Your team sucks. Way to go, idiot. You are wallowing near or at the bottom of the standings with seemingly no hope. It’s a redraft league so you don’t even have the option of trading for the 2013 which can be a fun exercise once you realize a season is lost. So what do you do with the second half? Hint: ignore your team and start looking for sleepers who will definitely fail in fantasy football is not the answer. No, the answer is you throw conservatism out the window and chuck some Hail Marys to see if you can make a run. Cross-sport reference!!!!
As dire as the situation may look now, there is time. It’s not exactly the halfway point, four teams have played 87 games and all but two have (Washington & Kansas City at 83 & 84, respectively) played 85 or more, but a lot of baseball is still going to be played. There will be plenty of Cinderella stories in October about a team that was buried at the All-Star Break only to surge through the standings in the dog days of summer en route to an improbable victory. Let’s make that your story.
Presenting the Hail Mary Team for 2012. This group of strugglers contain a ton of upside if they can reach previously established heights in the coming months. Honestly, if you are one of the teams looking up at most of the league in your standings, you probably have a couple of these guys on your team. They came into the season with elevated expectations and have failed to meet them for a bevy of reasons. Their price tags have lowered (and if they haven’t, just pass, because there’s no sense paying full price) and with nothing to lose, they could be your ticket to a much better slot in your standings.
CATCHER – Carlos Santana
He’s been wretched this year after a great 2011 season. And it’s not just the concussion that sidelined him near the end of May as he was horrible in that whole month leading up to the injury (.233/.314/.344). The concussion may be exacerbating the situation, but it’s just been a rough go since a solid .262/.417/.446 line April suggesting that maybe something other than the concussion is in play. Nevertheless, this is a power force at a scarce position who can be a big time run producer if he gets back to the guy we saw in his first 201 games spanning part of 2010 and all of 2011: .244/.362/.459 with 33 HR and 101 RBI. Brian McCann got some consideration, but his surge before the break (.421, 4 game HR streak w/11 RBI) likely allayed the fears of many and ate into any discount you could’ve gotten previously.
FIRST BASE – Ike Davis, Eric Hosmer
Both guys have been hot of late, but such wretched starts have their overall lines still in shambles resulting in their appearance on waiver wires in shallower leagues and making them available for little more than a song in leagues where they are on a roster. Davis has a very healthy .294/.351/.635 line with 7 HR and 28 RBI in the last month so his price might be one of the higher ones on this list comparatively speaking, but I’d be willing to pay it as long as it still represented a discount against preseason expectations. He’s been a bit Dan Uggla-esque circa 2011 where the batting average was just awful, but the power was still present. I’m not sure he’s going to run off a 33-game hit streak like Uggla did, but who cares?
Hosmer ripped off a 3-hit game in Yankee Stadium in late May, his first of the year, and that seemed to be something of a turning point for his season. From that game on: .289/.352/.430 with 4 HR, 19 RBI and 7 SB in 165 plate appearances. He is still toting a .231/.299/.371 season line, though, which is why he still qualifies for this team. Like Davis, he will be on the higher end of the cost spectrum among this list of players, but he should still be available at a sharp discount compared to the preseason which is what makes him a worthy Hail Mary target.
SECOND BASE – The Weekeseseseses, Rickie & Jemile
The Brothers Weeks have been awful this year lending to the decimation of the second base this year which could’ve been a plentiful position had players met or at least been near expectations. Surges from Aaron Hill, Neil Walker, Jason Kipinis and Jose Altuve are only masking failures of the brothers, Dustin Pedroia, Ian Kinsler and Dustin Ackley instead of adding depth. Back to these two, though, with Rickie first.
Injuries have always been a problem as he has just one season with more than 129 games played, otherwise he has usually performed quite well as long as he is on the field. Until this year. Even a depressed offensive environment can’t mask his woes as he checks in just under the Mendoza Line at .199 with just 8 HR and 6 SB in 81 games. He hit 20 HR in 118 games last year, so even doubling his current output would be short of expectations. He’s running at the same clip as last year, but he’s not really a speed asset these days anyway, that’s his brother’s area of expertise.
Speaking of Jemile, he has been an abomination thus far. Imagine he were even average, the A’s might be above .500. As it is, they are right at the mark and his return could help them stay there or exceed the level going forward. The real bummer is that his poor half has overshadowed the huge gains in walk rate (up from 5% last year to 11% this year) paired with a small improvement in strikeout (down 1% to 13%). If Dee Gordon can lead baseball in stolen bases (30) with a .280 on-base percentage, Weeks should have more than 12 with a more palatable .312 OBP. He is an easy target if steals is a category where you’re severely lagging.
SHORTSTOP – Alexei Ramirez
When Ramirez ended up April with a paltry .498 OPS, some may have seen that as a prime buying opportunity as he routinely takes a while to get going. Over his career, April is easily his worth month checking in with a .561 OPS compared to .721 or better in every other month peaking with .822 in July. He sputtered to a .581 mark this May. He improved to .678 in June so he is progressing, but not nearly as rapidly as usual. In a scant 7-game sample for July, he is at 1.057 so maybe he finally ready to let loose.
The power has been noticeably absent throughout with just two home runs. He has run a bit more to help alleviate a bit of the damage checking in with 10 SB, three more than all of last year in a full season. He has long been one of those guys who is much better as a fantasy asset than as a real life one with only one season over 99 OPS+ (104 as a rookie). He had become a bankable 15-70-10-80 with an average around .270. It will take a helluva rally to get there this year, but if he just performs to the levels we have seen in the past, he will be a positive asset at shortstop at a nothing cost.
THIRD BASE – Ryan Zimmerman
I was surprised the other day when I heard some fantasy analysts dismissing him as a non-entity. The basic premise was essentially that he’s never been any good so why are folks still hung up on him? That’s just crazy talk. He was excellent in 2009-2010 and was tracking toward another great season last year when injuries cut it short. He hasn’t been good this year and I think injuries are a big reason again as he had a DL stint back in late April through early May and then he took a while to get going once he was back.
I’ll grant that he isn’t the sturdiest guy around. That seems to come with territory when dealing with defensive stalwarts like Zimmerman, but he is definitely a damn fine hitter capable of big numbers. In fact, he has been hot of late starting with a Coors Field trip (always a nice remedy for a hitter) totaling 14 games in all during which he has hit .333/.394/.683 with 5 HR and 18 RBI. He has a 1.003 OPS with 3 HR in the non-Coors part, so don’t worry that he is Brandon Mossing us. His bottom line is still gruesome (.694 OPS) enough that the price won’t be too steep.
OUTFIELD – Cameron Maybin
Proponents of Maybin’s are pointing toward last year’s second half dash to the finish that saw him swipe 28 bases after the break with an improved .268 average (up from .259) and hoping he has another such run (pun fully intended) in him. The talent is there in glimpses, but those are all too brief because even when he’s hitting the longest home run in Chase Field, he’s still only carrying a .212 average.
Ichiro Suzuki
This is probably just the decline of a 38-year old former star, but it’s hard not to look at his 39 SBs from just a year ago and dream of him stealing 20+ in the second half.
Shane Victorino
He has been a far cry from what we expect in the slugging department thanks to a precipitous drop in triples as he has just two after leading baseball two of the last three years and notching 10 in the third of those seasons. Aside from that, he hasn’t been awful save a little batting average misfortune. I think the perception of his struggling is stronger than the truth of it as he already has as many steals (19) as he did in all of last year and his eight homers are just off of last year’s pace. Try to prey on the trade rumors swirling about and his benching the other day for not liking his slot in the order as well as the general Phillie malaise that has seemingly stunk up every non-Hamels entity.
Bes Jond Unnings and D.J. Jupton
Paired together for obvious reason, Desmond Jennings and B.J. Upton have been colossal disappointments this year, though like others in the list they have run enough to stem the tide a bit on their being fantasy sinkholes. Both have 15 SBs, impressive more so for Jennings coming in eight fewer games, but both are still on the wrong side of .680 OPS to date. It looks even worse if you extend back into September for Jennings as he jumped off a cliff after a blazing hot run from late July through August.
Meanwhile, no one is expecting anything batting average-wise from Upton, but what is with the power outage? He’s been around a 20 HR hitter the last two years which combined with his speed and 80ish runs driven in and scored made the batting average plenty palatable. He’s now on pace for 13, down 10 from last year, but he can string together some 4-5 HR months and rally to or above 20 if he’s right. Both of these Rays have plenty of upside that make gambling on them easy, especially at a discount.
Nelson Cruz
He has been lying in wait just ready for a Cruzian streak. It may be bubbling up near the surface, too, as he entered the break with three multi-hit games including four doubles, but no homers. When he gets hot he can carry a fantasy team so he is an easy inclusion even though he hasn’t been as rotten as the others with a 99 OPS+. You may have to package one of your few worthwhile assets to get him and someone else on this list. It could pay major dividends with a monster like Cruz.
PITCHING
Tim Lincecum
Duh. Just look at the track record, I don’t really need to tell you why he’s a Hail Mary candidate.
Dan Haren
Currently injured making it a nice time to strike. For the purposes of this exercise it also helps that he was terrible for five starts (8.67 ERA) before finally hitting the DL with a balky back. His brilliant track record and the glimpses of greatness this year when healthy make it clear that he is still someone worth targeting. The rest will hopefully get him back to 100% and he will return to his previously established level of excellence.
Rickey Romero
Let’s be honest, he didn’t really earn a 2.92 ERA last year from a skills standpoint. He still got the 2.92 ERA and I’m sure it helped many a fantasy team, but expecting that this year would’ve been silly. Similarly, he isn’t a 5.22 ERA pitcher, either. The skills have deteriorated this year without question, but not 5.22 deterioration. His control is all out whack with a career-worst 4.7 BB/9. That points to a potential mechanical issue which hopefully can be identified and corrected.
Unfortunately, the bubonic plague is sweeping across the Toronto rotation so injury could be an issue, too, but he doesn’t seem to be laboring or hurting when I view his starts with my amateur scouting eye. A 3.50 ERA from a workhorse who will put himself in position for decisions (and ideally wins given their stout offense) can go a long way toward fixing your flailing staff.
Derek Holland
We saw last year, specifically in the second half and playoffs, what he can do when he is click. His skills are in line with last year’s save a bit of home run trouble which has no doubt led to his inflated 5.05 ERA. He quietly came off the DL just before the break and had a quality start, strike quickly before he strings a few together and saps up any discount via trade or starts getting scooped up off the waiver wires.
Doug Fister
The infield defense has struggled as planned and Fister has been a prime casualty, but that isn’t the only factor as a 17% HR/FB rate has led to a 1.2 HR/9 rate. That factor should regress, especially for a groundball artist (2.2 GB/FB ratio), and that will cut into his 4.75 ERA. Completing the Hail Mary pass would be a tightening up of the defense allowing him to pitch to a level on par with his skills which would be around 3.45 or better.
Francisco Liriano
Personally, I don’t think he should be trusted, but we are talking Hail Marys here. He has a 3.12 ERA and a strikeout per inning in his seven starts since returning to the rotation. We know the upside he has when everything is going perfectly.
Ubaldo Jimenez
Is he the next Liriano after his fall from grace last year? Probably so, but like Liriano he is streaking in his last seven with a 2.93 ERA and 44 Ks in 46 innings. In fact, they both started their streaks on June 5th so they are even more similar this year. They both have ace upside. Doesn’t mean they’ll will reach it, but the chance is there.
Ervin Santana
He likes to throw a stinker season in every once in a while to keep everyone honest I guess, but his capability is a commodity as proven in three of the previous four years from 2008-2011. Unsurprisingly home runs were his issue in 2009, too, so figuring that out will be the key to his potential success going forward. He doesn’t quite have ace potential because he peaks around 6.8-7.0 K/9, but with the Angels clicking, he can run off a bunch of wins with quality ratios if he gets himself figured out.
Clay Buchholz
Another guy I don’t really buy into, but people I respect do and besides, I’m trying to fix your crappy team not mine. Even including the thrashing he suffered right before hitting the DL, he had 3.35 ERA and 5-1 record (including 4 straight Ws) in eight starts whittling his ERA from 9.09 to 5.53 in the process. He is currently sitting on the DL with terrible bottom line numbers making now the best time to strike if you are interested.
Baseball By Paul 