Fantasy Life: The "Stealth Bomber" | 
The 2010 baseball campaign will be Ken Williams’ tenth season as general manger of the Chicago White Sox. His under- the- radar moves throughout his career has dawned him the nickname: Stealth Bomber. A title very fitting for a GM who last season at the trading deadline acquired Jake Peavy for a second time, after a failed attempt earlier in the season and In August claimed Alex Rios off waivers from the Blue Jays.
Both Peavy and Rios are guys to target on draft day, however, no stealth bombing here, everyone will be targeting these guys. There are two reasons why one might want to avoid Mr. Peavy on draft day, I am not one of them, but here they are: He is leaving the pitcher’s friendly Petco Park that yielded only 1.59 dingers per game last season, while Jake’s new home, U.S Cellular Field saw 2.37 home runs being put on the board each game. The long ball has been a problem for Jake his entire career -he has giving up 136 bombs in 215 career games. That is even while playing in one of the best pitcher’s parks In all of baseball and starting a majority of his games in Dodgers Stadium and AT&T Park, both of which were under 2.00 home runs per game last season. He also is moving from the NL West to the AL Central. No longer facing 8th place hitters starting only for their defensive skills or starting pitchers. Emmanuel Burriss and his career .236 average in the 8th spot of the line up is now going to be DH’s, with 20 plus bombs and 85-100 RBI. With that being said, I would draft the man and start him against most AL teams. I am a big proponent of not starting my pitchers against great offenses and I will touch upon that subject in depth during the season. Jake’s ERA will most certainly take a hit, however the K’s are still going to pile up and so will the wins because, as we have learned in the past, Ken Williams has something up his sleeve that will help the team score more runs this season. I am sure he has been on the phone with Padres GM Jed Hoyer, discussing what it would take, and it would be a lot, to land Adrian Gonzalez on the south side.
The Stealth Bomber ( an awesome fantasy team name by way) has not been asleep at the wheel this off season by any means. He inked 11 time Gold Glove winner, and Hall Of Famer in my book, Omar Vizquel to a one year deal. This signing has very little fantasy impact on the surface. Last season, Omar batted .266 in 195 plate appearance, but will be a great mentor to Mark Teahen, Gordon Beckham, and Alexei Ramirez. If you draft any of the White Sox infielders this year and fielding percentage is a stat in your league, it will not hurt having the best fielding percentage short stop of all time (.985) teaching these players skills to sharpen their game. Also, he will tighten up defense late in games, sealing off much needed W’s for the starting pitchers on the White Sox.
The White Sox also said goodbye to their 2005 World Series MVP Jermaine Dye. He had 27 bombs this year and 81 RBI, however saw his average dip to .250. The 950k buyout made more sense than picking up his 12MM option and he will find himself a job before opening day. Dye has said he would be open to playing first base, which may be intriguing during the season if he becomes eligible at first. The Sox also signed Andruw Jones to a one year deal. The once feared Braves slugger has made stops with the Dodgers and Rangers the past few seasons. Andruw should only be considered in deep AL only leagues as a bench player for homeruns late in the week. The past two seasons he has a stretch of games that has the fantasy world searching the waiver wires for him and then he comes crashing back down. Let him bat .214 on an opponents team.
The final move worth fantasy note has been the acquisition of 3b Mark Teahen from the Royals for 2b Chris Getz and 3b/OF Josh Fields. I employed the services of Mr. Getz for a short stint during last season for steals and would do so again this season. He will certainly improve on his .261 average and he swiped 25 out of 27 bags last season as a rookie. That is a 92.6 percent success rate and his season was cut short because of a sports hernia, costing him a shot at 30 bags for the season. Josh Fields on the other hand, simply put, has zero fantasy value. I was excited about him in 2007 after his 23 bombs in 373 Abs , but he still only hit .244 that year and since then has disappeared into the waiver wire abyss. The final piece of the trade, Mark Teahen, is a doubles machine and is eligible at first base and the outfield. I am on board the Mark Teahen train big time this season. His numbers have been solid throughout his career, posting 30 plus double seasons three years in a row. Mark’s RBI numbers are sure to improve and he could knock 20 plus bombs over the wall. He is worth a look in the later rounds on draft day because for the first time in his career he is going to have protection, a lot more RBI chances, and he’ll play his home games at hitter friendly U.S. Cellular Field .
2010 Sleeper: Mark Teahen; third baseman, Chicago White Sox
Jay Ferraro is Executive Producer of Baseball Digest LIVE and the Fantasy Baseball writer for BaseballDigest.com. You can follow him on Twitter here.
Topics: Blue Jays, Career Games, Chicago White Sox, Dingers, Emmanuel Burriss, Fantasy Life, Jake Peavy, ken williams, NL West, Petco Park, Proponent, Saw 2, starting pitchers, Stealth Bomber, T Park, Team Score, Th Place, U S Cellular, U S Cellular Field, Waivers
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