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News-Herald Assistant Sports Editor Kevin Kleps doesn’t just write headlines and stories. He also checks on his fantasy sports teams. A lot. See if the moves and news from the world of sports affect your fantasy teams.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Fantasy baseball: Don't overvalue Brian Roberts

On May 23, Brian Roberts played for Double-A Bowie.

It was the Orioles second baseman's first game since he suffered a concussion more than a year ago.

Tuesday, Roberts was 3-for-4 with an RBI in his 2012 Baltimore debut. The next night, he was 0-for-5 with a pair of strikeouts.

What to make of a player who hasn't had more than 230 at-bats in a season since 2009?

The quick answer: Not too much.

Roberts is 34. Prior to Thursday night, he was batting .256 with 46 runs, seven homers, 35 RBI and 18 stolen bases in a combined 402 at-bats since 2010.

From 2005-09, Roberts was a must-start in fantasy. In that span, he averaged 13 homers, 64 RBI, 37 steals and 99 runs.

If you're desperate for help at second base, Roberts should be considered a low-level starter in deep mixed leagues -- at best. In AL-only formats, he's a decent starter, but still not among the top five or six at his position.

Roberts shouldn't hurt you in batting average (he entered Thursday with a career norm of .281), but don't expect anything close to the player who had 16 homers, 79 RBI and 30 steals in 2009.

If you need help -- as I did in a mixed league in which I've been playing Arizona's Aaron Hill at second base until Chase Utley returns from his everlasting knee injury -- Roberts is worth a flier.

But he is by no means a middle-infield savior. Fringe starters never are.

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1 Comments:

Anonymous Fantasy Baseball said...

Fantasy baseball is a game where participants manage an imaginary roster of real Major League baseball players. The participants compete against one another using those players' real life statistics to score points. It is one of the most commonly played fantasy sports games, and is arguably one of the most difficult and time-intensive due to the 162-game season of the MLB and the inconsistency of players.

July 3, 2012 at 2:12 AM 

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