks 1-3) and the numbers he put up. In his first full season as a starter, Quentin finished the season with the following line: .288 AVG, 36 bombs, 100 batted-in, 96 runs, 26 two-baggers, 66 walks, and 7 swipes. Not too shabby at all. Actually it was fantastic, considering he only played 1 game in September before breaking his wrist, which was season-ending. Easily the best hitting pick-up off ‘The Wire’ besides Josh Hamilton. Hitting the majority of the season out of the 3-hole, Quentin made the most of his opportunity with the ChiSox after the off-season trade that sent him packing from the snakes of Arizona. You think the D’Backs regret that one? Yeah, I think so too. I mean who did they get anyway?? Oh, I know… Chris Carter, who they eventually waived and he was picked up by the Red Sox… go figure. Then the Diamondbacks tried to fix things at the deadline by acquiring Adam “All-Or-Nothing” Dunn. That didn’t work either. Okay, back to Quentin. He didn’t even have any drastic changes in his splits at all --home vs. away. He was awesome everywhere. I would venture a guess that he is one of the Top 10 OF’s drafted next season, and I bet he finishes that way (barring injury, of course). He’s got a pretty swing, and he is a fun story to watch out for next year. If he plays the whole season… .300/40/100/100/15 are a realistic projection --but settling for .288/36/100/96/7 would still be fine with me.
Gavin Floyd was as good as any front-line starter.
Gavin Floyd was about as good as it gets from a starter for the White Sox. After having his career in Philadelphia ‘ended’ with horrible seasons in 2005-06, Floyd came over to the White Sox last year. He tried to find his way into the rotation, but he still needed some fine tuning. This year, Floyd came out with a secured spot in the 5-man rotation and he was firing on all cylinders. Basically a free agent pick-up in every fantasy league (besides maybe a 18-20 team league), he posted a win-loss of 17-8 with 206.1 innings and a 3.84 ERA. His WHIP was the lowest in his career (1.26) and that should be attributed to his great control (190 hits allowed, 70 walks issued). He managed 145 punch-outs, and he held his opponents to only a .241 batting AVG. Depending on the league that you are in, he could have been a better SP than Jake Peavy (10-11, 2.85 ERA, 166 K's). He should be somewhere around the 35-40 SP’s drafted next year, but his season stats should be more along the lines of a 20-25. I don’t think he hits that many wins next year (maybe 14), but the K’s should go up and the ERA should go down. I don’t see a reason why his WHIP would vary from a flat 1.25 next year. If you get him late in your '09 draft, he’s a steal.
Wrapping up... GO SOX !!! Not White, but Red :o)
Hey, what do you want!? I'm a 'homer'... it's no worse than Matthew Berry and the Redskins!
The Mouth, signing off and going to bed.
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