Fantasy Flyer: Rick Porcello

Few young pitchers have been more frustrating than Rick Porcello over the last few years – in both reality and in fantasy baseball. Like the girl harbouring a grudge when getting back into the dating game, we’ve all been “hurt before” by Rick Porcello types. But this year, in deep leagues, It might be worthwhile to once again roll the dice on Porcello. If he is able to put things together, Porcello could provide surprising value at the back of your fantasy rotation.

One of the biggest storylines coming into 2012, was the Tigers’ abhorrent infield defence. Porcello, along with fellow groundball inducer, Doug Fister, were the pitchers believed to suffer most from Detroit’s infield made of stone. While the Tigers’ infield defence will no doubt hurt him, Detroit institutions Miguel Cabrera and Jhonny Peralta have been hurting Porcello’s numbers for the last few years. The addition of Fielder may not be as drastic as we are led to believe. The increase in WHIP and ERA may be offset by the extra win opportunities Procello should have playing for the Tigers and pitching in the AL Central.

Infield defence and win totals aside, there are other reasons why I am optimistic Porcello can be a good buy low fantasy candidate. Right now, Porcello has an ERA of 5.64 and xFIP of 3.64. The past two seasons, Porcello has posted ERA’s of 4.92 and 4.75 while his xFIP has come in at 4.24 and 4.04. While the poor Tigers defence will probably continue lead to an ERA that remains somewhat higher than his xFIP; Porcello’s xFIP does suggest that we should see some improvement in his performance. There is also reason to be slightly optimistic about Porcello’s ability to build further upon his skillset. Right now, Porcello’s value comes from his ability to prevent walks and induce groundballs. Mike Podhorzer at Fangraphs has noted that Porcello has increased his fastball velocity by 1.7 mph this year. If Porcello is able to increase his strikeout rate to over 5 K/9; like it was in the minor leagues, it would go a long way in adding to his fantasy value.

To pepper in some anecdotal evidence. Baseball Prospectus scouts Kevin Goldstein and Jason Parkes (on their podcast Up and In), both discussed that coming into the 2012 season, neither would be surprised if Porcello can put it all together and take the next step. Keith Law, scout for ESPN, has also written that he believes Porcello improve on his 2011 performance. It’s also easy to forget that Porcello is still only 23 years old. To assume he has reached his peak may be premature. While it also may be premature to roster Porcello in a standard 10 team mixed league, in deeper leagues, gambling on Porcello now may pay off sooner rather than later.

$214 Million Dollars of Upgrades

With almost a week passing since Prince Fielder singed with the Detroit Tigers, I thought I would do the disservice of writing another blog post about the hefty slugger’s move to the Motor City. While much has already been made about the Tigers’ new 500 pound corner infield, I think it’s important to remember that even though Mike Ilitch’s heart was in the right place, spending big money on Prince Fielder isn’t necessarily the best path to remaining competitive and winning championships for the Tigers given their current roster.

Mike Ilitch spent his hard earned pizza empire millions (of which I have personally contributed via the $5 Hot n’ Ready) with the hope that his Detroit Tigers are able to win a championship in the next few years. While it’s easy to appreciate an owner spending big money to bring home a World Series, I’m not sure if the Tigers’ play for Prince was the best way to do so. Defensively, there are major questions about Miguel Cabrera playing anywhere in the field, be it third base, left field or first base. There are bigger questions if Fielder, another subpar defender, is also starting somewhere other than designated hitter. The team’s pitching staff also has some issues of its own. Can Doug Fister replicate his 2011 outside of Safeco Field? What kind of season can erratic but talented Max Scherzer have? Both Justin Verlander and Jose Valverde had career years in 2011, but what will happen if they regress (which is almost guaranteed in Valverde’s case) to their career norms? Will signing Octavio Dotel really improve the bullpen? On the offensive side of things, can Austin Jackson, Delmon Young and whoever is playing 2B and 3B get on base and be league average offensive players? And what if, as some writers have suggested (like Getting Blanked’s Travis Reitsma), that Fielder merely replaces the production of Victor Martinez, instead of improving on it?

There are a lot of ways to spend $214 million dollars (or in my case, 214 dollars), and given how the Tigers roster is currently constructed, the money may have been better used to upgrade several problem areas. Would the Tigers not have looked better signing Jose Reyes and moving Jhonny Peralta to third base? What if they traded a package of players (like prospect Jacob Turner) for a young starter like Michael Pineda, Mat Latos or Gio Gonzalez? They could have upgraded their outfield by trading for Carlos Quentin. If they didn’t want to part with prospects they could have gone after CJ Wilson or Edwin Jackson and they could have shored up the bullpen by signing Ryan Madson, a far superior reliever to Jose Valverde, and one who ended up taking a one year $8.5 million dollar deal. Based on the contracts Wilson, Reyes and Madson signed this offseason, the Tigers could have inked all three (they posted a combined WAR of 13.8 according to Fangraphs) for less money than it cost to sign Prince Fielder (5.5 WAR).

This is not to say any of the players mentioned above wanted to sign with the Tigers, or that they don’t come with risks and problems of their own. It is meant to say that if winning now was indeed priority number one for Detroit this offseason, there were options other than Fielder that should have been examined. Options that may have been more effective and efficient than giving out the fourth largest contract in baseball history to a player with question marks of his own (defence, how he will age given his weight). Especially knowing the Tigers’ roster already has a surplus of viable 1B and DH options.

Having an owner that is committed to winning is a great thing and signing Prince Fielder is certainly symbolic of that commitment. But for a Tigers’ team that has many holes to fill and $214 million dollars to fill them, signing Fielder may not have been the best way to deploy these resources.