A small sampling of today's notes....
Tim Anderson (SS-CHW) - Anderson is an obvious upgrade over Jimmy Rollins and Tyler Saladino, but there are some red flags. He did go 2-for-4 with his second stolen base Tuesday and is now batting .286/.286/.494 with three solo homers in 77 at-bats. The primary red flag is Anderson's 24:0 K:BB. The fact that he's hitting leadoff is probably one of the reasons why the White Sox are scuffling a game below .500. Why not hit Adam Eaton (.362 OBP) leadoff and a guy like Brett Lawrie second ahead of Jose Abreu and company? The White Sox though are likely to remain committed to Anderson for the rest of the season, and if he can somehow remain near the top of the order, he'll have plenty of value in deeper non-OBP formats.
Ian Desmond (SS/OF-TEX) - Desmond continues to be easily the top free agent bargain (1 yr/$8MM) of the winter, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored. He has 13 steals and a .326/.377/.533 slash line. Yes, Desmond did once turn down a $107 million contract, but the 30 year-old appears to be putting himself in position for a deal in the $80 million-plus range this winter, so we won't feel too bad for him. The key to Desmond's renaissance is due in part to a .390 BABIP, but also more to a 22.9% K%, a number that previously topped 28% in each of the previous two seasons. Note to future free agents looking to rebuild their value: signing with the Rangers is a good idea.
Tim Lincecum (SP-LAA) - Lincecum was lit up for five runs on seven hits with four walks in just 4.1 innings by the Astros on Tuesday. The latest beating took his ERA to 6.75 and left him with a 1.95 WHIP and .321 BAA. Lincecum's 11:8 K:BB in 13.1 innings is far from encouraging, and though this is just a three-start sample, it's looking like the Giants were right in saying while he was welcome back, it would only sign him as a reliever. Lincecum is averaging 88 mph with his fastball, and at this point, using him in any format is just asking for trouble.
Anibal Sanchez (P-DET) - The Tigers announced that Sanchez would head back to the bullpen after making a spot start against the Indians Saturday. In that one, Sanchez was touched for four hits (two home runs) over five innings in a loss that took his ERA to 6.06 with a 2-8 W/L and 1.58 WHIP. Hopefully you cut bait a while ago. Sanchez has seen his HR/9 balloon from last year's ugly 1.66 to 2.02 in 2016, and his BB/9 has spiked year-over-year from 2.8 to 4.2. His velocity is down a full mph over last year, but the main issue has been the walks and home runs. Sanchez has allowed just two runs in 8.2 innings of relief this year, and though he may very well get another shot to start, there's no guarantee there. He can safely be cut in all formats.
Kendall Graveman (SP-OAK) - Graveman had been pretty solid lately with a 2.04 ERA in his previous three starts, but the less than overpowering A's starter is always a guy who can have the type of outing he did Tuesday. Graveman faced a tougher opponent (SF) and allowed four runs on a whopping nine hits over five innings to take his ERA up to 4.68 with a 1.54 WHIP. On the plus side, Graveman has improved his average fastball velocity from 90.7 mph to 91.9 mph compared to last year, but a 1.35 HR/9 and 6.2 K/9 don't give us much hope that he'll ever be more than a No. 5 starter in the big leagues. Safe to say that the Blue Jays are ok with having parted with Graveman in the Josh Donaldson deal.
