Pedro Alvarez: A dangerous – but maybe necessary – voyage
Walk the plank? Plunder might await
Thanks, Skynet: I was able to keep up with baseball news on vacation via my Droid, thanks to (warning: self-promotion) our FREE KFFL app (download for iPhone and Android!).
Last week my mind was on Wrigley Field, Busch Stadium, the Goose Island beer garden and catching up with old friends, among other things. In recalibrating to the fantasy world, I realized we'll eventually be seeing a highly regarded youngster surface from the farm to change the landscape of the fantasy crop of third basemen.
Oh, no, Lonnie Chisenhall came up today. I'm talking about a "Forget-me-because-I've-been-terrible" commodity - Pedro Alvarez (quadriceps, neck), who fizzled to start 2011 and has had several false starts during his rehab.
The hype that fueled his preseason love has all but dissipated. Though he was intriguing, we warned you. There isn't much to like about the season he has offered: the poor BB%, K%, contact rate and southpaw combat that has doomed his statistical profile. Nothing about his batted-ball profile screams improvement, either. We're looking at a whisper of hope in gaining some fantasy value from Alvarez for 2011. It's yearning for the same epiphany he had last September.
As well as the Buccos have floated on with some combo of Brandon Wood, Josh Harrison and Chase d'Arnaud at the hot corner, they'll give Alvarez every chance to rekindle his spark; they need that middle-of-the-order threat now that they're ... in a race for the division. (Yup, you read that right, kids. It's been a while.)
More expensive all-or-nothing mashers in Adam Dunn and Dan Uggla have already frustrated many more owners, and at this point in the year, a batting average drag doesn't look all that appetizing. But power-starved teams can't just watch Pedro sit on the wire; they need to take a chance, even if that comes with potential plank-walking in non-homer fields.
Sadly, a body of stats doesn't always tell the fantasy story for a player's value. You have to bank on him making some sort of mechanical or philosophical adjustment, along with his power shining through and making you forget about all his other painful traits. Just like I didn't forget about fantasy baseball on my vacation, you can't ignore Alvarez as he works his way back from a long absence.
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