Chicago Fantasy Baseball Week In Review - 8/21

Darin Erstad and Mark DeRosa, two free agent signings. Both were expected to fill some needs for each side of town. Unfortunately, while one player has almost exceeded expectations, the other has had a series of injuries that have derailed his season and forced his team to make adjustments.

Darin Erstad

Darin Erstad, before signing a free agent contract this year, spent his entire career with the Los Angeles Angels. His overall stats have been solid, if unspectacular. Erstad is also a workhorse who won a gold glove in centerfield and at first base, the first player in the history of major league baseball to ever do that. Lately, his problems have been injuries. He’s only played 150 games once since playing in the 2002 World Series. There have been two years where he didn’t even play in 100 games.

Injuries once again have cost Erstad this season. He most all but two games in June and July. Even worse, an injury to leftfielder Scott Podsednik had put Erstad as the lead-off hitter. For fantasy owners, the injury to Erstad hurt those who had him on his roster as well as for those who had Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye on the roster. A lack of a true leadoff hitter unquestionably led to offensive struggles. Of course, the injuries to Pablo Ozuna and Jim Thome also didn’t help matters. But Erstad was expected to fill Aaron Rowand’s role in centerfielder, both in the field as with his work ethic.

The White Sox signed Erstad for a million dollars this season with an option for next. It is a legitimate question whether Erstad is worth keeping on the roster because of his age and injury risk. How Jerry Owens plays during the rest of the season will definitely be key. The status of Joe Crede may also affect Erstad’s standing with the team. If Crede comes back healthy, current third baseman Josh Fields may be shifted into the outfield. While the oft-injured Erstad has caused problems, Mark DeRosa has done a great job filling holes.

Mark DeRosa

DeRosa had a five-hit game last week, which was accompanied by a couple of very good defensive plays as well. Considered a role player for most of his career, DeRosa picked his free agent contract season to have his best year. With the Texas Rangers, he hit .296 with 13 home runs and 74 RBIs. Currently, DeRosa is on pace to have similar numbers. What makes him even more valuable at any position could be his ability to qualify for multiple positions.

DeRosa has seen time in right field, left field, first base, second base, third base, and one game at shortstop. His ability to play multiple positions makes him very draftable even if his hitting numbers won’t wow you. DeRosa is an excellent player off the bench, or a spot starter when a lot of team may have a day off because he may qualify in a number of places.

Next week, we’ll look at what the re-signings of Carlos Zembrano and Jermaine Dye really mean for fantasy owners. And in two weeks, we’ll look at some of the guy who are being brought up because of roster expansion to see if there are any players to keep on for keeper leagues.