Corner Shuffle Up: Waiting for Matt Carpenter
Here are your corner prices. We’re taking our best swing at 5×5 value from this point forward. No debating the hurt. Catcher-tagged players not included (they were priced here).
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Any time you’re ready, Machado.
Remember the golden rule, no one loses or gains fantasy value just because they’re on your roster. And if you’re going to disagree and throw a tantrum, have a reason. This game is about disagreement to begin with, the difference of opinion.
$36 Paul Goldschmidt
$32 Joey Votto
$31 Nolan Arenado
$30 Kris Bryant
$30 Josh Donaldson
$27 Ryan Zimmerman
$25 Daniel Murphy
$25 Miguel Sano
As fun as Sano is, I’d still try to shop him before the average comes crashing down. A .306 average is damn-near impossible to keep with a 36.5 strikeout clip, and no matter how juicy your exit velocity is, .462 BABIPs don’t hang around long.
$24 Manny Machado
$23 Anthony Rizzo
$22 Jose Abreu
$21 Miguel Cabrera
$20 Anthony Rendon
$20 Jake Lamb
$19 Mark Reynolds
$19 Eduardo Nunez
$18 Hanley Ramirez
$18 Ian Desmond
$17 Justin Smoak
$17 Wil Myers
$17 Matt Carpenter
$17 Cody Bellinger
$17 Kyle Seager
The .210 average looks strange next to Carpenter’s name, because he’s still doing a lot of things well. His hard-hit rate is right where it was last year, and while the line-drive clip has dropped, 21.3 percent is still reasonable. His walk and strikeout numbers are both up a speck. Perhaps the dings of the preseason have carried over to the regular season, but I’d be shocked if Carpenter didn’t have an extended correction — a sizzling, enjoyable hot streak — this summer. He’s definitely on my “buy” list.
Rendon’s price was questioned with the early responders, something that surprised me. He’s tied to a plus offense, a .291/.392/.533 slash does everything we’d like, and he’s on pace for 31 homers, 101 RBIs, 81 runs and eight steals. A few more runs would be nice, fine, and the steals could disappear at any time when you consider his lousy success rate. But this is more or less what we paid for, isn’t it? Perhaps Rendon’s slow start to the year has obscured how good he’s been for the last six weeks or so.
$16 Yonder Alonso
$16 Matt Holliday
$16 Jedd Gyorko
$16 Edwin Encarnacion
$16 Eric Thames
$16 Jose Ramirez
$15 *Justin Bour
$15 Chris Davis
$14 Javier Baez
$14 Travis Shaw
$14 Mike Moustakas
$14 Jonathan Villar
$14 Ryon Healy
$14 Marwin Gonzalez
$13 Eric Hosmer
$13 Jay Bruce
$13 Albert Pujols
Moustakas is walking less and striking out more this year, but with a power spike and a bump in runs created, maybe it’s a change we can live with. He’s also gained 31 points in average, in part because last year’s comically-unfair BABIP is a thing of the past. He’s never going to be the star he was drafted to be — for that matter, neither is Hosmer — but when healthy, this is a quality ballplayer.
$12 Logan Morrison
$12 Tommy Joseph
$12 Evan Longoria
$12 Lucas Duda
$11 Hernan Perez
$11 *Adrian Beltre
$11 Eugenio Suarez
$10 Joey Gallo
$10 Josh Harrison
$10 Kendrys Morales
$10 Carlos Santana
$10 Brandon Belt
$10 Matt Adams
$10 *Justin Turner
$10 Danny Valencia
$9 Josh Bell
$9 *Freddie Freeman
$9 Todd Frazier
$9 Tim Beckham
$9 Ryan Schimpf
$9 Mitch Moreland
$9 Victor Martinez
$8 Alex Bregman
$6 Chris Taylor
$6 Joe Mauer
$6 Nick Castellanos
Mauer is walking a little less and using the full park a little more, and maybe that’s helped his modest revival. The 110 OPS+ is his highest mark in four years . . . Valencia is a Funston favorite, covering three positions of eligibility and raising his game against RHPs . . . Adams has been in hack-first mode since joining the Braves, but a .627 slugging percentage certainly works, along with six homers in 16 games . . . To borrow a line from Jay McInerney, Brandon Belt is always on his way, but he seldom arrives . . . . . . Longoria has been playing hurt for several weeks (gutting it out, like a pro), which takes him down a few bucks. What will he do in the final quarter if Tampa Bay drops out of contention?
$5 Matt Davidson
$5 Maikel Franco
$5 Logan Forsythe
$4 Yulieski Gurriel
$4 Adrian Gonzalez
$4 Howie Kendrick
$4 C.J. Cron
$3 Wilmer Flores
$3 Jesus Aguilar
$3 Brandon Drury
So many things have gone right for Houston, but Gurriel has been a disappointment. Remember, he turns 33 later this week, this could be as good as he gets. A .429 slugging percentage won’t carry a corner, he never walks, he can’t run at all, he has no defensive value. If I were the Astros, I wouldn’t waste regular at-bats on him. They have better options . . . You never know how much is tied to injuries, but Gonzalez isn’t driving the ball any longer. His hard-hit rate is the lowest it’s been since 2004, and his slugging percentage has dropped to .352. If he were dropped in any of my leagues, I wouldn’t bother with a pickup.
$2 Chris Carter
$2 *Gerardo Parra
$2 Chase Utley
$2 *Mike Napoli
$2 Yunel Escobar
$2 Yangervis Solarte
$2 Cory Spangenberg
$2 *Brad Miller
$1 Adonis Garcia
$1 Jose Reyes
$1 Brandon Moss
$1 Eduardo Escobar
$1 David Freese
$1 Jorge Polanco
$1 Chase Headley
$1 *Greg Bird
$0 Adam Lind
$0 Taylor Motter
$0 Trevor Plouffe
$0 Pablo Sandoval
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