Word to the Winners - Fantasy Baseball Advice

Taking it to the Bank - by Evan Cohen.

Save This Page

Now that Major League Baseball has concluded it’s 2006 season, the fun part of the off-season will soon begin. Every team has crunched the numbers and has a good idea of which players will be taking the field on opening day next spring. From a player’s perspective, they are always playing for a big payday in their free agent season. When a baseball player has a season that exceeds their typical statistical output in the final year of their contract, it is referred to as a “career year.” In recent years the “career year” seems to occur more frequently and is something that you, as a fantasy baseball owner, need to make a note of as you prepare for the next few months and upcoming fantasy baseball draft.

There are a couple players who just completed their second season of a new contract with different results. One player, Carlos Beltran of the New York Mets, had a fantastic second season in New York after a dismal performance in 2005. During the 2004 season, Beltran played with two different teams. He spent 69 games with his original team, the Kansas City Royals. The team knew they could not pay him the market rate, as he was set to be a free agent at the end of the season. He was traded to the Houston Astros and played there for 90 games. Beltran hit a combined 38 home runs, drove in 104 runs, scored 121 individually, swiped 42 bases and had a .267 batting average. Those numbers, combined with a solid performance in centerfield and playoff numbers of a .435 average, 8 homers, 14 runs batted in, six stolen bases and 19 runs translated into a huge payday.

The New York Mets, in the market for an outfielder, made the commitment to give Beltran the money to be their guy. There were many skeptics who wondered if Beltran could handle the pressure of playing in the media capital of the world. Some of those people were right, because Beltran proceeded to go out and become one of the biggest free agent busts of the year. Beltran hit .266 while belting a disappointing 16 home runs and driving in just 78. The stolen base numbers and runs were also down, with just 17 and 83, respectively. Beltran finally recovered in his sophomore season producing a .275 average with 41 long bombs, 116 RBI’s to go with 127 runs scored and 18 steals.

The second player, Adrian Beltre with the Seattle Mariners, has had two consecutive sub-par outings in the great northwest. During the early part of his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers playing third base, Beltre averaged 135 games. In those seasons, the averages look like this: 58.67 runs scored, 124.83 hits, 16.5 home runs, and 64.83 runs batted in. In the final year of his contract with Los Angeles, Beltre posted career highs in just about every major offensive category. In 156 games played, Beltre smacked 48 homers, drove in 121 runs, crossed the plate 104 times and hit .334. That is .044 points higher then his previous high of .290 back in 2000.
As a free agent after the 2004 season, Beltre left the Dodgers for the Seattle Mariners. To say that he has struggled since the move is an understatement. The averages reflect what he had done during the first six years in Los Angeles. Beltre has averaged 22 home runs to go along with 88 RBI and only 78.5 runs scored.

When looking at the fantasy baseball numbers that Beltre has posted, you have to take into consideration that the lineup surrounding him in Seattle is not as good as it was in Los Angeles. In Beltran’s case, he had good talent in New York in his first season, but it was mostly young. Many of those players matured and the Mets were able to spend money to improve their team. Like the general managers making the decisions for their teams in the upcoming season, it is important that you investigate a fantasy baseball player you might have your eye on by gathering as much information as possible. That can be the difference in your success in the upcoming season.

Copyright © 2007 Ready-Set-Go Fantasy Sports, LLC. All rights reserved.