Return to Sender

ESPN's Fantasy Department recently ran an article explaining how and why washup and never drafted Aubrey Huff will outperform a rising star and over paid for Evan Longoria. While the evidence is there, we don't totally agree with Huff outperforming Longoria, but we do have our own list of overbid and underpaid:

Nick Swisher vs. Andre Ethier

Swisher has been slow to perform this season (fantasy wise) batting a sub par .268. Not the greatest batting average for a lead off hitter. He's been extremely streaky (2-12 in one stretch followed by a 4-10 current stretch) and his power isn't there just yet. Sure he's scored a bunch of runs (11) because he's hitting in the lead off spot, but lets be honest, I didn't draft Swisher because he scores a lot. Note; he is still Selective Swisher, walking 12 times so far this season.
Here's a fun stat: Percentage of Fantasy Leagues With a Team That Owns Nick Swisher: 100%

Andre Ethier, on the other hand, is only owned in 80% of the same leagues (ESPN Fantasy) and is outperforming Swisher; .308 BA, 2 HR, 11 RBI, and has a stolen base.

Are we saying that Ethier is a better player than Swisher? No, not really. We're just pointing out the oddity of dissimilar players putting up similar numbers and being drafted on opposite ends of the board.

Frustrating is the life of a fantasy league team owner. He carefully selects a player he hopes will bat third or fourth in a semi-potent White Sox lineup, only to find out Swisher will be batting leadoff, and some other owner gets lucky by drafting a fourth string outfielder who supplants Juan Pierre in the Dodger batting order.

Pierre Today, Gone Tomorrow

In what seems to be one of the most anticipated announcements coming out of Spring Training, Dodger skipper Joe Torre officially announced that Andre Ethier will start in left field, leaving Juan Pierre without a job.

Courtesy of Rotowire.com:

Ethier has won the Dodgers' starting left field job over Juan Pierre, the LA Daily News reports.
Spin: Ethier clearly had the better spring and is a better hitter than Pierre. Just because he won the battle now, don't assume that he's completely out of the woods here. A slow start might force manager Joe Torre to play Pierre more often.

The slow start would mean Ethier would have to bat worse than .173, Pierre's contribution to the Dodgers' offense this spring. We're willing to bet that Ethier could bat .150 with a blindfold on. It's going to take a lot on Pierre's end to regain his starting role.

Torre has faced a similar situation involving young outfielders replacing veterans (Google search Melky/Damon). He was able to gracefully handle the situation, partially because Damon could still hit water if he fell out of a boat.

Pierre's throwing arm is suspect too. Initially we thought he was using his left arm to toy with base-runners. Apparently, he's not kidding when he throws the ball.

Pierre's future may lie with actions of Dodger GM, Ned Colletti. There are a handful of teams that could use a speedy leadoff hitter like Pierre, that's assuming that Pierre fulfills his end of the bargain by approaching at least the Mendoza line.