Opportunity Seeker: Grant Green
Phrases that will not appear in this article:
The Grass Is Greener
Find The Green
On The Green
Green Means Go
Green Machine
Greener Pastures
Going Green
Green With Envy
Green Thumb
Green Horn
The Green Light
I can’t offer you much, but the solace of mind that I won’t drop some godawful pun on you should get me somewhere, right? When discussing opportunity seeker’s such as Green, there are some basic questions that need answering, so let’s get to those.
What can Green do?
As I said, a basic question but an important one nonetheless. During his time at Triple-A, both in 2012 and 2013, Green’s done well to cut down on his strikeouts (they were near 20% with little power). While he’s seen a bump in K% from 13.3 (2012) to 16.9 (2013), he’s seen a corresponding bump in his BB%, though not to the same degree; going from 5.9 to 6.5. Green isn’t particularly good at anything. He’s not a big power guy (hasn’t cracked an ISO of .200 since 2010), not much of a speed guy (career high of 13), and can mostly provide the Angels, and your fantasy team with an empty batting average (career .306 hitter in the minor leagues). The other aspect he can help fantasy owners in is positional eligibility. He’s played a multitude of positions in the minor leagues, though none of them very well. There’s a good chance he’ll acquire 2B, 3B and OF eligibility in many years throughout his career.
What is his opportunity, exactly?
Green was acquired for Angels starting 3B Alberto Callaspo and they are currently playing the hollow shell of Chris Nelson there. While it initially seemed the Angels were content to option Green to Triple-A, Howard Kendrick decided to pursue a ball into the outfield and hyperextend his knee. While he is listed as day-to-day for now, Green has taken his spot in the field and will have an opportunity to play every day for now. While Kendrick could return any time, the Angels have no incentive to rush him back from the DL. If Green can perform in the short term, the Angels will likely cede 3B to him for the rest of the season, and secure a spot in the starting lineup for 2014.
Should I care about him?
The cop out answer is that this obviously depends. It depends on the size and depth of your league. That said, even in a league such as a 20-team mixed, Green isn’t going to be a difference maker. He’s a useful piece as an empty average guy that can fill in for a starter at multiple positions, but he’s at best a second-division real life player and could end up as a utility man, which would obvious reduce his fantasy value. I wouldn’t make an effort to go after him, but if he’s available on a waiver wire in a deep league he’s worth rostering for depth purposes. This might not be the most optimistic review, but hey It’s Not Easy Being Green.
Sorry…had to.
Source Material
Baseball Prospectus
Baseball Reference
FanGraphs
You can follow me on Twitter at @cdgoldstein
You can read my other work at Fake Teams and MLB Draft Insider
The Author
16 Comments
I dropped him for Brad Miller and haven’t looked back. Miller is not in a hitters ballpark, but he is on a team that is going to give him an extended audition to see if he can handle the bigs.
All this is true, and I think he’s just a better overall player. More pop and more speed. Less average is likely for Miller, but that’s a worthwhile tradeoff for the other categories.
Thanks Craig. I picked up Green a couple weeks ago “just in case” but I won’t hesitate to let him go.
OT question – who do I want on my roster for next year – Asche, Matt Davidson, or Moustakas?
Of those, my preference is for Davidson. I’ve never been a big Moustakas fan, and while he’s been hot the last couple of weeks I’m not truly optimistic on him. That said, it’s a decision that doesn’t need to be made right now. If Moustakas finishes the season on a tear, we can re-evaluate. I do like Davidson well more than Asche though.
For a second i thought you were saying what can green do for you which wouldve been worse than any of the other puns
Oh man. Don’t put that kind of thing on me. I have my pride.
Good for you, not taking puns for Grant-ed
dammit Ben
I was looking up 3B eligible players in my Dynasty Yahoo league, and Yan Gomes name popped up. I have taken a look at his numbers and they seem impressive in his limited opportunities. Is he worth a stash in a 14 team keeper league? He seems much better defensively than Welington castillo, and I got to imagine if he gets playing time he can be an RBI machine (he seems to have a bad case of Matt Adams going on.)
He’s unlikely to be worth stashing there. I think he’d get overexposed if he got 600 plate appearances and would be much less interesting.
Agreed with Bret. He’s a nice back up option in real life and I suppose fantasy. He was awful in Toronto last year and while I don’t believe his true talent level is that bad, it’s also not really this good.
16 team dynasty: better picks up for my util spot (ROS mostly, having Singleton in my minors for my long-term util solution) Ruf, Smoak, Ike Davis, or Flores??
I’d take Davis.
I’d go Davis, Smoak, Flores, Ruf in that order.
Craig, this is in hindsight of your earlier article thinking a bit low on Cingrani. Would you trade Smyly and Marisnick for him in a dynasty league? Are you much higher now on him now after more than a dozen starts?
I think the trade is fine, but I still feel mostly the same about Cingrani. He’s still throwing 80% fastballs and I think the league adjusts. That said he’s a fine pitcher. Just more middle of the rotation to me than anything else.