There's one baseball term that has always struck a nerve, maybe because of its cruel nature, maybe because of the pomposity associated with its use: Quadruple-A. The name implies failure, with a twist of sci-fi -- inventing a fake level of baseball where a gaggle of players too good for Triple-A, yet not good enough for MLB, would fall, and, supposedly, flourish. It's a harsh term, and so far this season, it's getting turned on its head
"Quadruple-A" was used to dismiss some players who -- whether through bad luck, skill, timing, development or some other unhappy set of circumstances -- just never lived up to the hype. It reared its ugly head this year when some critics wrote off Bryan LaHair as a Quadruple-A player, unable to produce in the majors. He, so far, has proved them wrong. LaHair isn't the only player who has popped up this season and grouped in that category: Chris Davis, Justin Smoak, Brandon Moss, Matt LaPorta and Steve Pearce have gotten the scarlet AAAA. Davis has managed to shed that label, while Smoak has displayed flashes, Pearce and Moss are in the process of showing just how handsomely patience can pay off, and LaPorta gets an incomplete, as the situation he was brought up in idn't give him the chance to really prove what he could do.
It's still mid-June, giving players plenty of time to revive the "Quadruple A" terminology; but if the early going of 2012 has shown us anything, it's that the label -- if not totally wrong -- should at least be held off until a player's 29th birthday.
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Player | % increase | |
1. | Trevor Plouffe, SS, MIN | 49 |
2. | Brandon Moss, OF, OAK | 29 |
3. | Aaron Harang, SP, LAD | 22 |
4. | Brian Roberts, 2B, BAL | 20 |
5. | Ryan Cook, RP, OAK | 19 |
6. | Brandon Belt, OF, SF | 15 |
7. | Phil Hughes, SP, NYY | 15 |
8. | Scott Diamond, SP, MIN | 14 |
9. | Jake Arrieta, SP, BAL | 14 |
10. | Wade Miley, SP, ARI | 14 |
Most Added Highlights
Trevor Plouffe, SS, MIN
Jump in Ownership: 49
percent (from 34 percent to 83)
Reason for the jump: Plouffe
is currently raking for the Minnesota Twins.
Why you should join
the crowd: Most of the time, when a Fantasy owner is searching for
middle infield help this late in the season, he will pull up the free
agents, sort by something like "home runs," and pick up the guy who has
three homers, as opposed to the guy with two. Plouffe, a former
first-round pick, has been a hugely popular aberration. Through
Wednesday's games, Plouffe, who is eligible at third base, shortstop and
outfield in most leagues, has 14 home runs in 152 at-bats. Just for the
sake of comparison, the other three players who have 14 home runs on the
season (Miguel Cabrera, Corey Hart and Giancarlo Stanton)
have hit theirs in 268, 251 and 239 at-bats, respectively.
Devil's
Advocate: Those three other players who have hit 14 home runs also
sport .310, .251 and .272 batting averages, respectively. Plouffe is
hitting .243. They also have three, one and three steals, respectively
(yes, Stanton and Cabrera have a combined six steals, and yes, it's
getting just as annoying to write "respectively" as it is to read it);
Plouffe has none, and has been caught stealing twice. Additionally,
while Plouffe does have some decent power numbers in the minor leagues,
they are far from overwhelming. The 2011 season was the first in which
Plouffe's OPS (1.019) was over .736; for his minor league career,
Plouffe has just a .726 OPS. It's not out of the question to see a
player develop his power during his age 25 season, but a jump of this
proportion might signal an eventual slow-down at some point this year.
Proceed with caution, but enjoy it (as long as you can handle the
average hit) while it lasts.
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Player | % owned | |
1. | Andrew Bailey, RP, BOS | 49 |
2. | Wilin Rosario, C, COL | 49 |
3. | J.D. Martinez, OF, HOU | 48 |
4. | Anthony Rizzo, 1B, CHC | 47 |
5. | Dillon Gee, SP, NYM | 43 |
Brandon Moss, OF, OAK
Jump in Ownership: 29
percent (from one percent to 30)
Reason for the jump: In the
last week, Moss has hit .348 with five home runs, 10 RBI and a 1.130 OPS.
Why
you should join the crowd: Moss, a former top prospect, was once so
highly thought of that he was one of the players involved in the Manny
Ramirez/Jason Bay (this was in 2008) three-team deal between the
Dodgers, Pirates and Red Sox. But his career stalled out after a few
stints in the majors with the Pirates, and he was bounced around from
Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, to his most recent off-season signing with
the A's. In 51 games with Oakland's PCL affiliate in Sacramento, Moss
hammered 15 home runs, coupled with 11 doubles. In two previous seasons,
he had hit 22 and 23 with Indianapolis and Lehigh Valley, respectively.
So the power is there. And, in Oakland, Moss will see plenty of playing
time, having supplanted both Daric Barton
and Kila Ka'aihue at first base, while
having the ability to play the outfield or DH, positions currently held
by a combination of Seth Smith, Josh Reddick, Collin Cowgill, Jonny Gomes and a hobbled Yoenis Cespedes.
Devil's
Advocate: As is the case with many power hitters, Moss tends to
strike out a lot, having 181 career major league strikeouts against 64
walks in 260 games. In the minors, he has 900 strikeouts against 393
walks. He won't contribute much to your Fantasy team with steals (beyond
one or two), and will likely see his power numbers take a bit of a hit
as he plays in a pitcher-friendly home park. With 714 career at-bats,
Moss has been given chances to succeed before and there's no guarantee
he won't do anything different now.
But...: That all being
said, Moss is still just 28 and has plenty of opportunity in Oakland,
with a team that embraces other organizations' castoffs and turns them
into Fantasy producers (Josh Willingham's
29 home runs in 2011, Rajai Davis' 50
steals in 2010 and 41 in 2009, Jack Cust's
33 homers in 2008).
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Player | Ownership % | |
1. | Rod Barajas, C, PIT | 19 |
2. | Daniel Nava, OF, BOS | 18 |
3. | Jacob Turner, SP, DET | 19 |
4. | Everth Cabrera, SS, SD | 16 |
5. | Chris Young, SP, NYM | 15 |
Steve Pearce, 1B, BAL
Jump in Ownership: Two
percent (from zero percent to 2)
Reason for the jump: Since
being sold by the Yankees to the Orioles early in June, Pearce has hit
.297 with nine RBI and three doubles.
Why you should join the
crowd: Pearce has quietly been accruing plenty of at-bats in
Baltimore's lineup since the purchase and has started the last eight
games. The 29-year-old has a career .294 average and .895 OPS over parts
of eight seasons in the minors. Maybe the best comparison for Pearce
would be Bryan LaHair, who, at 29, is
enjoying a breakout campaign in Chicago after toiling in the minors for
most of his career. Both got looks in the majors with the teams that
drafted them (LaHair with Seattle, Pearce with Pittsburgh), and both can
play the outfield and first base. Pearce's OPS is actually higher than
LaHair's (.865). If you missed the boat on LaHair, Pearce could be a
handsome consolation prize. Even when Nick Markakis or Nolan Reimold make
it back, Pearce could still have a role at the opposite corner, first
base or designated hitter, thanks to plenty of moving parts in the
Orioles lineup.
Devil's Advocate: Pearce has a career .237
average in 502 at-bats in the majors. He pretty much fizzled in parts of
five seasons with the Pirates, most recently in 2011, when he hit .202
with a .515 OPS in 105 at-bats.
However: In 2011, Pearce
managed "regular" playing time (five starts in a row) just once, from
May 16 to May 28. He hit .313 with one home run and six RBI over those
five games.
Marco Scutaro, SS, COL
Jump in Ownership: 13
percent (from 61 percent to 74)
Reason for the jump: In June,
Scutaro is batting .350 with two home runs and eight runs scored over 60
at-bats.
Why you should join the crowd: While Scutaro hasn't
stood out in any one category, he has been delivering lately for the
Rockies, raising his average from .257 to .279 so far this month. The
secret? Perhaps it's his new spot in the order. As a leadoff man,
Scutaro, over 37 games, was hitting just .235 with no home runs and
three RBI. But, in 23 games batting second, Scutaro is sporting a .333
average with three home runs and 14 RBI. His OPS is .865 (the same as Bryan LaHair's minor league total!). Scutaro has hit second in the
lineup the last 18 games, a span during which he has hit .351. Over the
last 21 days, Scutaro is the 24th-best player in H2H points leagues.
Throw all those splits away and Scutaro has still been impressive toward
the top of the Colorado lineup, with his 38 runs scored putting him in
the top 20 of the National League.
Devil's Advocate: For all
of Scutaro's recent solid play, he ends up being a somewhat
unspectacular Fantasy player. He's hit more than 10 home runs just twice
in his career and stolen more than 10 bases just once. His value lies
more in points leagues than Rotisserie/category set-ups, as he does
manage decent double and walk rates, while keeping the strikeouts low.
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Player | % deactivation | |
1. | Freddie Freeman, 1B, ATL | 40 |
2. | Kevin Youkilis, 3B, BOS | 28 |
3. | Wei-Yin Chen, SP, BAL | 19 |
4. | Ryan Zimmerman, 3B, WAS | 19 |
5. | Rafael Furcal, SS, STL | 18 |
Carlos Marmol, RP, CHC
Jump in Ownership: 10
percent (from 27 percent to 37)
Reason for the jump: Marmol
has re-captured the closer job for the Chicago Cubs.
Why you
should join the crowd: Despite all the Fantasy hate thrown in
Marmol's direction, he does have two seasons of 30-plus saves, coupled
with an outstanding (11.7) K/9 rate over his career. His 3.46 ERA is a
little high for what an owner would want out of a closer, but his 1.31
WHIP is probably lower than many would guess. The Cubs will get save
opportunities this year and they've already exhausted most of their
other options in their bullpen, finally landing, again, on Marmol.
Devil's
Advocate: Marmol probably doesn't need much more piling on, but he
does tend to walk plenty of batters -- his 10.6 BB/9 this season is
actually higher than his K/9 (10.1). And his stint in middle relief
didn't exactly inspire confidence: on May 5, the day after he was
removed from the closer role, his ERA was 5.59. As of his third save, on
June 15, his ERA was 5.79.
Andrelton Simmons, SS, ATL
Jump in Ownership: 7
percent (from 10 percent to 17)
Reason for the jump: Simmons
is currently hitting .333 after 15 games as Atlanta's starting shortstop.
Why
you should join the crowd: Just look at that line: 15 games, two
home runs, six RBI, two doubles and four runs! On top of that, Simmons
has a career .299 average in the minor leagues and has double-digit
steals in all three of his seasons. He also had 35 doubles in 2011.
Devil's
Advocate: Simmons is in just his third season of professional
baseball, with none of his minor league experience coming at a level
higher than Double-A. In 2011, he coupled his 26 steals with a whopping
18 times caught stealing -- in High-A ball -- which may explain the
team's reluctance to let him loose on the basepaths so far this season
(although, to his credit, he had 10 stolen bases against just two time
being caught so far this season in the minors). He's just 22 years old
and the lack of expereince at a high minor league level may eventually
be exposed at some point this season. Simmons may be closer to a .260
hitter than a .300 hitter by September and if the Braves don't let him
steal bases, a great deal of his Fantasy value disappears.
Stay in touch with the most passionate Fantasy staff in the business by following us on Twitter @CBSFantasyBB or Nando Di Fino at @NandoCBS . You can also send our staff an e-mail at fantasybaseball@cbsinteractive.com .