Marlins Fantasy Value: Outfield

Along with Spring Training and the rest of the season, fantasy baseball cheat sheets and draft kits are just around the corner. Admittedly, the Marlins won’t have many players flying off the draft board this season. But thanks to a few stats fantasy baseball rewards despite their practical shortcomings, (Wins, Saves, RBI) some Marlins may offer more value than expected in 2013. Here’s a breakdown of the Marlins who’ll add the most value, to the Marlins who’ll add little to no value to your terrible fantasy team. This post will focus on the outfield.

(Assume a 5×5 rotisserie league with standard Runs, RBI, AVG, HR, and Stolen Bases for offense and Wins, Ks, Saves, WHIP, and ERA for pitchers.)

Stanton is a fantasy baseball stud

Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Giancarlo Stanton: This is Stanton’s second year being a top-ten outfielder. Valuable in keeper leagues because of his age, valuable in random season-long leagues because of his numbers. If there was a baseball equivalent to the phrase “He gets buckets” I’d use it here.

There are concerns about Stanton being an unprotected bat in the lineup, and whether the 23-year old can show the discipline to take a walk when he’s being pitched around. Another nit-picky concern is last year’s DL stint that kept Stanton out of twenty five games.

Apart from minor concerns, Stanton’s talent is undeniable. He’ll likely hit 35+ home runs this season and fill up three of your offensive categories nicely.

Justin Ruggiano: Depending on the depth of your league, Ruggiano will likely go undrafted, but do keep an eye on Ruggiano during the last couple rounds of your draft or on the waiver wire. He looks to be the every day starter in 2013 and enjoyed a nice half-season last year, batting .313/.374/.535 and stealing 14 bases. Ruggiano is a good athlete, and his ability to steal bases and beat out the throw are real, but a .400 BABIP is pretty unreal and his triple slash could regress in ’13. Still an interesting thought for an NL-only league.

Juan Pierre: Juan Pierre is personally one of my favorite ballplayers of all time. I remember thinking how rad holding his batting gloves in hand while diving for second base looked. While my memories are sweet, the days of Juan Pierre being an elite fantasy factor have been gone for years. Still, there’s reason to believe there’s value in a late-round pickup of Juan Pierre.

At 34, JP put up a really nice season for the Phillies, batting .307/.351/.371 and stealing 37 bases. Pierre will never put up 50 stolen bases again, so if you’re shopping exclusively for that category maybe consider someone like Tony Campana (assuming he starts.)

As long as he’s leading off and hovers around .300, Juan Pierre will add a nice boost to your stolen base count without hurting your runs and average. He can be a role player for your fantasy team, and hopefully nothing more.