(*) MARKET PULSE: 2013 All-Avoid Team

Market Pulse

Matthew Cederholm

Mar 30 2013 11:03pm

(*) MARKET PULSE: 2013 All-Avoid Team

Matthew Cederholm

Mar 30 2013

ADP reports from MockDraftCentral and the National Fantasy Baseball Championship (NFBC) can be found here. Note that this article assumes a standard 15-team, mixed, 5x5 league, though the recommendations will generally apply in most formats.

The first part of our annual look at variations in market value between BaseballHQ.com and the public writ large was the All-Value team. Now we'll look at the All-Avoid team, a list of players who are going at too high a price for our taste.

Note that was are definitely not saying "don't draft these guys." Rather, we are saying "think long and hard before paying such a high price." Now, there are a handful of players here, pitchers in particular, who are reasonably close to their projected price. We try not to fixate on price, as a $20 player could easily be worth $15 or $25. But we do need to fill out a complete team, and even small differences can be worth exploring.

Some allowances were made at the top of the draft, since the formula for average auction value (AAV) can jump a bit at the extremes. Even so, several first-round favorites made the list. We also ignored players with negative AAV and players whose recent change in status (e.g., Hanley Ramírez) changed their projected value significantly.

We'll also have a mini-bonus at the end: a list of player who have moved up or down the ADP rankings in the past month.

The 2013 All-Avoid Team

Hitters

POS   Player              AAV    R$(HQ)   Diff   ADP  Rank(HQ)
===   ================    ===    ======   ====   ===  ========
C     Posey, Buster       $30      $19    $ 11    17      63
C     D'Arnaud, Travis      2       -5       7   308      NA

1B    Pujols, Albert       37       27      10     8      11
3B    Longoria, Evan       28       21       7    21      30
COR   Dunn, Adam            7        3       4   178     282

2B    Espinosa, Danny       9        3       6   140     260
SS    Castro, Starlin      23       18       5    36      40
MID   Profar, Jurickson     3      -11      14   269      NA

OF    Trout, Mike          48       26      22     2      14
OF    Hamilton, Josh       31       13      18    16     123
OF    Bautista, Jose       29       17      12    19      83
OF    McCutchen, Andrew    38       28      10     6      15
OF    Heyward, Jason       26       18       8    27      67

UT    Kinsler, Ian         24       17       7    31      64
                         ----     ----    ----
Total Hitters            $334     $194    $140

Pitchers

POS   Player              AAV    R$(HQ)   Diff   ADP  Rank(HQ)
===   ================    ===    ======   ====   ===  ========
SP    Lincecum, Tim       $10     $  4    $  6   135     279
SP    Jackson, Edwin        3       -2       5   276      NA
SP    Lester, Jon          10        5       5   137     248
SP    Harvey, Matt          9        5       4   141     276
SP    Parker, Jarrod        6        2       4   195     302
SP    Dickey, R.A.         16       12       4    71     137

RP    Rondon, Bruce         4       -3       7   248      NA
RP    Hanrahan, Joel        8        2       6   157     339
RP    Wilhelmsen, Tom       8        4       4   155     305
                         ----     ----    ----
Total Pitchers           $ 89     $ 44    $ 45

Total                    $423     $238    $185

Buster Posey (C/1B, SF) is the top catcher on most draft boards. And it does help that he'll see some time at 1B, giving him more than the usual playing time for a catcher. But as a catcher, he usually goes at a premium, and that premium tends to be much larger at the top of the draft. Targeting middle-tier catchers instead will save you in the long run.

Travis D'Arnaud (C, NYM) may seem like a bit of a cop-out, since he's been shipped to the minors. But his BaseballHQ.com projection hasn't been affected by that, nor is it likely that GMs are adjusting their behavior in response. Rookie catchers are notoriously hit-or-miss—for every Buster Posey, there are five of Matt Wieters. Unless your strategy is to use a catcher whose low AB total won't drag down your BA, D'Arnaud is no catch.

So it's come to this. The great Albert Pujols (1B, LAA) is on the All-Avoid list. And we even have him pretty close to his ADP in straight drafts. So what gives? This is more of a personal pick, even though he definitely fits the criteria. Given all the risk factors (his knee, age, recent prolonged periods of subpar performance), he really should be moved out of the first round. There are just too many "ifs" for comfort.

Nobody questions Evan Longoria's (3B, TAM) talent. It's his ability to stay on the field that is questionable. If you pay full price, there's nowhere to go but down.

We all recall Adam Dunn's (1B, CHW) horrendous 2011 season, and GMs seem to have forgiven him. But the seeds of a disaster, albeit a small one, are still there. While his power rebounded in 2012, ct% did not. And even with the prodigious power he displayed, a 29% hr/f is not sustainable. Knock that back to, say, the 24% from 2007 and he's at 34 HR instead of 40. And with a .238 xBA and .204 BA, that's not enough.

Danny Espinosa (2B, WAS) has a nice blend of power and speed, but both are trending downward, as is his ct%. His xBA says his .247 BA from 2012 was even a bit high. While he's 26 and just entering his prime, there's nothing in the numbers to indicate a reversal of his low BA. And that's what GMs seem to be paying for.

Starlin Castro (SS, CHC) certainly fits a breakout profile: he's young, talented, has over 1,000 major league AB, and is only a skill or two away from taking a huge step forward. Of course, all of that was true last year at this time. There are little seeds of a breakout—PX improving slightly, GB% decreasing, Spd improving—but you shouldn't be paying for it in advance.

Jurickson Profar (SS, TEX) is a rookie, is in Triple-A, and is blocked at every position he plays. As talented as he is, even if he gets an opportunity, nothing says he'll take advantage. For the same price, you could grab Jed Lowrie (OAK, SS) or Eduardo Núñez (SS, NYY), both of whom will contribute in 2012, and both of whom have some upside potential.

This space will not attempt to further dissuade you from drafting Mike Trout (OF, LAA); most of you have probably made up your mind already. Suffice to say that we are in agreement with the prevailing BaseballHQ.com opinion that his 2012 is nearly impossible to repeat, and that his track record is otherwise so skimpy that drafting him in the first round or paying full price represents an unacceptable risk.

If you studiously avoid anyone on this list, start with Josh Hamilton (OF, LAA), whose downside is significant. Start with his home park: the move from Texas to LA is expected to lower his home runs by about 30%—would GMs be chasing after him like this if he had hit 33 HR in 2012? On top of that, his hr/f was far too high, even taking into account the ballpark effects. And he logged his highest AB total in four years. We recommend a bathroom break when he comes up for bid.

Hoping for a rebound from José Bautista (OF, TOR)? So is everyone else, it seems. GMs are paying for a repeat of 2011. It could happen, but both 2011 and 2012 were driven in part by outsized hr/f. And then there's his wrist. Wrist injuries tend to linger, and even though he's looked good in the spring, it's an added risk. Which makes the price too high.

Andrew McCutchen (OF, PIT) is a widely respected player and an almost universally agreed-upon first-round pick. So what gives? Not much, really, though there are nagging doubts. Let's start with his 40-point BA outperformance in 2012, which is somewhat reflected in his 2013 projection. His 19% hr/f was out of line with his 140 PX, as well. GMs are bidding on 2012, while BHQ sees some regression. So some caution is deserved.

Jason Heyward (OF, ATL) is probably the poster boy for the All-Avoid team. We expect him to be good. Very good. As does everyone else. But as one eminently wise columnist put it "The right strategy is to take him a round or so early based on his potential to outperform, not to take him at a place where he'd have to significantly outperform [his history] just to justify the draft slot." He may earn $26 the market is paying in 2013, but that would be a major breakout for him. Don't ever pay full price for breakout potential; it leaves you with nowhere to go but down.

Part of Ian Kinsler's (2B, TEX) outsized valuation is due to the weakness at 2B this year, surely. But his 655 AB from 2012 are not likely to be matched. That makes his power drop even less palatable. Sure, a rebound is likely in that department, but paying for 2011 is not a good idea.

We expect Tim Lincecum (RHP, SF) to be better than he was in 2012. And while last year was due in large part to bad luck, his Ctl trend is a major concern. While we like to discount spring stats, his 7 BB in 10.2 IP gives us additional concern. Right now, he's fit only for reserve duty until he earns our trust again.

Edwin Jackson (RHP, CHC) is probably more valuable in "real" baseball than in fantasy. MLB teams need pitchers they can rely on for 200 IP as long as the ERA is reasonable. Fantasy GMs need a higher standard. While his skills looked very good in the second half, it was really just a huge August that tipped the scales. With little reason to project a breakout, he's endgame fodder at best.

Jon Lester's (LHP, BOS) 2012 xERA says a correction is due, but he still jumped a half run from his 2011 number. With a third straight season of Dom decline, a huge rebound is hard to project. Perhaps being reunited with John Farrell (former pitching coach, now manager) will help, but there's no need to go overboard. His 2013 projection already has all of that factored in.

Continuing a theme, we have Matt Harvey (RHP, NYM), another player for whom GMs are ready to pay for a breakout. He has great stuff, for sure, but control issues can undo a pitcher very easily, and he bordered on a scary 4.0 Ctl in 2012. His xERA warns against sustaining his 2012 pace. He's promising, but the price has to be right.

A second young hurler, Jarrod Parker, (RHP, OAK), has definite breakout potential. A 3.0 Cmd in the second half of 2012 shows that. Yet, like most young pitchers, he's not without risk. We won't quibble with paying a premium for him, but it seems a bit high.

We're a bit surprised he's not higher on this list, but R.A. Dickey (RHP, TOR) is still going for more than he probably should. There's really no comps for his knuckle-fastball, so we're stuck with generalizations. He's definitely a candidate to regress, for one, and moving from the Citi Field to the Rogers Center, even with depleted teams in Boston and New York, won't help.

Bruce Rondon (RHP, DET) is being treated like a closer by GMs, but he's never pitched in a major league game, let alone closed one out. And now he's in Triple-A (and the BHQ projection remains pretty much the same). For now, at least, you need to relegate him to reserve-only status.

GMs (and the Red Sox) seem undeterred by Joel Hanrahan's (RHP, BOS) red flags in 2012, specifically his 5.4 Ctl, which only got worse as the season wore on. This puts him at 4.0+ Ctl in three of the past five seasons, so can we really trust his 2010-2011? We probably all know the answer to that.

Based on history, we can expect at least half of today's closers to lose their closer role before the season's end. Looking at Tom Wilhemsen's (RHP, SEA) 2012 BPV, you'd say "not him". But his 2H BPV of 72 hardly inspires confidence. As the Baseball Forecaster says, "he's a risky option at a volatile position." We'll leave it at that.

Movers and Shakers

Finally, here's a list of players who have seen their ADP jump or fall by a round or more over the last month. The list does not include obvious changes like injuries, demotions, or loss of the closer role. Positive values mean the player has moved up in the rankings, while negative values mean they've dropped. 'Cause you need to know this stuff.

Player                      Change in ADP
=========================   =============
Scott Kazmir (LHP, Cle)            87
Mitchell Boggs (RHP, StL)          44
Nolan Arenado (3B, Col)            40
Domonic Brown (OF, Phi)            38
Bobby Parnell (RHP, NYM)           27
Jose Veras (RHP, Hou)              26
Leonys Martin (OF, Tex)            25
Lance Berkman (1B, Tex)            22
Alex Cobb (RHP, TB)                18
Andrew Cashner (RHP, SD)           18
Jedd Gyorko (3B, SD)               17

Corey Hart (1B, Mil)              -15
Carlos Lee (1B, Mia)              -16
Drew Storen (RHP, Was)            -21