Welcome to the 2022 Dynasty Baseball Buy or Sell 2-4-22.
Well there you have it, Super Bowl LVI is all set. Representing the AFC is the Cincinnati Bengals and representing the NFC is the Los Angeles Rams. In my opinion, this is one of the better matchups the general public could have asked for. We will have two offensive-minded teams facing off, so we should see touchdowns and points being scored.
Hopefully, there will be more touchdowns scored than the last time the Rams went to the Super Bowl in 2019. Technically they only need to score one touchdown to surpass their touchdown total from the last time they were in the Super Bowl when they faced off against the Patriots and lost 13-3.
I believe the Rams will have enough defense to stop the Bengals and will ultimately come out on top and be victorious in Super Bowl LVI. I haven't looked at the spread yet but I think the final score will be 27-20 Rams. Let me know who you think will win and what the final score will be down in the comments.
Now let's get into the Dynasty Baseball talk.
2022 Dynasty Baseball Buy or Sell 2-4-22
You can also check out Dave's Dynasty Rankings.
Buy
Joey Wendle, 2B/SS, Miami Marlins
I will admit this suggestion came courtesy of DapScout. He was on our podcast "On Deck Circle" last week and he suggested that Joey Wendle was his favorite hitter asset on the Marlins and it got me thinking. So lets take a look at why I agree with JP.
First off let's get to the obvious. He played all over the diamond during his time with Tampa Bay, which has given him multi-position eligibility. Going into 2022 Wendle qualifies for three different positions; second base, shortstop, and third base. If you didn't already know, multi-position players are king and even more so in dynasty leagues.
Aside from the position eligibility, Wendle also really knows how to handle the bat. He doesn't strike out often, he has a career strikeout rate of 19% and has only had three seasons in which his strikeout rate was greater than 19%. He also sprays the ball all over the diamond. Joey only has a career 37% pull rate, and his 28% opposite-field hit rate in 2021 ranked as the 25th best among all hitters with at least 500PA.
Also, we have to take a look at opportunity. During his first six seasons, Wendle has been a part-time utility player. He has only had two seasons in which he has accumulated 500+ plate appearances and the production was there. In those seasons he averaged nine home runs, 68 R, 58 RBI, 12 SB, with a batting average of 283.
The speed is also something to monitor going forward. Wendle stole 40 bags in 400 games over the past four seasons. That projects out as 16 steals in a full 162 game season. Combine that, with the fact the Marlins love to run (Marlins ranked 4th in SB in 2021).
Now let's talk about his value. As of January 2022, he is currently ranked outside of Dave's top 500 dynasty rankings. His value is in the basement, the epitome of a bargain basement value. He should almost be free to buy.
Andy Pages, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers
#Dodgers' Andy Pages has a career-high 25 homers for Great Lakes to lead the High-A Central. pic.twitter.com/JHkO5i5kL1
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 25, 2021
If you haven't heard the name Andy Pages, you should start to hear it often. He is someone that is jumping up prospect rankings as of late. Pages was an international signee by the Dodgers as a sixteen-year-old and has spent the past several seasons in the low minors. He is currently ranked as the number five prospect in the Dodgers system by MLB Pipeline.
Pages had himself a really impressive season in 2021 at High A. He went on to slash 265/394/539 with 31 HR, 96 R, 88 RBI, and 6 SB. While he does have some swing and miss concernss, he did cut his strikeout rate down almost 5% from 2019 and even increased his walk rate by 5%.
Pages has an explosive swing from the right side of the plate, that generates high-end exit velocity. His home runs (31), runs scored (96), and runs batted in (88), were best in all of High-A. Furthermore, his .933 OPS also led High-A and was 50 points higher than the next closest.
Page's elite ability to get on base makes him even more valuable in OBP leagues, but you should not be deterred from him in batting average formats either. In three seasons, he has never posted an OBP lower than .380.
After a breakout season like he had in 2021, his price tag obviously jumped up over the past several months, but his proximity to the bigs will help keep his price tag relatively low. I would be looking to buy Pages wherever possible
Sell
Chris Paddack, RHP, San Diego Padres
After storming onto the fantasy scene in 2016 when he struck out 71 batters in only 42 innings at the low levels of the minor leagues, Paddack has been a strikeout machine. Striking out 540 hitters across multiple levels since 2016, including three seasons at the major league level.
However, since making his debut in 2019, Paddack has digressed across multiple categories. First off his ERA has increased every season, including a career-worst 5.07 ERA in only 108 IP in 2021.
The same goes with his WHIP, it has increased every season including a career-worst 1.26 in 2021. The negatives just keep mounting. He also saw his batting average against also increasing every season since 2019.
Not only are his ratios getting worse he is also not striking out batters at the rate we are used to seeing. His strikeout rate decreased every season since 2019 and was a career-worst 21% in 2021.
The outlook continues to look bleak when you look at his advanced stats as well. He ranks in the bottom 20th percentile in almost all the important advanced stats. The biggest concern is his hard hit rate and exit velocity. Paddack is giving up way too much hard contact and giving up way too many long balls. Since 2019 his 52 home runs surrendered ranks as the 27th worst amongst all pitchers with at least 300 innings pitched.
Should I continue? I think you get the point. Paddack's value is trending in the wrong direction and you should be trying to get out from under Paddack while you still can.
Be sure to check out last week's article.
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