Chase Headley displayed great power in 2012. Will he do it again in 2013?
Photo courtesy of SD Dirk.
San Diego Padres — Predicted Finish: Fourth Place, NL West
I do not want to say that the 2013 San Diego Padres are a bleak source of fantasy production, but I also don’t want to over value their players. They do have young stud, Yonder Alonso, who I have been tracking for about 3 seasons now. He could be a good fantasy option if he has a true breakout season this year, but then again, he does not have much around him and he plays in a pitcher-friendly home park, so I do not see elite numbers in his near future. We also have Chase Headley, who is in the past few seasons has been a terrific 3B option. They also have a few other decent to good options in guys like Carlos Quentin, Cameron Maybin, Everth Cabrera and Will Venable, so let’s take a little closer look shall we?
Padres Offense:
| Player Name | Pos. | Age | Hand | AB | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG. |
| Everth Cabrera | SS | 26 | S | 555 | 77 | 3 | 40 | 45 | .258 |
| Logan Forsythe | 2B | 26 | R | 442 | 66 | 7 | 46 | 15 | .265 |
| Chase Headley | 3B | 29 | S | 578 | 81 | 19 | 84 | 16 | .278 |
| Carlos Quentin | LF | 30 | R | 471 | 74 | 27 | 84 | 1 | .256 |
| Yonder Alonso | 1B | 26 | L | 557 | 61 | 19 | 78 | 8 | .285 |
| Will Venable | RF | 30 | L | 499 | 70 | 11 | 57 | 25 | .255 |
| Cameron Maybin | CF | 26 | R | 523 | 81 | 11 | 53 | 29 | .264 |
| Nick Hundley | C | 29 | R | 325 | 34 | 8 | 42 | 1 | .239 |
Crackerjack Fantasy Options: Headley, Quentin, Alonso
The guys that should go in rounds higher than 10 are Headley, Alonso and maybe Quentin (depending on how deep your league is). Otherwise this team offers a lot of good late round or waiver wire options in guys with decent power and good speed. A guy like Everth could be a great late pick as a second shortstop at a MI or SS/2B position. Maybin is also an interesting late round pick, seems like we have been waiting for Cameron to turn the corner and become a legit OF option the past two seasons, so maybe this is the season?! He’s not a bad risk in the later rounds.
Padres Pitching:
| Role | Player | Age | Hand | IP | BB | W | K | SV | ERA | WHIP |
| 1 Starter | Edinson Volquez | 29 | R | 175 | 95 | 9 | 166 | 0 | 4.01 | 1.39 |
| 2 Starter | Clayton Richard | 29 | L | 205 | 49 | 11 | 121 | 0 | 3.90 | 1.27 |
| 3 Starter | Jason Marquis | 34 | R | 155 | 56 | 6 | 85 | 0 | 4.23 | 1.44 |
| 4 Starter | Huston Street | 29 | R | 55 | 12 | 1 | 56 | 30 | 2.9 | 1.04 |
Crackerjacks Fantasy Option: Street
The starting pitchers for the Padres are nothing to write home about, at all. I mean I might stream in Clayton Richard and Edinson Volquez for a few starts here and there, but I wouldn’t draft them nor start them with any regularity. Richard is a safe and solid pitcher, but he will likely not gain you too many wins, and he does not get hardly any Ks, so if you are working with an innings cap or transaction limit, he is just not worth your time.
Fantasy Star: None
It is hard to see any of these guys as a fantasy “star”, Headley is mosy likely your best hitting option, and he hardly grades out as a star, also he is going to be under a different category for me in a few sentences. No starting pitchers here to name, as stated above. I guess if I had to pick someone it would be Huston Street, Street can be a top closing option if he stays healthy, but that is a big if.
Fantasy Bust: Headley
I think that Headley has played himself into too high of expectations now. I do not foresee him building on his power output from last year (31 HR/115 RBI), in fact I see him regressing there. He is also not stealing as much as he used to, and I see that trend continuing. He also is not going to to ever best a .290 average, so he doesn’t offer much Lastly, don’t get stuck in the past with your thinking, the 3B is very deep these days. I would pass on Headley unless he drops past round 8.
Fantasy Sleeper: Alonso
The numbers above are conservative, I like this kid, I like him a lot! I am hoping to grab him on the cheap and laugh all season while he puts up great numbers. I think he busts out in a big way, I am talking 90-25-95-10-.290/.300 way! He will find himself hitting third by season’s end and will be the guy the Padres build around for the future, Adrian Gonzalez, who?!
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