Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Safe or Short Leash: Ian Desmond

Starting Shortstop:

Ian Desmond:


Pros:

Desmond is one of the emerging shortstop stars in this league. He is coming off two consecutive 20-20 seasons, hits for a decent average (even if his lack of walks leads to a mediocre OBP) and he's part of what should be a stronger Nationals line up which should give him plenty of RBI opportunities. Especially where home runs are in short supply at his position, Desmond should be a valuable fantasy asset in 2014.


Cons:

I had him on some of my teams in 2010-2011 when expectations were high and before he started to hit his stride.

Comparative Analysis:

His most similar player through age 27 is Stephen Drew. His age 28 season was not very good as he had a .252/.317/.396 and 5 HRs in 86 games. Still, I think Desmond's future is brighter and I think the caliber of top similar player is dragged down by his first two seasons.

Desmond has established that his ability to perform strongly is not a fluke as he's already had two strong seasons and looks like he's starting to hit his peak. Considering this and the lack of quality shortstops out there, Desmond's job is very safe and thus no shortstops were added to the watch list.

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