My MLB Fantasy stud sleeper pick...

[cutacrossshorty]

Not exactly sure how others view this player. I don't think he's on everyone's radar, but I'll be picking him fairly early to ensure that he's on my roster. I expect this player to stuff the stat sheet in all offensive categories.

Carlos Gonzales (OF) Colorado Rockies

 

[billhill999]

Hit 13 taters in 278 AB's last season, no reason to believe he can't park 25 + next season playing half his games at Coor's.
What catches my eye is those 16 SB's, so he could very well be a 30-30 man.
.353 OBA is nice also.
Good eye, excellent sleeper pick, I'll be taking him in round 3 or 4.

 

[JakeT.]

Former A. Good player.

 

[MRPOOPS]

Thanks!

I will put him on my radar..

 

[cutacrossshorty]

Hit 13 taters in 278 AB's last season, no reason to believe he can't park 25 + next season playing half his games at Coor's.
What catches my eye is those 16 SB's, so he could very well be a 30-30 man.
.353 OBA is nice also.
Good eye, excellent sleeper pick, I'll be taking him in round 3 or 4.

Something to note is that he got called up in June and got off to a very slow start. His stats before the Allstar break were

26(Games) 84(AB) 11(Runs) 17(Hits) 1(HR) 5(RBI) 9(BB) 25(K) 5(SB) .280(OBP) .333(SLG) .202(Avg)

After The Allstar break, he put up some big time numbers

60(Games) 194(AB) 42(Runs) 62(Hits) 12(HR) 24(RBI) 19(BB) 45(K) 11(SB) .384(OBP) .608(SLG) .320(Avg)

He really established himself as an everyday player in the 2nd half and had a dominant performance in the ALDS against the Phillies (10 for 17, 5R, 1HR, 1RBI, 2SB, 2BB in 4 games).

He's 24 years old and I think the best is yet to come.

Fantasy-wise, I think he compares to someone like Curtis Granderson (with perhaps a better batting average).

It's possible that pitchers begin to figure out what works against him, but when there was an emphasis on scouting for the post-season, the Phillies couldn't figure it out.

 

[sportsfreak]

Hmmm...I could potentiall keep him in my keeper league and only have to give up a last round draft pick since he was undrafted last year. But I can only keep 5 people. Do you think keeping him is better than keeping 1 of these 5:

Roy Halladay (give up 3rd round pick)
Mark Reynolds (give up 19th round pick)
Justin Upton (give up 17th round pick)
Tommy Hanson (give up last round pick)
Pablo Sandoval (give up 11th round pick)

I think Reynolds, Upton, and Hanson are no brainers.

 

[cutacrossshorty]

Hmmm...I could potentiall keep him in my keeper league and only have to give up a last round draft pick since he was undrafted last year. But I can only keep 5 people. Do you think keeping him is better than keeping 1 of these 5:

Roy Halladay (give up 3rd round pick)
Mark Reynolds (give up 19th round pick)
Justin Upton (give up 17th round pick)
Tommy Hanson (give up last round pick)
Pablo Sandoval (give up 11th round pick)

I think Reynolds, Upton, and Hanson are no brainers.

I don't think there's a clear cut answer to that. If you want all 6 on your roster, one of them will have to be exposed and subsequently drafted by you.

If that's what you want to do, you'll have to compare each of those with Gonzales and weigh the benefits of keeping one over the other. The simplest case is Gonzales vs. Hanson (since both result in giving up a last round pick). If the choice came down to those two, you would keep the one that you think will be taken earlier in the draft. For the others you need to also factor in what pick you give up.

I haven't seen any mock drafts, but those might give an indication of where a given player might be selected. If those have Gonzales going fairly late, or later than Hanson (or Upton), you would probably want to leave things as is.

 

[cutacrossshorty]

At the risk of jinxing him, here's what Rotoworld just wrote about Carlos Gonzalez...

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"* CarGo, as the fans in Colorado call him, finished 4-for-6 on Tuesday with three RBI and is about to emerge as one of the top outfielders in the major leagues. In fact, four general managers told the MLB Network's Peter Gammons this week that Gonzalez will be "one of the National League's 10 best players" by next season. With a .303/.335/.510 batting line, 15 home runs, 55 RBI and 12 stolen bases through 304 at-bats, he has already arrived in our book. The 24-year-old is primed for a major second half and may be a second-round fantasy lock in the spring of 2011 if he keeps at his current pace."
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Hopefully, those that read this thread in January used my advice and drafted him. If you did, you're probably doing well. With the pre-season ratings and the fact that half (or more) don't attend live drafts and use auto-draft, he was generally available between rounds 10 and 14. Like Rotoworld says, next year he'll be off the board by the 3rd round.

 

[cutacrossshorty]

Hit 13 taters in 278 AB's last season, no reason to believe he can't park 25 + next season playing half his games at Coor's.

He hit his 25th homer on August 8th. This post might jinx him, but the evidence clearly shows that my last post (July 7) didn't. He was the #1 player in all of fantasy baseball for the last 30 days and is currently ranked as the #2 player (behind Miguel Cabrera) for this season by Yahoo. Other leagues probably have him similarly ranked. Yahoo recently wrote that the average draft position for Gonzalez was 131st in their leagues. In a 10 team league. that would be the first pick of the 14th round.

Those that are in keeper leagues and found a way to get him on their team are keeping him. As things stand, he'll be a first rounder next year.

 

[cutacrossshorty]

Just looked at the rosters of the top 15 teams (among all teams) in yahoo leagues. 11 of the top 15 rosters have Carlos Gonzalez on them. If you want him on your team next year, you're probably going to need the 1st or 2nd pick in the draft.

 

[roundrobin11]

great job man! wish i saw this before the season!

 

[cutacrossshorty]

great job man! wish i saw this before the season!

Thanks. In retrospect, the thread could've used a bump in late March.

 

[cutacrossshorty]

Final stats for Gonzalez...

Avg. - .336

Runs - 111

HR - 34

RBI - 117

SB - 26

He ended up being the #1 ranked player in both leagues I participate in (Yahoo and CBS - my team won both leagues by over 20 points). Too bad I'm not in a keeper league. Gonna be tough to find a guy that undervalued in the future.

Yahoo's writer Drew Silva named him the National League Fantasy MVP:
"Fantasy MVP, National League: Carlos Gonzalez

What a second half. "CarGo," as those who lack creativity call him, has posted a jarringly fantastic .377/.428/.705 batting line, 16 home runs, 54 RBI, 54 runs scored and 13 stolen bases in 244 at-bats since the All-Star break. We've yet to lay out our projec! tions for the 2011 season, but he is going to be right near the top of rankings in most fantasy formats. With a combination of speed and a budding power bat, the fantasy world now has a new monster."