'Eye Spy' details first-hand Spring Training notes and observations from a fantasy baseball perspective.After a long trip from Atlanta to Jupiter, Florida Wednesday night / Thursday morning, who could think of sleep when the Red Sox were playing the Cardinals? The game was sold out (all Red Sox and Yankees games are in Florida, I hear) but the nice scalper told me he'd do me a favor (he hates breaking up tickets for singles) and sell me a ticket for twice face value. Hmmmm. Josh Beckett was pitching, but the only other regulars were Jason Varitek and Jed Lowrie in the lineup on Friday. I opted to decline the nice man's offer and waited to head up to Tradition Field and see the Mets.
Thursday night's game was Mets versus Marlins. It was also Johan Santana's first spring outing. I made a wise decision in driving to Port St. Lucie.
Friday's game featured another hyped pitcher as I settled in to watch the Marlins ... again. This time they were hosting the Braves and top prospect Tommy Hanson in Jupiter. As a bonus to me, Hanley Ramirez was back from the World Baseball Classic and Josh Johnson was on the mound.
Consider my notes a big game of eye spy. "Eye spy a rookie outfielder with major wheels," or "Eye spy a fifth candidate for the rotation who shouldn't have been signed to any sort of contract." Whether good or bad, here are a few observations from my first two Grapefruit League games. (By the way ... I've taken to tweeting exciting plays or players with fantasy implications as the game is going. If that would interest you for the next week as I am down in Florida, follow me on Twitter.)
The Good
Cameron Maybin, Marlins - Far and away the most electrifying player I've seen so far. Not only did Maybin go 3-for-4 in the first game, but he went 3-for-3 in the second. He's hitting .414 in 29 at-bats thus far and he was the fastest player in the ballpark both nights by far. In Friday's game he laid down a bunt that I was sure was a poor bunt. He beat the throw from the catcher with ease. We all knew he was a burner on the basepaths. What we feared was he wasn't ready to get on base like a major league leadoff hitter should. I'm not worried about that anymore, not in the least. He was 6-for-7 in the two games I saw and looked very composed. His current average draft position is 269.45 which I am telling you now is far too low. I will be grabbing him late (but much earlier than the 23rd round) in drafts from this point forward, and would suggest that you do so as well. To top off my point, and to be a silly little name-dropper for a brief moment, Will Carroll (of Baseball Prospectus) and Fanball's Jason Collette informed me that Maybin went for $11 in the recent LABR auction.
Dan Uggla, Marlins - Thursday evening, Johan Santana efficiently finished off the Marlins in the first inning. So, to start the second he decided to challenge Uggla with a first-pitch fastball. The blast still hasn't landed. The left fielder didn't even look up. In his second at-bat, Uggla blasted another home run. It wasn't quite as far as the first shot, but it was still a hefty shot. As Uggla crossed home plate it was brought to my attention that he had seen only three pitches and had two home runs. The boobirds came out when Tim Redding supplied only breaking balls to Uggla in his next at-bat, but Uggla still laced a ball to the warning track for a long out. Let's call this what it is. Uggla can flat out kill the ball. He also still is going to miss a lot too -- which is apparent with his 12 strikeouts in 28 at-bats this spring. I've been doing a lot of research on middle-tier second basemen lately, and I really want to be able to tell you that Uggla is going to have a tough year in 2009. But nothing that I saw Thursday night agrees with that feeling. Expect the same old 25-30 home run Uggla and watch him strike out in bunches too. He's still the best fantasy option after the top-tier second basemen are gone.The Bad
Tim Redding, Mets - The Mets signed Redding in the offseason to come in and compete for the role as the team's fifth starter. We got to see his first action Thursday night as a Met. He threw two innings of the worst baseball I've seen in a long time. Redding gave up eight hits, nine earned runs, walked one and didn't strike out anyone. Worst of all, he gave up home runs to Logan Morrison, Jeremy Hermida and Jay Gibbons. Yes, to add insult to injury, Redding gave up a home run to a guy who got cut the next day. Redding's 40.50 spring ERA is enough reason to completely delete him from your draft sheets. If he can help your fantasy team, I need guys like you in my league.
Sean West, Marlins - West, a 22-year-old prospect who's never pitched above Advanced-A, came into camp with eyes on making the Marlins roster or showing that he should be called up at some point in 2009. Many people believed that the young lefty would do just that. However, after the performance I saw Friday, he might be best off in the minors for the entire season. Not only did he give up a home run to Omar Infante but he also gave up five hits and six earned runs in an inning and two-thirds. In two spring appearances, West has a 14.73 ERA in 3 1/3 innings of work. West will most likely make it into the Marlins rotation at some point in his career. It's probably not going to be 2009 with performances like that. Forget about West having any fantasy relevance anytime soon.
