Fantasy Triple Play: No Joshing with Hamilton
Each week three of our resident Fantasy writers will answer three pertinent questions that all owners should be asking themselves. Feel free to submit your own questions for this feature and we'll tackle them in this space.
| | |||
| Do you think there is any way that Josh Hamilton will be able to keep up his current league-leading place? | Who will have better numbers at the end of the season: Placido Polanco or Robinson Cano? | What should owners do with Andruw Jones? | |
 Scott White | As in his pace for 167 RBI? No way. That's getting close to the record books, and for a bottom-of-the-division team like Texas, it's a little far-fetched. I'll go one step further and say we shouldn't necessarily expect Hamilton to maintain his pace of a .300 average and 30 home runs, though he definitely could. We have about half a season's stats for Hamilton, and although it's an awfully good half a season, it's still too small of a sample size to make any rushed judgments. Do I like Hamilton? Yes. Would I start him as a No. 2 Fantasy outfielder? Yes. But let's not make him a 2009 first-round pick just yet. | Excluding stolen bases because neither gets many of them, the only category in which Polanco might top Cano is batting average, and even in that, I have my money on Cano. He's a more complete player, still emerging at the age of 25, and as crazy as it sounds, I trust his track record more. Polanco is a useful player and a successful slap hitter, but his .341 batting average last year was kind of a fluke. Look up his career stats. He usually finishes in the .290 range. | Jones is toast. I don't think I can say it any more clearly than that. He hit .222 last year and is hitting .158 this year. The team has tried blaming his poor hitting on everything from his batting stance to his eyesight to his allergies, but we all know the truth. He flat-out stinks. He might still hit you 25 home runs, but expect a low batting average and somewhat sporadic at-bats. I'd go ahead and cut him in mixed leagues if I had my eye on a particular free agent. |
 Eric Mack | Absolutely. This is an elite talent that is just scratching the surface right now. He can develop into a .300-40-120-100 player, especially in that hitter's park. The question was never ability for the 27-year-old breakout. It was about staying healthy and clean. He appears to be on the way in those regards now, too. | Polanco is a solid player, but Cano is an elite one -- especially because of his supporting cast. Cano got off to a slow start last season, too, before emerging as a potential batting champion. Consider Cano a top-five Fantasy second baseman and Polanco more of a top 10-15. | He has to be at least reserved in any league, and that is at best. You can justify cutting him outside of NL-only formats. He just hasn't shown anything and he is crushing your batting average in Rotisserie leagues. That month you hung on to him in those formats will take three months to overcome. If you can afford to, stash him and hope the goes on a massive hot streak -- but we just can't see it at this point. |
 Michael Hurcomb | Amid all Hamilton's personal problems following his selection in the 1999 draft, he was still the No. 1 overall pick based on talent. He displayed his god-given gifts last season in Cincinnati when he was healthy, and he is doing so again in 2008 with the Rangers. The only thing that is going to slow Hamilton down is an injury. He plays in one of the top hitting parks in baseball and it will help his numbers be inflated by season's end. | Polanco should end the season with the better numbers. The fact he is hitting in front of the big bats in Detroit will provide him with quality pitches to hit. Also, the only reason his numbers were down to open the season was because of a back injury. Since he got time to rest, Polanco has been on a tear. In his last 10 games, his average has gone from .140 to .248. It just goes to show how much the injury impacted him. Finally, opposing teams are more worried about Cano than Polanco. Cano is one of the higher ranked players on scouting reports when the Yankees are on the docket. Polanco is not for the Tigers since he is overshadowed by Curtis Granderson, Miguel Cabrera, Gary Sheffield, Magglio Ordonez, etc. | Pray that Joe Torre gets back to managing and finds someway to coach up Jones. The slugging outfielder is pressing at the plate and it is the manager's job to help him relax. Fantasy owners just need to be patient. Jones' average might linger below .250 all season, but I just can't tell Fantasy owners to drop a guy that has 25-homer, 90-RBI potential. |
You can e-mail your Fantasy Baseball questions to dmfantasybaseball@cbs.com. Be sure to put Attn: Triple Play in the subject field. Please include your full name, hometown and state.
